PZ 5749/39(1) 'Propaganda: Articles forwarded to Persian Gulf, Kabul & Katmandu for dissemination' [‎220r] (439/715)

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2 ) Idem No. 68.
Hitler returned to Berlin the night of the 24th August. I have some
reason to believe—though I cannot confirm it—that the order for
the German Army to advance into Poland was actually issued for
the night of the 25th-26th August. It is difficult otherwise to find
justification for the various orders and arrangements which came
^^into force on the 26th and 27th August. In the afternoon of the
25th August itself all telephone communication between Berlin and
London and Paris was unexpectedly cut off for several hours. The
celebrations at Tannenberg were cancelled on the 26th and the
Party Rally at Nuremberg on the 27th August; all Naval, Military
and Air Attaches at Berlin were refused permission to leave the
city without prior authority being obtained from the Ministry of
War. All German airports were closed from that date, and the
whole of Germany became a prohibited zone for all aircraft except
the regular civil lines. All internal German air services were also
suspended. Moreover as from the 27th a system for the rationing
of food-stuffs and other commodities throughout Germany came into
force. That this latter and—for the public—depressing measure
should have been adopted prior to the outbreak of war can scarcely
be explained, except on the assumption that war should actually have
broken out on the 26th August.
34. The fact may well be, as I imagine it was, that Herr Hitler
had had in consequence of the Prime Minister’s letter one last
hesitation and countermanded the orders to his Army, whereas the
other arrangements were allowed to proceed unchecked. But it was
not the horrors of war which deterred him. He had unlimited
confidence in the magnificent army and air force which he had
re-created and he was certainly not averse to putting them to the
test so far as Poland was concerned. In two months, he told me,
the war in the East would be ended and he would then, he said,
hurl 160 divisions against the Western Front if England was so
unwise as to oppose his plans. His hesitation was due rather to
one final effort to detach Britain from Poland. Be that as it may,
at about 12-45 on the 25th August, I received a message to the
effect that Herr Hitler wished to receive me at the Chancellery at
1-80 p.m. At that meeting he made to me the verbal communication
which is recorded in the Blue Book.( 2 )
35. Briefly put, Herr Hitler’s proposals therein dealt with two
groups of questions : (a) the immediate necessity of a settlement of
the dispute between Germany and Poland, and (6) an eventual offer
of friendship or alliance between Germany and Great Britain. My
interview with Plerr Hitler, at which Herr von Ribbentrop and
Dr. Schmidt were also present, lasted on this occasion over an hour.
The Chancellor spoke with calm and apparent sincerity. He described
his proposals as a last effort, for conscience sake, to secure good
relations with Great Britain, and he suggested that I should fly to