komet2020's review
5.0
Not since I read Albert Speer's "[b:Inside the Third Reich|853201|Inside the Third Reich|Albert Speer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344664347l/853201._SX50_.jpg|838705]" in 1989, have I had the pleasure of reading a book from someone who worked closely with Hitler at the nerve center of the Third Reich.
"HITLER"S INTERPRETER: The Memoirs of Paul Schmidt" is a refreshing, honest and at times lively account from Dr. Paul Schmidt, a WWI combat veteran, who later worked for the German Foreign Office for close to 25 years. Schmidt, who was fully conversant in English, French, and Italian, served as an interpreter for Hitler from the earliest days of the Third Reich until late 1944.
In his capacity as interpreter, Schmidt was witness to the meetings Hitler had with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain at both Bad Godesberg and Munich, where in September 1938 Europe came perilously close to going to war over the Sudetenland, a large part of Czechoslovakia made up of ethnic Germans which Hitler wanted incorporated into the Reich. Schmidt takes the reader into the corridors of power during that tense time and shows how vacillating Hitler became about going to war in 1938 after Schmidt accompanied Hitler and Chamberlain in a car they both shared as it was driven through the streets in a German town, where more enthusiasm was expressed by the public, upon seeing Chamberlain, for his efforts to preserve peace than for Hitler himself.
Schmidt also conveys to the reader the palpable sense of foreboding that crept over Germany and Europe in the months following the Munich Agreement when it became clear that Hitler (after marching into the remainder of Czechoslovakia in March 1939) was set on going to war. His threats to Poland over the Polish Corridor issue became unrelenting throughout the spring and summer. Britain and France then realized the necessity of having to stand up to Hitler by pledging themselves to aid Poland should the Germans attack it --- even if it meant war. What was interesting to learn was that Hitler was confident as late as August 1939 that even by invading Poland and bringing on another European war, he could effect a 'negotiated peace' with Britain and France. When that didn't happen, Hitler became fully committed to achieving his territorial aims by war.
I was also fascinated with Schmidt's eyewitness descriptions of what went on with regard to France's surrender to Germany in June 1940 and its signing of an armistice with Germany in the same railway car in the forest of Compiègne (near Paris), where in November 1918, Germany had signed an armistice with the Allies, thus ending the First World War.
For anyone with an interest in both interwar and immediate post-WWII European history, this is the book to read. It's a winner.
"HITLER"S INTERPRETER: The Memoirs of Paul Schmidt" is a refreshing, honest and at times lively account from Dr. Paul Schmidt, a WWI combat veteran, who later worked for the German Foreign Office for close to 25 years. Schmidt, who was fully conversant in English, French, and Italian, served as an interpreter for Hitler from the earliest days of the Third Reich until late 1944.
In his capacity as interpreter, Schmidt was witness to the meetings Hitler had with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain at both Bad Godesberg and Munich, where in September 1938 Europe came perilously close to going to war over the Sudetenland, a large part of Czechoslovakia made up of ethnic Germans which Hitler wanted incorporated into the Reich. Schmidt takes the reader into the corridors of power during that tense time and shows how vacillating Hitler became about going to war in 1938 after Schmidt accompanied Hitler and Chamberlain in a car they both shared as it was driven through the streets in a German town, where more enthusiasm was expressed by the public, upon seeing Chamberlain, for his efforts to preserve peace than for Hitler himself.
Schmidt also conveys to the reader the palpable sense of foreboding that crept over Germany and Europe in the months following the Munich Agreement when it became clear that Hitler (after marching into the remainder of Czechoslovakia in March 1939) was set on going to war. His threats to Poland over the Polish Corridor issue became unrelenting throughout the spring and summer. Britain and France then realized the necessity of having to stand up to Hitler by pledging themselves to aid Poland should the Germans attack it --- even if it meant war. What was interesting to learn was that Hitler was confident as late as August 1939 that even by invading Poland and bringing on another European war, he could effect a 'negotiated peace' with Britain and France. When that didn't happen, Hitler became fully committed to achieving his territorial aims by war.
I was also fascinated with Schmidt's eyewitness descriptions of what went on with regard to France's surrender to Germany in June 1940 and its signing of an armistice with Germany in the same railway car in the forest of Compiègne (near Paris), where in November 1918, Germany had signed an armistice with the Allies, thus ending the First World War.
For anyone with an interest in both interwar and immediate post-WWII European history, this is the book to read. It's a winner.
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