Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

Chapter VIIIWAR IN THE RUHRONE NOVEMBER AFTERNOON IN THE YEAR 1922, Adolf Hitlerleft the Cafe Heck, near the Munich Court Garden, where he usuallyspent the middle of the day sitting with friends. He went directly acrossthe Odeonsplatz, a magnificent broad square enclosed by stone palacesand churches. Perhaps, without any foreboding of the frightful futurethat was impending, he glanced at the so-called Feldherrn Halle, ashadowy, gray building— an imitation of the Italian town hall decoratedwith high arched niches — which is at the southern side of the square.He entered, through an inconspicuous little door, one of the old houseswhich seemed to blink at the beautiful square indifferently, out of dark,deeply sunken windows that resembled half-closed eyes. On the firstfloor he asked if he might speak to the minister, for the old buildinghoused the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. It is possible that theofficial in the foyer asked him impatiently, 'The minister? Yes, and whoare you?' Hitler could have answered, 'The most famous man in the city,the most controversial figure in the country, the most enigmatic personof the times, the best beloved and the most hated human of this day,'and the official, suddenly understanding, would very probably haveanswered: 'That is not possible! I pictured you as wholly different.' Forof the millions who had already heard of Hitler, there were only a fewhundred, perhaps only dozens, who had seen him close to. For all therest his form existed only in fantasy. He had no wish to be seen. Heslipped through the streets unobtrusively, whenever