Reichstag
January 30, 1934
Caution: Adolf Hitler was completely wrong about absolutely everything...usually. When Hitler said something that was actually correct, it was merely to set up the next lie. As with all good propagandists—and he certainly was that—he would begin with a few obvious, documented facts, and then proceed to distort them horribly. At any rate, the infamous German Führer’s worm-tongue rhetoric is NOT to be taken seriously, except as a classic example of the sort of masterful demagoguery from which appropriate lessons may hopefully be learned.As always, read with an abundant degree of cautious skepticism.
It was all the more difficult to apply the principles of the National Socialist movement to the economic sector because here three urgent tasks had to be tackled immediately:
1. It was necessary to introduce measures affecting trade and pricing policy in order to save the farmers who were facing utter disaster, and then to pass legislation in order to restore strong and permanent support for the farmers.
2. The ever-increasing general corruption forced us to take action to cleanse our economic life of ruthless speculators and profiteers.
3. The need to put six and a half million unemployed back to work meant that we simply could not rely on theories whose superficial appeal would all too easily have concealed the fact that today they are irrelevant and thus pointless. For when the National Socialist Revolution took over the government, one person was unemployed for every two persons who were employed. If, as was not merely to be feared but expected, the number of unemployed had increased, this ratio would soon have been reversed, thus creating a hopeless situation.
You cannot feed six and a half million unemployed by the Marxist practice of reciting fine theories; the only way is to create real jobs. And so in this first year we have already made our first general assault on unemployment. In a quarter of the time I asked for before the March elections, useful work has been found for a third of the unemployed. We attacked this problem from all directions and this is what ensured our success. As we look back on the year which has just ended, we are ready to launch a renewed attack on this problem armed with the experience we have gained from the past year. The combination of government incentives and private initiative and energy was, however, possible only because our People have renewed confidence in their leadership and in the stability of a certain economic and legal system.
Some of our opponents feel obliged to detract from the glory of our achievements by pointing out that after all the entire People have helped to achieve these goals. They are absolutely right! And we are full of pride that we have really succeeded in rallying the entire nation to help in its renewal. For this is the only way that we were able to solve the problems which defeated many earlier governments, because without this confidence they were bound to fail. And ultimately this was the only reason why this gigantic practical and partly improvised task could be so closely linked with our ideological principles.
The simple statement that the People are not there for the sake of the economy nor the economy for the sake of capital, but capital must serve the economy and the economy must serve the People, was already the Government's guiding principle in all the measures which it took in the course of the past year. This was the primary reason why the major practical measures initiated by the Government could be continued in an atmosphere of understanding and enthusiasm. By introducing tax reductions and by the wise application of government subsidies, we also succeeded in stimulating the production of raw materials to an extent which even twelve months ago most of our critics had considered completely inconceivable.
Some of the measures which were introduced to achieve this goal will not be fully appreciated until the future. This applies particularly to our promotion of the motorization of the German transport system together with the construction of the national freeway system (Reichs-Autobahnen). A solution was found for the old rivalry between the national railway system (Reichsbahn) and the automobile which will one day be of great benefit to the entire German People. We realized that in order to kick-start the economy in this first year we would have to begin by providing basic types of employment, so that the resulting increase in purchasing power of the broad mass of the population would then gradually stimulate the production of more sophisticated goods.
In the process of achieving all this we attempted by a combination of generous assistance and rigorous economies to restore order to the completely bankrupt finances of the Reich, the individual states and the local authorities.
The extent of the economic recovery can be most clearly seen from the enormous reduction in the numbers of unemployed and the no less significant increase in the entire national income for which we now have statistical evidence. Because our first priority had to be the resumption of national production and reduction of the number of unemployed, we reluctantly decided to forgo some otherwise desirable measures. It goes without saying that despite this in the course of this year numerous enemies criticized our measures. We coped with this burden and we will continue to cope with it in the future. If degenerate emigrants, who for the most part had left the now unwelcome atmosphere of their original field of operations not for political reasons but from purely criminal motives, try to mobilize a gullible world with truly villainous skill and criminal dishonesty, their lies will soon be revealed for what they are. When tens of thousands of respectable and honest men and women from other countries come to Germany they will be able to see for themselves how the descriptions given by these international "political refugees" compare with the actual reality.
Nor will we be overly concerned if some of the Communist ideologists feel they have to reverse the course of history, and to do this use sub-human elements who think that political freedom means the free expression of criminal instincts. We were able to deal with these elements when they were in power and we were the Opposition. We will be able to deal with them all the more effectively in future since they are now the Opposition and we are in power. Some of our bourgeois intelligentsia also find themselves unable to accept the hard facts of life. Well, the truth is that it is better to have these rootless intellectuals as our enemies than as our supporters, because they deliberately avoid all that is healthy and they are interested in and promote all that is sick. And I would like to add to these enemies of the new regime a little clique of incorrigible backward-looking individuals, who regard the nations of the world only as bankrupt trading posts which are just waiting for a new master, in order to find their only possible inner satisfaction under his merciful guidance. And finally I include amongst these that little group of ultra-nationalistic (völkisch) ideologists who believe that the nation would be happy only if it obliterates the experience and consequences of its two thousand year history, in order to set out again on its wanderings clad, as it were, in a bear-skin.
All these enemies within Germany number less than 2.5 million compared to more than 40 million who support the new state and its government. This two million cannot be regarded as a genuine Opposition, because they are an unruly assortment of people with the most varied opinions and ideas, completely incapable of pursuing any common positive goal, capable only of unanimously rejecting the present state. More dangerous than these are, however, two types of individuals whom we must regard as a real burden on our present and future Reich. First there are those political birds of passage who constantly appear wherever it is harvest time. These spineless individuals seize on any opportunity to join a successful movement and, either to forestall questions about their origins and their past activities, or else by way of response, they "protest too much" and indulge in super-correct behavior. The reason why they are dangerous is that they, whilst posing as supporters of the new regime, seek to pursue purely personal and selfish interests. In so doing they become a real burden to a movement for whose sake millions of decent people have for years made enormous sacrifices, without the thought even crossing their minds they might one day be rewarded for the suffering and deprivation which they accepted for the sake of their nation.
Purging the state and the Party of these persistent parasites will be an important priority especially for the future. Then the many fundamentally decent individuals who often for understandable, indeed compelling reasons, felt unable to join the movement will find their way to it, with no fear of being confused with obscure elements of this kind. And another serious threat is that host of individuals who by virtue of their hereditary disposition were born on the "debit side" of national (völkisch) life. In this case the state will have to adopt genuinely revolutionary measures. The National Socialist movement deserves great credit for having in the course of the past year already undertaken its first legislative initiative to combat the threat of this slow process of national decay. In response to concerns which have been expressed by members of various confessions who oppose this legislation, I would like to say the following:
In past decades it would have been more meaningful, more honest and above all more Christian not to have supported those people who consciously destroyed healthy life, rather than to oppose those whose sole purpose is to avoid what is unhealthy. Moreover, to adopt a policy of laissez faire in this area is not only an act of cruelty to individual innocent victims but an act of cruelty to the entire German People. If this development were allowed to proceed unhindered as it has done in the last one hundred years, the number of people living on public support would in the end become dangerously close to the number of those who ultimately would have to support the entire community. It is not the churches which feed the armies of these unfortunate individuals, it is the state. If the churches were to express their willingness to assume the responsibility for the care and maintenance of these individuals who suffer from hereditary diseases, we are perfectly willing to refrain from having them sterilized. But as long as the state is condemned to ask its citizens each year for huge sums of money which increase annually - in Germany today this already exceeds 350 million - for the maintenance of the unfortunate individuals who suffer from hereditary diseases, then the state is compelled to adopt the remedy which will, on the one hand, prevent such undeserved suffering from being passed on to future generations and, on the other, make it unnecessary to deprive millions of healthy people of the bare necessities of life so that millions of sick people can be kept alive unnaturally.
Members of the German Reichstag! Great as the achievements of the year of the National Socialist revolution and of its leadership have been, it is even more noteworthy that this major reorganization within our nation could be achieved at absolutely lightning speed and also with almost no bloodshed. It is the fate of the vast majority of revolutions that in their haste to surge ahead they lose their footing and end in a fatal collision with the hard facts of life. On the whole, however, we have succeeded in conducting this national uprising in such exemplary fashion that, with the exception of the Fascist revolution in Italy, it is without historical precedent. This is because at the time it was not a desperate and disorganized nation which raised the banner of revolt and put the torch to the existing state; it was a brilliantly organized movement whose disciplined supporters had fought for the cause for many years. For this the National Socialist party and its organizations deserve eternal credit, and credit is also due to the Brown Guard. It prepared the way for the German uprising, carried it out and concluded it with almost no bloodshed and with exemplary adherence to its program.
This miracle, however, was conceivable only because of the voluntary and complete agreement of those who as leaders of similar organizations, sought the same goals, or as its officers represented the German armed forces. It is without historical precedent that between the forces of revolution and the responsible leaders of a highly disciplined army there was such a genuine community of purpose in the service of the Nation as existed between the National Socialist party and myself as its Leader, on the one hand, and the officers and men of the German Imperial Army and the Navy, on the other.
In these past 12 months at the same time as the Steel Helmet (Stahlhelm) organization moved ever closer to National Socialism and then finally joined its ranks in a fine expression of brotherhood, the army and its commanders displayed total loyalty and obedience to the new state thus ensuring the success of our historical mission. For Germany could not have been saved by a civil war but only by the unanimous efforts of all those who even in the worst years had never lost their faith in the German People and the German Reich.
At the conclusion of this year of the greatest revolution in domestic politics, and as a special sign of the powerful unifying force of our ideal, I would like to draw attention to the fact that in a cabinet which in 1933 contained only three National Socialists, all of those ministers are still active, with the exception of one man who left of his own free will, and whom to my great pleasure I see in this room, elected as a genuine German patriot on our list. Thus the men of the government which was formed on January 30 1933 have themselves done what they demanded of the German People: put aside all their former differences and worked together to restore the honor and freedom of our People and our Reich.
The struggle to achieve the internal reorganization of the German nation and the Reich, the highest expression of which was the union of the Party and the State, of the nation with the Reich, is still ongoing. True to our Proclamation when our government took office a year ago, we shall continue it. It will determine our future domestic goals and actions, namely the strengthening of the Reich by concentrating our entire strength in an organizational structure which will finally achieve what was neglected through five hundred years of selfishness and incompetence; namely, to increase the well-being of our People in every sphere of life and to establish a culture based on moral values.
Within hours the German Reichstag will, by passing a new law, provide the Government with the additional legal powers it requires to continue the National Socialist revolution ... ...The German Government's guiding principle is that the kind of constitution and the form of government which other nations adopt has no bearing on our relationships with them. Each individual nation has the right to manage its domestic affairs as it sees fit. It is thus the right of the German People to select the appropriate intellectual content and formal structure for the organization and leadership of its state.
For many months we have been forced to observe with discomfort that the difference between our view of the world and that of other nations has caused not only a great deal of unjustified criticism of the German People and the German Reich, but also totally unjustified distrust. We have not adopted the same attitudes. In the past twelve months we have done our best to maintain good relationships between the German Reich and all other states in a spirit of reconciliation and understanding, even when there are major, indeed irreconcilable differences between these countries' conception of the state and our own. In our relations both with states which subscribe to the idea of democracy and those with an antidemocratic tendency our intention is the same, namely to find ways and means of resolving our differences and furthering international cooperation.
This alone explains why, despite the major difference between the prevailing ideologies in both countries, the German Reich this past year strove to continue its friendly relationship with Russia. Since Herr Stalin in his most recent major speech expressed the fear that forces hostile to Soviet Russia may be active in Germany, I must take this opportunity to correct this view by pointing out that Germany will no more tolerate Communist tendencies or propaganda than Russia would tolerate a German National Socialist tendency in Russia! The more clearly and distinctly this fact emerges and is respected by both parties, the easier it will become to further the mutual interests of both countries. Hence we welcome the efforts to stabilize relationships in the East by a system of pacts, provided that their guiding principles are less tactical and political in nature and intended instead to increase the prospects of peace.
For this reason and with this in mind, from its first year in office the German Government has striven to develop a new and improved relationship with the Polish state. When I took over the reins of government on January 30, the relationships between the two countries appeared to me highly unsatisfactory. Because of differences which without question had arisen out of the territorial stipulations in the Treaty of Versailles and the resulting frictions between the two parties, there was a danger that over a longer period hostility could all too easily turn into a kind of hereditary sickness affecting both countries. Quite apart from the latent dangers which a development of this nature creates, it would be an obstacle to any future profitable cooperation between the two nations. Germans and Poles must accept the reality of their mutual existence. It therefore makes sense to deal with a problem, which the previous millennium could not resolve and the next will not either, in a way that can be of most benefit to both nations.
It also seemed to me necessary to demonstrate by a concrete example that differences which undoubtedly remain must not be allowed to prevent that form of international relationship from existing which is of far greater benefit to peace, and hence the well-being of the two nations, than the political and ultimately economic paralysis which permanent distrust inevitably creates.
In a situation of this nature it seemed to me right to attempt to deal with the problems which concern the two countries by frank and open discussions, rather than to constantly entrust this task to third and fourth parties. In any case, no matter what the differences between the two countries might be in the future, the catastrophic consequences of any attempt to solve them by the force of arms would far outweigh any possible gain. The German Government was therefore happy to hear the same generous view expressed by the leader of the present Polish state, Marshall Pilsudski, and to set forth these mutual feelings in a treaty, which will not only be of equal benefit to the Polish and the German Peoples but represents a very significant contribution to the preservation of general peace. In the spirit of this treaty the German Government is ready and willing to develop economic relations with Poland in a way which will ensure that, here too, the situation of unprofitable suspicion can be followed by a period of useful cooperation. The fact that in this same year the National Socialist Government in Danzig also succeeded in achieving a similar clarification of its relationship with its Polish neighbor is a source of particular pleasure for us.
To the great regret of the Government of the German Reich the relationships between the Reich and the present Austrian Government are on the other hand not satisfactory. We are not to blame for this. The assertion that the German Reich intends to take Austria by force is absurd and cannot be supported by a shred of evidence. It is, however, self-evident that an idea which has taken hold of and so deeply moves the entire German nation cannot stop short at the frontiers of a country whose population is not only German but which, by virtue of its history as the German Eastern March (Ostmark), was for many centuries an integral part of the German Reich, whose capital for five hundred years had the honor of being the residence of the German Emperor, and whose soldiers still fought side by side with the German regiments and divisions in the World War.
In any case there is nothing strange about this if one recalls that almost all European revolutionary ideas and ideals have exerted an influence beyond the borders of individual countries. The ideas of the French Revolution, for example, seized the nations of Europe beyond the borders of France, just as today for understandable reasons Austria's Germaneness (Deutschtum) has responded to the ideals of National Socialism in natural intellectual and spiritual solidarity with the entire German People. If the present Austrian Government considers it necessary to suppress this movement using the full force of extreme measures on the part of the state, that is naturally its own business. But it must then assume personal responsibility for its policy and be prepared to answer for it. The Government of the German Reich drew the necessary conclusions from such actions only when the measures taken by the Austrian Government affected citizens of the German Reich who were resident or visitors in Austria.
The Government of the German Reich cannot possibly be expected to send its citizens to visit a country whose Government has made it abundantly clear that it regards National Socialists as such to be an undesirable element. We would not expect English and American tourists to visit Germany if national emblems and national flags were snatched from them while on German territory. The Government of the German Reich will find it equally unacceptable if Germans tourists who visit a country which is, moreover, a German country, are subjected to such humiliating treatment. For the national emblem and the swastika flag are the symbols of the present German Reich. Germans who travel abroad today are, with the exception of the emigrants, always National Socialists!
If the Austrian Government complains that Germany is preventing its citizens from traveling to a country whose government displays such hostility even to the individual supporters of an ideology which prevails in this country, it should consider this fact; if Germany did not adopt these measures, the inevitable result would be a truly intolerable situation. After all, since the citizen of the German Reich is too proud and too self-confident to permit the symbol of his national honor to be torn down, there is no other option but to refrain from visiting a country of this kind.
I must vigorously deny the additional allegation by the Austrian Government that an attack on the Austrian State may be carried out or is even planned by the Reich. The fact that today the tens of thousands of Austrian political refugees in Germany are deeply involved in what is happening in their homeland may have some regrettable consequences. However, the Reich can do no more to prevent this than the rest of the world has done in the past to prevent the active involvement of German emigrants living abroad in developments within Germany. If the Austrian Government complains about political propaganda aimed at Austria from Germany, the German Government could with greater justification complain about the political propaganda which is aimed at Germany in other countries by the political emigrants who live there. The fact that the German press appears in German and thus can also be read by the Austrian Government is possibly regrettable for the present Austrian Government, but this the German Government cannot change. When, however, German newspapers printed in circulations in the millions in non-German countries are sent to Germany, the German Government has a genuine cause for complaint, since it is inexplicable why, for example, Berlin newspapers have to be published in Prague or Paris.
How difficult it is to prevent the activities of political emigrants in their native country, is most clearly illustrated by the fact that even where the League of Nations as a sovereign entity administers the affairs of a country, it is clearly impossible to prevent the activities of emigrant circles in their former native country. Only a few days ago the German State Police again arrested sixteen Communists on the border of the Saar who were attempting to smuggle a large amount of subversive propaganda from this domain of the League of Nations into the German Reich. If something like this is possible at our very borders, one can hardly criticize the German Reich for incidents of a similar nature which are alleged to have occurred.
The Government of the German Reich intends to refrain from further complaints against its neighboring states on account of the emigrant propaganda against Germany originating from those states, which has even reached the level of a judicial farce staged in order to insult the German High Court, and at present finds its culminating expression in a wild boycott campaign. The Government of the German Reich can afford to refrain from such action because it knows that without question it represents the will of the German nation and enjoys its complete confidence. It has developed this confidence because several times in one year it has called on the German People to confirm at the ballot box that the Government enjoys its confidence. It has done this for its own reassurance and in order to inform the rest of the world and without any compulsion to do so. It would immediately invalidate the attacks which are currently directed at the Austrian Government, if that Government could also make up its mind to ask the German People in Austria to provide the world with confirmation that its wishes are identical with those of its government.
I do not, for example, believe that the Government of Switzerland, which also has millions of citizens of German nationality, could make any complaint about an attempt by German circles to intervene in its domestic affairs. It seems to me that the reason for this is that a government exists there which has the complete confidence of the Swiss People, and which thus has no need to attribute its domestic difficulties to external causes.
Without wishing to interfere in any way in the internal affairs of other states, I do feel it necessary to say one thing: no government can maintain power in the long run by force alone. Hence it will be a primary concern of the National Socialist Government of the Reich in the future to constantly determine how far the will of the Nation is embodied in the government which leads it. And in this sense we savages are really better democrats.
I, who acknowledge with pride and joy the land of our fellow Austrian brothers to be my original homeland and that of my father, must protest against the insinuation that the Austrian People's sense of identity with Germany requires any external stimulation from within the Reich. I think that even today I know my homeland and its people well enough to be sure that the strong feelings felt by sixty-six million Germans in the Reich are shared by their Austrian brothers. May fate show us a way out of this unsatisfactory situation which finally enables us to achieve genuine reconciliation of our differences. Provided the free expression of Austria's Germaneness (Deutschtum) is respected, the German Reich is prepared at any time to extend its hand in order to achieve a genuine understanding.
In the course of this survey of foreign policy I cannot neglect this opportunity to express my pleasure that in the past year the friendship with Fascist Italy, which National Socialism has always cultivated and is almost a tradition, and the great respect which the great leader of that Nation enjoys in our country has been even further strengthened by the mutual relationships of these two states. The German People are grateful for the many examples of the statesman-like and objective sense of justice which present-day Italy has shown towards Germany both at the Geneva negotiations and later. The visit by the Italian Foreign Minister, Suvich, provided us with our first opportunity in Berlin to give some measure of expression to our feelings for the Italian People, whose view of the world has so much in common with our own, and also for its outstanding statesman.
The National Socialist Government of the Reich not only made an effort to reach an understanding with Poland this past year; we also made sincere efforts to reduce the differences between France and Germany and, if possible, by means of a general settlement of our differences, to reach a final understanding. We shall never abandon the struggle to achieve equal rights for Germany, because it is a struggle for honor and justice for our People. It could, however, in my view find no better outcome than in a reconciliation between the two great nations, which in the past have so often shed the blood of their finest sons on the field of battle, without ever thereby achieving any significant change in the way things ultimately stand.
This is why I also believe that this problem cannot be seen purely and simply through the eyes of cold-blooded professional politicians and diplomats. Its final solution can only be achieved by warm-hearted decisions by those who may well have faced each other earlier as enemies, but who, because of the respect that each has for the other's bravery, are able to build a bridge to a future in which there must never be a repetition of past suffering, if Europe is not to be brought to the brink of disaster. France fears for its safety. No one in Germany has any desire to threaten France, and we are prepared to do anything to prove this.
Germany demands equal rights. No one in the world has the right to deny a great nation this, and no one will in the long run be strong enough to deny us this. For us, however, who are living witnesses to the horrors of the last war, nothing is more alien than the thought that somehow the understandable feelings and demands on both sides should lead to a desire for a new test of strength between these two nations on the field of battle, an event which could only result in international chaos.
Motivated by these feelings, in the spirit of the cooperation between the two nations which we both need and seek, I have also already attempted to achieve progress toward the resolution of the questions which otherwise could all too easily inflame passions again.
My suggestion that Germany and France together should already solve the problem of the Saar now was based on the following considerations:
1. This is the only territorial dispute between the two nations which remains to be settled. The German Government is ready and willing, once this question is settled, to accept the Locarno Pact not only in letter but in spirit, since there will no longer then be any territorial disputes between France and Germany.
2. The German Government fears that although the plebiscite will result in a huge majority in favor of Germany, nevertheless, in the course of the preparations for the plebiscite a new propaganda campaign deliberately inspired by irresponsible emigrant circles will inflame nationalist passions. Since the outcome is beyond doubt this would be completely superfluous and regrettable.
3. Regardless of the outcome of the plebiscite, it would still leave behind a feeling of defeat in one of the two nations. And even if an outburst of joy were then to explode in Germany, we would nevertheless find it preferable, - from the point of view of achieving reconciliation between the two countries - if a solution equally acceptable to both sides could be found before the plebiscite.
4. We are convinced that if France and Germany had resolved and settled this question beforehand in a joint draft treaty, the entire population of the Saar would vote in a plebiscite with a huge majority in favor of this settlement. The result would be that the right of the population of the Saar to cast their votes would have been exercised, without either of the two interested nations having to regard the outcome as a victory or defeat. It would also be impossible for propaganda to disturb the development of mutual understanding between the German and French Peoples.
Today I still regret the fact that France was unable to accept this point of view. Nevertheless I shall not abandon the hope that despite this in both nations the will to reach a genuine settlement of differences and to bury the hatchet will become stronger and stronger and finally prevail. If this does come about, Germany's unshakeable demand for equal rights will then no longer be seen as a threat to the security of the French nation, but as the natural right of a great nation, with which they will not only live as political friends but enjoy so many common economic interests.
We welcome the efforts of the British Government and are grateful for their assistance in our attempts to develop friendly relationships. With an open mind and in the spirit which, as I attempted to describe in my speech in May, inspires our foreign policy, we shall study the draft of a new disarmament treaty which I was given yesterday by the British Ambassador.
The German Government this past year decided to withdraw from the disarmament conference and the League of Nations only because the treatment of the question of the greatest concern to Germany, - the granting of equal rights together with an international agreement about the level of armaments - was no longer reconcilable with what I felt obliged to establish in May as the essential prerequisite, both for the national security of the German Reich and the honor of our People. And at this time I can only repeat before the entire world that no threat and no use of force will ever persuade the German People to give up its claim to those rights which cannot be denied a sovereign nation.
I can, however, also assure the world that this sovereign nation has no other desire than to apply the force and the weight of its political, moral and economic values with great pleasure not only to the task of healing the wounds which a past era has inflicted on the human race, but also in the service of cooperation between those civilized nations which cherish moral values and which, as an English statesman has rightfully stated, by their intellectual accomplishments and their labor make life on this earth beautiful and truly worth living.
Chancellor Adolf Hitler <—Meh! What an insufferable bore.
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Hitler and Göring were arguing about the Jews, with Göring stating that they were quite clever people and Hitler vehemently denying they were any such thing. Finally Göring told Hitler that they should go shopping in Berlin and Göring would show Hitler it was true. Hitler agreed, so they disguised themselves and went out on the street.
Göring took Hitler into a shop, went up to the counter, and asked the clerk: "Do you have any left-handed teacups?" The clerk stared at Göring for a moment and then said no, mein herr, I do not.
The two left with Hitler complaining that he did not understand what the point of this was and Göring telling him to be patient. They went to another shop and Göring gave the same act: "Do you have any left-handed teacups?" The clerk stared and shrugged his shoulders.
They left with Hitler becoming incensed over this nonsense and Göring begging for patience. Finally they went into a Jewish shop; Göring again asked the clerk: "Do you have any left-handed teacups?"
The clerk smiled graciously, went into the back room and made a show of rummaging around, brought out a saucer and teacup, set down the saucer, and carefully placed the cup with the handle pointed so Göring could pick it with his left hand. "There you are, mein herr!" the clerk said.
Göring bought the teacup, thanked the clerk, and the two men left. Göring turned to Hitler and said: "See, I told you the Jews were very clever people."
"I don't see what was so clever about that," Hitler snapped. "He just happened to have one in stock!"