862.00/3555
The Ambassador in Germany (Dodd) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 25.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose translations of an exchange of letters94 between the Führer and Herr Seldte, the leader of the Stahlhelm, consummating the final dissolution of that organization.
As indicated in previous reports the dissolution of the Stahlhelm has been long expected to follow as a result of the measures taken against individual groups last summer. From an authority believed reliable it is learned that the decision was communicated several weeks ago to provincial Stahlhelm leaders in an announcement that agreement had been reached with the government that Stahlhelm leaders still under arrest would be released, that members generally would be allowed to keep their Stahlhelm insignia and that they would not suffer any disadvantage because of having belonged to the organization. A few days ago Herr Seldte himself intimated to the Counselor of the Embassy that he “would not be surprised” if the total disbandment were timed to take place on the military festival of November 7 when the conscripted recruits were to be sworn in and the new War Flag to be introduced. It will be seen from the dates of the enclosed letters that this was actually the case although the dissolution order was announced only on the evening of November 8.
Since assisting the National Socialists to power the Stahlhelm has been consistently compensated with stones rather than bread and the offers contained in the Führer V letter are hardly more munificent. Perfunctory tribute is paid to the Stahlhelm’s past renown and it is peremptorily assumed that its mission was fulfilled with the declaration of universal conscription. While the ostensibly generous proposal is put forth that the ban upon new admissions to the Party will be lifted to permit the induction of Stahlhelmers, it is made clear that they will not be taken in en bloc but are to be carefully sifted by the local Nazi authorities. The same applies to prospective Stahlhelm candidates for such Party organs as the S. A., S. S. and the National Socialist Motor Corps. Stahlhelmers who have no “will for political activity or collaboration” are recommended to apply for entrance into the Kyffhäuserbund, the nonpolitical veterans organization which recently emphasized its solidarity with National Socialism by adding the Swastika to its emblem.
The Stahlhelm spirit in its true essence, which is that of the most reactionary officers of the old Army, is a difficult one to live down but it is questionable whether present developments will result in anything more than an increase in already wounded pride. Although [Page 341] on Herr Seldte’s own statement the dissolution proceedings of last summer affected only 10 per cent, of the total membership, the fact that he should have permitted these steps, as well as the imprisonment of a number of local leaders, caused keen resentment and bitter disillusion in his authority in such Stahlhelm strongholds as Saxony, West Germany and Mecklenburg. More recently, moreover, the Stahlhelm was made to suffer a gratuitous slight in an order issued by Staff Chief Lutze abolishing distinctions in the arm bands of S. A. men; the younger Stahlhelmers who joined the S. A. in accordance with the pact made with the Nazis in 1933 have been thus deprived of the special insignia giving them credit for their periods of service in the Stahlhelm and have been compelled to wear the arm bands of all others who entered the S. A. in that year.
Profiting by Herr Seldte’s lack of leadership and by tactical methods such as those described above, the Nazis have gradually worn away the Stahlhelm’s identity with the result that it can scarcely be looked to as an independent political force. It is interesting to note now that its complete dispersion is planned in the distribution of former members among organizations essentially in Nazi hands. It appears, moreover, that the Stahlhelmers are to be prevented from exercising influence upon the recruits discharged after their military service, a possibility certain leaders counted upon last summer to ease the pangs of dissolution which even then seemed inevitable (see Embassy’s despatch No. 2216 of August 13, 193595). Although no decision with respect to the whole Reich has yet been announced, an indication of the procedure that may follow is contained in an order by Superior-President Schwede of Hannover that, “in accordance with the Führer’s special wishes”, all discharged recruits in his district will go over to the Reichstreubund, an organization founded several months ago to bring together volunteers who had served in the Army before the declaration of general conscription. The apportionment of former soldiers among different organizations may well spring from a desire to prevent the formation of a Praetorian Guard from the Army which might act in opposition to Party groups.
In view of the dissolution of the Stahlhelm the eventual position of Herr Seldte in the Cabinet, where he now serves as Minister of Labor, becomes of some interest. In conversation with the Counselor of the Embassy, Herr Seldte hinted at his wish to withdraw from political life and return to the profitable chemical oil business which he owns in Magdeburg, but intimated that his retirement would probably not be immediate.
Respectfully yours,
Counselor of Embassy