Remarks of Adolf Hitler In and About Landsberg Prison
Hitler reading a newspaper in Landsberg Prison in 1924
Account by Kurt Ludecke of His Visit with Hitler in May 1924 (excerpt):
"From now on," he [Hitler] said, "we must follow a new line of action. It is best to attempt no large reorganization until I am freed, which may be a matter of months rather than of years."
I must have looked at him somewhat incredulously.
"Oh, yes," he continued, "I am not going to stay here much longer. When I resume active work it will be necessary to pursue a new policy. Instead of working to achieve power by an armed coup, we shall have to hold our noses and enter the Reichstag against the Catholic and Marxist deputies. If outvoting them takes longer than outshooting them, at least the results will be guaranteed by their own constitution! . . . .
Any lawful process is slow. But already, as you know, we have thirty-two Reichstag deputies under this new program . . . . Sooner or later we shall have a majority—and after that, Germany. I am convinced this is our best line of action, now that conditions in the country have changed so radically . . . . it is best to attempt no large reorganization until I am freed. I don't want anyone to have the opportunity to replace me while I am locked up here."
Account by N. S. Kugler, a German-Bohemian Nazi Party Member of His Visit with Hitler in July 1924 (excerpt):
Yes, yes, it is quite correct that I have changed my opinion concerning the methods of fighting Jewry. I have come to the realization that I have been far too soft up to now! While working on my book, I have finally come to realize that the harshest methods of fighting must be employed in the future if we are to win. I am convinced that this is not only a matter of life and death for our people but for all peoples. The Jew is a world pest.
Hitler's Recounting of His Trial and Release from Landsberg Prison:
It was a queer experience when the Mufti of the prison came to tell me, with all sorts of circumlocution, and panting with emotion: "You're free!" I couldn't believe it was true. I'd been sentenced to six years!
I owe my liberation to the juryman Hermann, a scowling, supercilious man, who throughout the trial had looked at me with a grim expression. I supposed him to be a member of the Bavarian People's Party, reflecting that the Government had doubtless appointed jurymen to suit it.
Through Hermann I learnt the details of my trial. The jury wanted to acquit them. On the evidence of my defense, they were convinced that Kahr, Lossow and Seisser must have been equally guilty. They were informed of the objection that an acquittal might entail the risk of having the affair referred to the Court at Leipzig. This made the jury reflect. They decided it was prudent to have me found guilty, the more so as they had been promised a remission of the sentence after six months. This had been a little piece of knavery on the Court's part, for they had no reason to suppose that an appeal by the public prosecutor could have resulted in the case being referred to the Supreme Court. In fact it's certain that Kahr, Lossow and Seisser would not have appeared at Leipzig. Since the promise of conditional liberation was not kept, Hermann wrote to the Government informing it that the three jurymen would appeal to public opinion if I were not set free immediately.
When I left Landsberg, everybody wept (the Mufti and the other members of the prison staff)—but not I! We'd won them all to our cause.
Sources:
Kershaw, I. Vol. 1, Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris (1998).
Trevor-Roper, Hitler's Table Talk 1941-1944: His Private Conversations (1951).