Books of the Day
A German Leader
Nemesis ? The Story of Otto Strasser. By Douglas Reed. (Jonathan Cape. los. 6d.)
MR. DOUGLAS REED'S latest thriller breaks new ground. Everybody knew something about Gregor Strasser, one of
Hitler's chief lieutenants during the struggle for power and one of his victims in the massacre of June 3oth, 1934 But which of us could answer questions about his brother, his
career, his personality and his plans? In these brilliant pages we are introduced to a man of high intellectual power, of constructive imagination, of exceptional tenacity. Mr. Reed has succeeded in his aim. To use the jargon of the day, he has put Otto Strasser on the map.
One of the surprises of the book is the revelation of the difference between the brothers. Gregor emerges as a tragic figure, lacking the will to power which is needed for a stiff fight, and going down before the onslaught of a cunning and unscrupulous foe whom he was blind enough to trust. Otto,
on the other hand, with as good a brain and far more self- assurance, never completely succumbed to the sway of the Fiihrer, and indeed went into open opposition sooner than any other disillusioned Nazi. He has been fighting Hitler for the last ten years, first in his own country, then outside. Today he is in Paris, waiting for the opportunity which he and his biographer believe will come when Hitler and Hitlerism are swept away by revolution or defeat. He is nerved for the struggle by a twofold determination—to revenge his murdered brother and to give Germany the particular brand of Socialism which Hitler had promised but ,speedily cast aside. " He remains a merry fellow who lives hard, loves hard, eats and drinks with enjoyment, carries on his one-man war with gusto, never forgets his revolver, has a long score to settle, loves his country, and likes to laugh." That he leads and enjoys a Bohemian life is made clear to us with needless iteration. It is not an altogether attractive type, and not every reader will be convinced that he would be the best ruler of post-Nazi Germany. After all, he took part in the long cam- paign to overthrow the Weimar Republic, which, though by no means a golden age, was a paradise in comparison with the abominations of the Nazi regime.
The main cause of the breach between Otto Strasser and Hitler was their different interpretation of " National Socialism." To the Fiihrer the restoration of Germany's strength was the principal aim: the emphasis was on the word National. To Otto Strasser the Socialism was the chief attraction. He had fought with great distinction in the war and is as good a German patriot as anyone alive. But his eyes were fixed on a social revolution which would give the little man his chance. It was a shock to discover that Hitler's Socialism was merely window-dressing, and that he sacrificed it without hesitation for the support of the great industrialists. The brothers remained devoted friends till the end, but from 1930, when Otto broke away and started his Black Front, they were sundered by a deep gulf. Gregor believed that the Nazi chief was sincere in his championship of a new social order, and might establish it if guided and encouraged by men like himself. Otto, on the other hand, regarded Hitler as the betrayer of a sacred cause, the opportunist who had deliberately taken the wrong turning. Sometimes he calls himself a revolutionary Socialist, sometimes a Conservative revolutionary, and his biographer thinks the latter description the more accurate.
Otto Strasser has explained his system in a number of books and pamphlets which are unknown in England and which we are therefore glad to find summarised. On the vital issue of property he has a plan of his own. He would abolish private ownership of land, mineral resources and the products of the earth, and the means of production. He would sub- stitute the hereditary fief or fee, reviving a system which existed in Germany before the Liberal era, for which he has so little taste. His proposal would mean the confiscation of the great estates and their division among a small peasantry holding them in hereditary fee from the State. In practice
this would affect chiefly the great landlords of Eastern Germany. The Nazi scheme for the safeguarding of the peasant's hereditary holding 'was a step in the right directien, and indeed the only piece of real Socialism which h..s materialised. But it does not go far enough to satisfy Strasser, for the great East Elbian estates remain intact. "A German Socialism," as he calls it, is still a dream.
Next to the chapter entitled " Crazy Odyssey," with its thrilling adventures and tragedies, there is nothing more arrest-
ing than the narrative of the struggle for power during the winter of 1932-3.. It has often been described, but here is some fresh material. When the autumn election of 1932 registered an unmistakable decline in the fortunes of the Nazi 'Party, the question of a new Government became acute. Papen, an ambitious intriguer, had resigned after two smashing defeats at the polls. Schleicher had succeeded him, but he had no following, and he needed allies. Hindenburg solemnly declared that he would never make " the Bohemian Corporal " Chancellor. Gregor Strasser reported this Presidential vet') to Hitler, and added that the highest post might possibly be obtainable for himself. The Vice-Chancellorship in a Schleicher Ministry he could certainly secure. Hitler seemed convinced, and made conditions for a Strasser-Schleicher- Leipart coalition—Leipart representing the trade unions. On December 7th, 1932, Gregor telephoned from Berlin to Hitler, who agreed to come from Munich next day to con- clude the negotiations. Gregor was at the station to meet him, but the Fiihrer did not arrive. He had been intercepted at Weimar by Goring and Goebbels, who had persuaded him to reject the scheme. From this moment events moved at a dizzy speed. Papen arranged with Hitler to oust Schleicher
and form a Conservative-Nazi coalition. Schleicher was overthrown, Gregor Strasser retired into private life, and Hitler became the master of Germany. Without Papen's treachery and Hindenburg's senility that- disaster would not have occurred.
Mr. Reed speaks complacently of the recent decline in Hitler's prestige. He is already a back number, we are assured, and it is time to talk of his successor. That defeat would involve his disappearance is obvious, and no one knows it better than himself. But it seems very optimistic to assert that his day is done, and we are given no reasons for this belief. Assuming, however, that the Fiihrer disappears, our author considers Goring and Otto Strasser to be likely candi- dates for the succession—the former if a patched-up peace ends an inconclusive war, the latter if we win a resounding victory. Otto Strasser hates Goring more than Hitler, and holds him mainly responsible for the murder of his brother. Most, if not all, readers will share the author's horror at the notion that we should ever be called on to shake hands with the blood-stained Field-Marshal, who lacks Hitler's excuse of abnormality. Whatever impression we • may forth of the hero of this book, he would at any rate be infinitely preferable, and we are told that he would be ready to co-operate with other exiles.
One of the reasons why many readers will fail to share the author's enthusiasm for his subject is his attitude to the Jews. Otto Strasser, needless to say, is free from Hitler's pathological aversion, but he does not accept the only satis- factory principle, namely, equal rights for all law-abiding citizens. Mr. Reed can hardly be expected to share our apprehensions, for his well-known anti-Semitism is repeatedly proclaimed. His attacks on the poor refugees from Nazi oppression who have found a temporary or permanent home in England suggest a curious blindness to one of the most ancient and honourable of English traditions. The fifty pages of the postscript in which !*e parades the familiar slogans of the Left are the least interesting in the book. " The awful fear that the idea of social progress might revive in Europe and in this country, that tbey might one day have one million pounds instead of two, icsds influential people in this country to rack their brains for a way to inflict the appearance of defeat on Germany while preserving intact in that country .the regime of its real rulers—the .magnates and 'armaments- monarchs who before 1914 nose-led it through kaiser Wilhelm and in 1933 put Hitler into power." This astonishing passage indicates that Mr. Reed knows more about the Continent, where he has spent so many fruitful years, than about his
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