My Life

My Life - Oswald MosleyEngland a long essay entitled 'The World Alternative', which gave in detail my ideasof an European policy for maintaining world peace. It was then published in Germany,rather to my surprise, as I had made no such suggestion, and attracted considerableattention when it appeared in Geopolitik, a magazine conducted by an outstandingeditor, Herr Haushofer. It never occurred to me to send it to Hitler or to raise thequestion with any German; rather slow of me, in fact. Diana was in Berlin soon afterthe essay's publication, and was invited to luncheon at the Reichskanzlerei. She wasshown into a room where she was alone, and shortly afterwards Hitler entered. Hewas holding in his hand Geopolitik, and began by saying in the whimsical fashion ofone of his moods: 'You know they say I never read anything'. Then giving her themagazine: 'You may examine me on any part of this article, because I have read everyline of it'. He added: 'Es ist fabelhaft'. My readers will be aware that this word inGerman does not mean the stuff of which fables are made, but rather denotes anexcellence in the subject and an agreement with its contents. Well, there is the storyfor what it is worth. At any rate, it indicates that Hitler would not have turned downflat any such policy from our side. Whether the whole thing was a trick to mask adesign for world domination will be considered in detail in the next chapter. In anycase that would have made no difference to me, as for years I had advocated therearmament of Britain against any contingency, and with the system of Westernalliances I envisaged could have frustrated that plan if it had ever existed. Try for thebest but prepare for the worst is with me a first principle.The word Jew was never mentioned in my discussions with Hitler. I never raised itbecause I do not believe in interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, andcertainly I do not believe in risking war because some particular minority is beingtreated badly elsewhere. Disraeli resisted on the same ground of principle Gladstone'sdemands for war because the Turks were treating the Bulgarians badly; far worse thanthe Jews were treated in Germany before the war. If in the modern world we adopt theprinciple of fighting everywhere that someone is having a bad time, we shall neverhave a day without war. The duty of statesmen is not to look for trouble, but toprevent a world explosion. There seemed no reason to me why the particular Jewishcase should be an exception to this rule. I publicly condemned the treatment of theJews in Germany before the war, but did not make it into an issue which might havecaused war between our two countries. I stood for peace as the first interest of mycountry and of mankind.It is true that people were in prison and concentration camps in Germany before thewar, as some of us were in prison and concentration camps in England without chargeor trial during the war, and I am prepared to believe they were badly treated, though Ihad no proof of it. The only account I had at first hand of those conditions was fromGeneral Fuller—architect of the British tank arm in the First World War—soon afterhe became a member of our party. He was doing a tour of Germany, map in hand, andsuddenly said to his companions, who were high officials of the National SocialistParty: I see we are near Dachau, I want to visit it. They went straight there and touredthe camp without warning. He saw prisoners, but no evidence in those pre-war days ofany ill-treatment, beyond the usual rough jail standards. It was only in the war thatmass murder was let loose, and it was only in the war that it could have run riot indeadly secret.Some would say that it should have been possible to see from Hitler's whole character309 of 424