After Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933, the security situation for the USSR changed significantly. The National Socialist regime was able to put into practice its political and ideological slogans that were openly hostile to the Soviet Union. Information obtained by foreign intelligence regarding the long-term intentions of the Hitler government confirmed this conclusion. Thus, in the summer of 1933, at an international economic conference in London, Reich Minister of Economics Alfred Hugenberg handed over a memorandum from his government to the leadership of the forum. It spelled out Berlin’s demands for the right to colonize a number of territories of the Soviet Union and effectively contained a call for war against Moscow. Given the harsh reaction of the USSR, Hitler attempted to deny the contents of the memorandum and disavowed Hugenberg’s statement. In addition, foreign intelligence reported that Hitler’s irritation was caused primarily by the fact that, in the memorandum, Hugenberg prematurely disclosed the fact of the existence, as early as 1933, of a secret government program that envisaged the seizure of Soviet territories and their colonization.
In June 1933, Soviet foreign intelligence reported on a confidential conversation between Hitler and the Reich Minister of Labor, Franz Seldte. The Führer, in particular, stated that “Germany must, with the assistance of England, arm itself and then, together with England, carry out an intervention into Russia.”
This information showed that Hitler’s statements about the crusade against Bolshevism did not remain only propaganda demagoguery during the struggle for power, but migrated into secret government programs and became independent directions of state policy. No less important was the fact that, thanks to foreign intelligence reports, the said plans became known to Soviet leadership in their nascent stage.
The translated Berlin Rezidentura report follows:
TOP SECRET
3 OTD INO OGPU [3rd Foreign Department of the All-Union State Political Directorate]
Dated 29 June 1933
ON HITLER’S CONVERSATION WITH SELDTE
Reich Minister for Labor and leader of Der Stahlhelm Seldte had a one-on-one conversation with Reich Chancellor Hitler late last week, after the merger of Der Stahlhelm with the NSDAP [Nazi Party]. The conversation lasted an hour and a half. Seldte tells the following about the content of this conversation, which Hitler treated as completely one-sided.
Hitler painted a broad picture of the future development of the entire world, as he imagined it, guided only by his own ideas and groundless data, speaking in the spirit of “prophecy.” Hitler declared, among other things, that the World Economic Conference would not yield any useful results. The economic situation of the entire world, and thus of Germany, could only improve when Russia could once again be included in the world economy “in full measure” and when Bolshevism, which was constantly agitating the entire world, would be torn out “by the roots”. Germany, with England’s assistance, must arm itself and then, together with England, carry out an intervention into Russia.
Seldte was extremely surprised by Hitler’s statements because, in his opinion, they completely contradicted Hitler’s previous views, which he had defended in recent months in connection with the adoption of the German-Soviet policy. According to Seldte, Hitler’s words should not be given special significance, since Hitler throughout the conversation gave the impression of a person experiencing some kind of painful spell and being in a state of “religious trance.”
Translating History 