Nazi Meeting Jan. 3rd, 1935

[Tuckerfan]

In The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer he mentions that there was a secret meeting of the leaders of the Nazi Party and the military heads, but other than a brief footnote in which he says Hitler agreed to issue a pardon for a few generals (which Hitler never did), Shirer says nothing more about it. Who was there and what did they talk about?

[Boyo_Jim]

I kind of doubt this is it, but I found this reference to the date, as a documeny spelling out the lines of responsibility for German general staff officers (search on the page for “3 january”):

The German General Staff officer always speaks in the name of the commander of the unit on whose staff he is. He is only responsible, through the chief of staff, to the commander and gives orders on any occasion in the name of his commander. These orders are legal and binding on recipients although they (the recipients) are senior to the staff officer.163

Possibly this was a meeting related to who had what authority to issue orders to German military forces.

I have Shirer’s book. Where is the reference?

[Tuckerfan]

It’s in the footnote on pg. 313 of my paperback edition.

[quote]
The two senior officers continued their efforts to clear the names of Schleicher and Bredow, and succeeded in getting Hitler, at a secret meeting of party and military leaders in Berlin on January, 3 1935, to admit that the killing of the two generals had been “in error” and to announce that their names would be restored to the honor rolls of their regiments. This “rehabilitation” was never published in Germany, but the officer corps accepted it as such.

[quote]

[Boyo_Jim]

We have the same edition.

Ok, I have another vague reference, probably to the same meeting. In the paperback edition of Hitler’s Generals, edited by Correlli Barnett, page 31. A memo of General Fritsch describes a meeting of January 13, 1935. Historian Robert O’Neill adds:

Hitler had, only a few days previously, reaffirmed his faith in the leaders of the forces, and brought about a relaxation in the tension between the Army and the SS.

Within a few more weeks, Hitler renounced the Treaty of Versailles and reintroduced military conscription. My guess is that Hitler announced his intentions to the General Staff, gave them the carrot of a newly rebuilt military, and appealed to their honor over the sore spot of their murgered generals. He was making nice-nice.

Here’s another try at that link.

[Boyo_Jim]

Oh, screw it. Google – German “3 January, 1935” – it is the last hit with the title “Classic thesis”. View it as HTML, search for 3 January on the page.

Might be related, might not.

[ShibbOleth]

Correction of link for Mr. Yojimboguy

Here’s another try at that link.

[Tuckerfan]

*Originally posted by yojimboguy *
**Oh, screw it. Google – German “3 January, 1935” – it is the last hit with the title “Classic thesis”. View it as HTML, search for 3 January on the page.

Might be related, might not. **

Based on that brief blurb, it looks like all they did was lay out the formal structure of command for the military.

In a report written before the war (3 January 1935), the importance of not just the chief of staff, but also any General Staff officer, was clearly made:

From other things on that page, it also looks like they hammered out some of the military tactics that were later used in the war. Gotta say that if they were laying out military tactics, then it’d probably make for some fascinating reading.