I'm aware of the Speer and Guderian memoirs and Goebbel's diaries but does anyone know or recommend other English language translations of memoirs from key Third Reich political and military leaders in order to get a 'behind the scenes' look at the 3R establishment.
I recently watched "Horrible Wonderful Life of Leni Riefenstahl" and it was interesting to watch her completely deny any socializing with Hitler and Goebbels even though they are listed in Goebbels' diaries. BTW, the documentary is one of the best I've seen and I highly recommend it.
Tony
Hans Baur (AH's pilot) wrote an autobiography "Hitler by my Side", which is quite good. Fritz von Papen wrote one as well, as did Heinrich Hoffmann (Hitler was my Friend), Otto Dietrich (Press chief) entitled "Hitler". Keitel's memoirs were published several years back, as were Manstein's (Lost Victories(?)). Hanna Reitsch also wrote an autobiography but I can't recall if it's been translated into english--so did Kraus (Hitler's adjutant). And there are autobiographies by Konstantin Hierl, Gerhard Boldt , Erich Kempka, and Otto Skorzeny. There are probably more, but that's all I can come up with.
By the way, if you read Speer's memoirs you should also read "Albert Speer--the end of a Myth" by Mathias Schmidt--it exposes "Inside the III Reich" as the fiction it is.
Erich
Both the Fedorowicz site http://www.jjfpub.mb.ca/products.htm
and Amazon.com have the Fedorowicz translation of "Grenadiers" by Panzermeyer for $42. I don't think Sepp Dietrich ever published any memoirs; see "Hitler's Gladiator" by Charles Messenger (London: Brassey's Defence Publishers, 1988).
Thanks for the link, Greg! Just ordered one! I believe Sepp did. I remember reading a book about Goering and in the bibliography, the author cited Sepp Dietrich's book. Anyway, I sent an inquiry to the Fedorowicz Publishing asking for this info and will post it here if they have it! Thanks again!
Oh, I read the Charles Messanger's book and I wasn't really satisfied. It seemed to me he talked about the organization of the Leibstandarte unit more than the personal life of Dietrich. But it's still a nice reading though.
__________________ When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. Thomas Jefferson
Thanks everyone..especially Erich, for your feedback. Surprisingly, many of the ones suggested are available from the local libraries. I've also found Walter Warlimont, INSIDE HITLER'S HEADQUARTERS 1939-1945.
FYI...I've read both the Speer reprisals books and the Sepp Dietrich's story, HITLER'S GLADIATOR. I'll be interested in hearing if SD did a memoir/biography.
I also know that of a book published in the thirties from Canada by an 'early' Nazi who fled Germany just before or around the Night of Long Knives. His brother was killed too. I'll find the name and share it. He pretty much denounces Hitler, et.al.
There was no memoir or biography done by Sepp Dietrich. The closet thing was his wife's diaries (for lack of a better term). Most of those were burned up in a fire at a home Sepp had in Hawangen. Other than that ther is only a couple of referneces that deal in particular with him, Messenger's book and a book in German called Sepp Dietrich. Other than that, information on him comes almost exclusivly from the Bundesarchiv in Berlin. My research has been very long and tedious, however, the books on him out there are scarce and pretty much reiterate what the archive in Berlin has. If any of you need any specific info on him, please just send over a private message, and I'll get back to you.
Hi, one of the most remarkable books I heard (did not find a copy yet to buy) is Henry Picker's "Tischgespräche" or Tabletalks written by an "anonymous" clerk near Hitler.
"Das Leben eines Diktators" by Konrad Heiden might be translated to english. I'm reading the swedish copy and it explains many details of the time before 1935 that created Hitler and the NDSAP-party.
The Heiden book has also been largely discredited, as has the (I'd forgotten about this one) Hanfstaengel memoirs (Between the Brown House and the White House--not sure if it's been translated into english), as both authors had major axes to grind with AH and the III Reich. I think the 'brother' book is the memoirs of Gregor Strasser--I've never read that one. A few others I came up with--Ernst von Salomon wrote one called 'Die Fragebogen', and Adolf Wagener also wrote one--I don't have it so don't remember the name of the book.
Third Reich memoirs
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