Lot 7
ARCHIVES OF A BATTALION OF THE S.A. "REGIMENT MUNICH": THE MILITARY FORCE BEHIND HITLER'S "BEER HALL PUTSCH"
Most important archive of documents concerning the First Battalion of the "Regiment Munich" of the Sturmabteilung (S.A.), the paramilitary force used by Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP as a "bludgeon" to coerce public and governmental acceptance of their political needs. This regiment, headed by WILHELM BRUCKNER (who signs many of the documents included), would be the principal tool used by Hitler's in his attempt to seize control of the Bavarian government in his abortive putsch on November 8-9, 1923.
The archive is extensive and detailed, and covers the tumultuous period from April through early November, 1923 which saw skyrocketing inflation, the Bavarian government turned into a virtual dictatorhip, and riots in the streets. The files, perhaps 300 pages of all types of records, cover many different aspects of the administration of the First Battalion of the Regiment Munich, which included four companies and a band.
The most important part of this archive consists of about 55 separate typed orders (mimeographed) sent from the Regiment Munich (and so ink-stamped at top) to the First Battalion, 90pp. total, large 4to., covering the period from July 9 - Nov. 7, 1923. Of these, of greatest interest are orders and directives concerning the period Sep. 25, 1923 until Hitler's putsch of Nov. 8-9, 1923. On Sep. 25th Hitler learned that Bavarian Prime Minister Eugen von Knilling would declare a state of emergency. On Sep. 26th, Knilling appointed Gustav von Kahr state commissioner with dictatorial governing powers. Together with Bavarian State Police head Col. Hans Ritter von Seisser and Reichswehr Gen. Otto von Lossow, Kahr formed a triumvirate. Fearing he would lose any influence in the new government, Hitler immediately mobilized the S.A. On Sep. 25, the Regiment Munich sends an order relaying Hitler's announcement of 14 upcoming mass meetings and ordered the First Battalion to six different locations including the Lowenbraukellar, Arzbergerkeller, and other meeting points. Phones lines are to be manned, and bomb attempts are to be reported immediately. Passwords are set, paramedics are to be made ready, and police confrontations are to be avoided at all costs. Also issued the same day is a 2pp. 4to. signed carbon copy by WILHELM BRUCKNER headed: "TOP SECRET! Do not allow to fall into the hands of the enemy! Mobilizing plan of the Regiment Munich…". There follows 24 points: "…the password for the mobilization will be 'Mobilization'… all communications must be made not by telephone but in person or by bicyclist…we will supply trucks and cars which will travel through the districts to secure the march…the march must occur within eight hours of mobilization…storm troopers must be advised that…weapons must be brought with them…surrounding [S.A. groups] are to be immediately requisitioned…fifty men are to secure the Prinzregenten Bridge…wear their steel helmets…all storm troopers are to move out unseen and without putting on armbands…". Over the following weeks, calm prevailed until about one week before the putsch, when preparations for a takeover regained momentum: Hitler and Hermann Goring, chief of the S.A., will attend roll calls, [Nov. 2] the entire regiment is to appear for march at a mourning rally on the German memorial day (Nov. 4) and be prepared for "other events"; [Nov. 3] marching instructions for Nov. 4 are set forth, and proper behavior during the march, including posture, salutes, etc. (signed by Bruckner). Interestingly, Hitler first planned to kidnap Kahr, Seisser and Lossow at that very march. A single mimeographed page with holograph notes, originally part of a larger document, bears instructions for the First Battalion for the "Upcoming Mobilization". This can only be a draft of final company orders prepared for the day of the "Beer Hall Putsch", Nov. 8, 1923. It reads in part: "…The mobilizing order will be brought personally by the Adjutant…the meeting point for the First Battalion…will be at the Arzberger Keller…companies will gather in their own alarm quarters…on the streets the companies are to be protected in front and back…if necessary the district will be protected by a truck outfitted with machine guns…the first company will take over the security of the Arzberger Keller with all available people…the command post of the battalion with be at the Arzbergerkeller…companies will immediately lay down a plan of the points where cars, bicycles, horses can be requisitioned…only when the battalion gives the order…people seen looting will be immediately shot on my orders…every S.A. man will bring his weapons…". On November 8, between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m., the First Battalion of the Munich Regiment assembled in the Arzberger Keller. Then, after Bruckner had distributed weapons to his men, he marched these men to join Hitler at the Bürgerbräukeller, where he arrived at about 11:30 p.m. and placed himself under his leader's command. Of course, the putsch failed, Bruckner, Hitler, and other putsch leaders and participants would be jailed, and the S.A. would be temporarily outlawed.
Other orders included in this archive address the day-to-day operation of the regiment and battalions: S.A. members should avoid the press, instructions for a mass meeting with a directive for proper dress, flags to be brought, etc.: "…bring all your company flags (swastika flags, kriegs flags, and the black, white and red flags)…Herr Hitler would like to decorate the meeting hall in style with all flags…"; proper behavior at meetings; information on out-of-town meetings and demonstration, and when wearing S.A. uniforms is approved; sharpshooter training; fundraising efforts; access to Hitler: "…without question every company leader can speak to Herr Hitler personally. That this will not occur at a large meeting is understood…[there] duty leaders will protect Herr Hitler…"; an order of non-violence against communists on July 29-30, 1923 (date of communist protests against fascism) while First Battalion sends men undercover to attend communist meetings to watch for a putsch; a ban on "German evenings", ie: a night of drinking and carousing, on Hitler's orders; lessons and exercises being undertaken, helmet painting, communist and Marxist efforts to convert S.A. members, disciplinary activities, funeral processions for fallen comrades, an offer of blankets for 120 billion marks each, an order that members not wear medals they did not earn; etc. Almost all have been signed by Battalion Adjutant Willy Meyer (some signed in the carbon copy), three signed in pencil by Bruckner.
There is a great deal of ephemera directly related to the operation of the battalion, as important historically perhaps as the orders received from above. It includes the organization's rules, a hand-drawn sheet showing various shoulder boards designed for officers, tallies of men present in certain companies on certain dates; inventories of pistols, machine guns and grenades on hand and expenditures made to increase stocks thereof; reports on encounters with communists; multiple pencil notes concerning staffing parades and marches; orders expelling and accepting members; requests for funds; recommendations for various positions; lesson plans for shooting, first aid, and drill; transfers; listing of officers' names; a lesson plan for various units and companies; S.A. muster roles; blank duty plans; requests for letters; requisitions for armbands, commemorative coins, drums, cockades, IDs, etc.; company report requests; member biographical files (blank); menu for a company dinner; issuance of clothing and uniforms; four sheets of typed poetry including "Watch on the Rhine" and "In Treue Fest"; four S.A. handbills "To All S.A.!" asking members of other right-wing splinter groups on Hitler's behalf to join the S.A.; shooting club membership cards; various checks and receipts; miscellaneous correspondence; newspaper clippings; a mimeographed sheet showing symbols used on maps by the International Communist Party, including locations of gun and explosives depots, post offices to be destroyed, etc.
This is certainly a most important trove of information revealing a great deal of the inner workings of the S.A.'s most valued regiment at it's most crucial time in history. Never before offered for sale, it warrants further careful research. Overall very good to fine condition.
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