"Hitler had no superior, and there was no appeal against him. The only alternative to obedience was imprisonment or death. He ruled Germany through the regular government and the increasingly powerful Nazi Party whose organizations reached every level of the population. The regime looked simple and streamlined, but Hitler, who believed in the survival of the fittest, encouraged competition among his subordinates, often appointing two people to very similar jobs, so that they would have to come to him for resolution. He rarely consulted his cabinet but relied on a loyal coterie headed by Heinrich Himmler, chief of the elite SS troops, and the Gestapo (secret police), Hermann Goring, commander of the air force and Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda. Hitler was the ultimate amateur, a skilled politician with no education but a photographic memory that enabled him to intimidate his officers. He distrusted educated specialists and believed he was right about everything. He met with his cronies over tea where he would endulge in endless monologues - tea, because he was a vegetarian and teetotaller who also firmly discouraged smoking."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Clive Foss, The Tyrants: 2,500 Years of Absolute Power and Corruption (2006), p. 141
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Adolf Hitler
1889 – 1945
deutscher Politiker (NSDAP)
526 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Adolf Hitler →
Related Quotes
"I have issued the command – and I'll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad – t…"
"But we National Socialists wish precisely to attract all socialists, even the Communists; we wish to win them over fr…"
"Hitherto, Hitler's triumphant career has been borne onwards, not only by a passionate love of Germany, but by current…"
"I am beginning with the young. We older ones are used up. Yes, we are old already. We are rotten to the marrow. We ha…"
"What Marxism, Leninism and Stalinism failed to accomplish, we shall be in a position to achieve."
"After all, that's exactly why we call ourselves National Socialists! We want to start by implementing socialism in ou…"
"The streets of our country are in turmoil. The universities are filled with students rebelling and rioting. Communist…"
"I doubt whether Chamberlain or the Government yet realise the nature of the man with whom they are dealing, or his ul…"
"This year will go down in history! For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will…"
"But first, there will have to be national socialism. Otherwise the people and their governments are not ready for the…"