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24 May 45
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are of a military nature. He did this 'in order . to.give.:methe.•
authority to pass his orders along in this line as to
supervise their execution. As of today*the PUEHRER has' , macle me his
secretary." So now he was secretary - tothe . FUERRER! . AndAten there
was another thing. The Minister of: Justice had to :subtit to' him the
sentences pertaining to disloyalty trialb•in the Army. BORMANN
returned them with the remark, that they were a disgrace, that such
an antagonism of the court was impossible--he would see to it that
the attorneys would be dismissed from office. He had the minister
of justice completely under his 'thumb. sByrightt',''SEYSSINQVAgT.inj
Holland should have made his reports to the State inspector,. SOWERS?
. But no, he had td give his reports directly to BORMANNThe' . Only .
- one who putup a struggle • was TERBOVEN in NorWay, but' 'he . wad .; taken .
' care of.
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G: HIMMLER said that Count BERNADOTTE had come to see him. "B:etold.mei.
"You know, he must have been the man-EISENHOWER sent nd a'.nesotiator.
I . replied: ."I can't believe that. 'Don't' take Offense,:bUt) I : doubt
whether. they will accept You as a negotiator
. -Then hertto'rtedl
"Sorry to contradict you, but I have undeniable prOof . that r'r am
considered abroad to be the only person who can maintain peace and
order." And after that, he didn't care what happened. And I thought
he might have more proof than I, and restrained myself. So 1 snide:
"T just can't picture that." . . •nd:he always'
smething: "If anything should happen to the-FUEHRER . , • and:You art
unable to take over--after r .1.1, that mighthappen-'-dt.nTectysuch
and such?" That occurred at least 10 times during thOse . .2bi 3 hours
I kept wondering: "Why should I be unable to take over?-- Why. should
I be cut off?'.....Then it suddenly dawned upon me .....POPITZ“?)2 already
had mentioned something like that...And when I mentioned that
to him (HIMMLER), he said "Well, maybe POPITZ (?). May'hhv:1-Said
something like that He might claim to know somethingBut'as far
as I am concerned it is an unheard-of'iMpertinencented to
talk with POPITZ (?) again, r.nd' .they'said :: "Of .cOurse'l l or.coUrse!"
And when I asked, when our talk'could-be arrdngedthey'.'t'Old"me:'It
may not be posSibld to arrange . it today, but On' the tomorrow."
That day' passed without the talk. - Then I Lheard :One day
that the FUEHRER had ordered POPITZ (?) 'sentenced : to death.' ''The
execution was postponcd until later.. Well ', I couldn't helpthat
either....
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G: This HIMMLER--he really startled me during this last-nonVersntion
of ours. He made the ridiculous suggestion, that nominat6him
as Chancellor upon becoming HITLER'sSuCceSsor. I rePlieetO him:
"I cannot do that, bocausu according to our constitution'the offices
of Chancellor and President are combined," Then he said: "sir, if
anything should prevent you from becoming the successor, canl'have
the job •hen?" There I replied: "my dear HIMMLER, we'll have to
wait :rld see, That will depend upon the circumstances. I can't
see what should prevent me from taking the office. What could stop
me?".... And that happened in our last ConVersatiOn at least ten .
.:imes. As I sat there, I'pleaded with him. All he would haireAo
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