Description:

ITT'S PROFITEER FOUNDER MEETS PRIVATELY WITH ADOLF HITLER
An incredible archive of 16 letters and documents documenting the efforts of the founder of American telephone and electronics giant International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) to privately meet with Nazi Fuhrer Adolf Hitler in November, 1937...a meeting that no doubt led to enormous advantages for both of these incredibly powerful men. SOSTHENES BEHN (1884-1957) served in the U.S. Army in World War I, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. His founding of the Puerto Rico Telephone Co. spawned ITT, leading to a monopoly of telephone services in Spain and eventually the creation of a huge telephone and electronics empire. He first met with Hitler in 1933, along with German ITT leader Henry Mann. ITT subsidiary, Lorenz, purchased a 25% stake on Focke-Wulf, manufacturers of German bombers that devastated England, and ITT owned Huth and Co., which made radio and radar parts used by the Wehrmacht. By 1936, ITT's stake in Focke-Wulf had grown to 74%, the profits from these German ventures (even though technically nationalized) still accruing to ITT but reinvested further in arms-related plants and equipment in Germany. During the war, ITT is alleged to have also exported patents and techniques to its German plants, and to have bribed Heinrich Himmler himself. In this series of documents, arrangements are made for 'Colonel Behn' to again receive a private audience with Hitler. The first document is a retained copy of a Oct. 15, 1937 cover letter on Presidential Chancellery and State Secretary letterhead by senior diplomat WALTHER HINRICHS (1882-1964), marked 'Very urgent', noting that: 'Colonel Behn will be remaining in Paris for some further period, and would be prepared to come to Berlin for the purpose. If your Ministry supports an audience, some date after the 25th of this month could be considered...' On Oct. 23, 1937 ERICH BOLTZE (1891-1981), German diplomat and Deputy Chief of Protocol sends a 1p. 4to. letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to OTTO MEISSNER advising that the Consul in New York strongly supports an audience with Hitler. Four days later, on Oct. 27, 1937, State Secretary OTTO MEISSNER writes and signs notes to his official file in the Chancellery. He states that Hitler will meet with Behn at 1:00 PM on November 4th at Hitler's personal residence at 73 Wilhelmstrasse. He asks that 'a note on his personal background' be prepared and asks who will accompany him. On the 28th, Meissner sent a letter to GERHARD WESTRICK (1889-1957), Behn's representative and chairman of ITT's German subsidiary, as well as a representative of other major American companies. A retained copy of this letter is present, setting forth again the date, place and time of Behn's audience with Hitler, sending a 'card for admission for entrance into the 'Reich President's Residence'...' and noting that the attire would be 'Black jacket'. On Nov.1,1937 Westrick's offices in Berlin respond to Meissner's invitation on Behn's behalf: '...In the name of the Chairman [of ITT], Colonel Behn, I send my sincere thanks...Colonel Behn has asked me to submit to you the following further request:- Mr. Henry Mann, the manager of Brown Harriman & Co., New York [a major investment firm where he allegedly worked as a deal-finder while also serving as German ITT president]...the bank associated with International Telephone & Telegraph Corporation, took part in the previous audience with the Fuhrer...granted to the Colonel...three years ago...' He asks if Mann could attend this audience as well, noting that he would be able to add his impressions of America through German eyes to the conversation as well. On Nov. 2, 1937, VICCO VON BULOW-SCHWANTE (1891-1970), Chief of Protocol and later Ambassador to Belgium sends a signed letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to OTTO MEISSNER enclosing a personal note to be given to Behn, as well as: '...suggestions for the Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor's talk with him...' Also present are two pages of typed draft biographical notes on Behn. It notably remarks he descends from Hamburg families, and: '...he cannot take an indifferent view of German interests...friendly towards Germany in his personal outlook...favorable judgement of circumstances in Germany...Behn is - through the I.T.T. and the firms of Lorenz - a tough competitor, in the world market, of the Reich Post Office and the Siemans factory. The methods which Behn pursues in competition...should come in for complaint time to time from the German side...The following themes are put forward for use in conversation: German cultural activities in the U.S.A. are widely interpreted in the American press - falsely - as political propaganda...German trade with the U.S.A. has not yet recovered...not granted us most-favored-nation treatment in trade matters...We also do not understand how the U.S. government could not be in a position to end the boycott of German goods. Finally, mention could be made of our efforts for peace, together with the legitimacy of our colonial demands...' There is also a typed double-spaced condensed version of these notes which were used by Meissner during the actual audience with Hitler, which Meissner also attended. He annotates the document: 'Behn and his banking colleague Mann were received today by the Fuhrer. Dr. Schmidt, the engineering expert, and I were also present. File. M[eissner].' A Nov. 3 retained copy of a letter from the Meissner's office indicates that Mann had been approved to attend the meeting, and indicates the license plate of the car which will bring Behn and Mann to meet Hitler. The contents of this letter are formalized in a signed letter of the same date sent by ERICH BOLTZE (1891-1981), German diplomat and Deputy Chief of Protocol from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Meissner. On Nov. 6, 1937 the offices of Behn's legal representative, Gerhard Westrick writes to Meissner thanking him for arranging the audience. Interestingly, they note: 'I acknowledge the information you gave me by telephone, namely that the intention is to refrain from giving any publicity in Germany to the audience...I can let you know that Colonel Behn also does not envisage issuing a report in the American press about his private audience...' Present also is a retained copy of a letter sent by Meissner to the Protocol Offices noting that Behn had asked for a signed photograph of Hitler following their meeting, 'in memory of this reception'. Meissner enclosed the silver framed photo (not present) and asked that it be forwarded. With this letter is a typed note obviously placed before Hitler indicating that the photo should simply be inscribed: 'Berlin, den 4. November 1937. Adolf Hitler' (with no dedication). Finally, there is a three page carbon copy of a report sent on Nov. 24, 1937 from the German Consulate in New York to Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin. It notes that Behn was one of the few industrial leaders who 'campaigned for the new Germany...[ITT] is the only business building in New York where the swastika has been hoisted by an American company...he [politically] disagrees with almost all the other heads of American companies...' The report also dismisses any fear of the American government seizing international communication lines in times of war. Almost all of these documents are accompanied by full translations. This is a fascinating, frighteningly revealing archive documenting the close, secret relations between American business and Nazi Germany. We suspect that the agenda of the meeting was much more than the pre-meeting notes reveal. The very day after meeting Behn, Hitler declared that economic problems were causing Germany to fall behind in the arms race with Britain and France, and that the only solution was to launch a series of wars to seize Austria and Czechoslovakia, whose economies would be plundered to give Germany the lead in the arms race. On March 12, 1938 German troops marched into Austria, and the country was soon absorbed into 'Greater Germany'. When Hitler talked of nationalizing ITT's Austrian subsidiary, Behn made yet another visit. The result? ITT's Austrian operations were placed control of its Berlin offices, and the staff was purged of all Jews - including the director. Colonel Behn died in 1957 and was buried with honors in Arlington Cemetery.

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August 24, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Chesapeake City, MD, US

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