This story was retold from a section on the Battle of Coburg from Kurt Ludecke's book "I new Hitler",
On that day in 1922 Hitler was invited to "German Day" in Coburg and
asked to bring a few friends. I have written before that Hitler, if
nothing else, was an exceptional opportunist. He rented an entire train
and filled it with 800 of his followers (virtually the whole Party) and
even bought his own 42 piece band, planning to take the town by storm.
Ludecke is ecstatic when he writes about what happen in Coburg.
Remember, in 1922 Hitler was a nobody on the German national scene; only
his fanatical little band of followers thought anything would come of
the "little man with the silly mustache. Most Germans had never even
seen the swastika! According to Ludecke, "amassed burghers and wide-eyed
Jews almost fell out of the express trains which passed them." Hiring
the train was a huge bluff, the Nazi party had no money. Every man who
climbed on the train bought one or more tickets, often with his last
marks.
Coburg was a town which had long been dominated by Marxists. And the Marxists, of course, wanted no part of the Nazi "foreigners". When the Nazis arrived at Coburg, a uniformed policeman told them they could not march into the city with bands playing or flags flying. The words were music to the "opportunist" ears. Hitler pushed aside the policeman and they marched into the center of town, all flags flying, all instruments blaring. A crowd of thousands threatened to bar their way. No one was sure who these fanatics from Munich were. Suddenly some of the crowd (mostly Marxists) ,began to throw things and a furious fight ensued for perhaps 15 minutes. In time most of the crowd began to join the Nazis and before long they had won over the townspeople. Here, at last, they saw a savior" from the Communist repression. The town officials, of course, were not impressed or happy. The next day as the Nazis triurnphantly boarded the train, Hitler was told the "Reds" would not run the train back to Munich. Again, Hitler saw an opportunity. He told the officials that he and his group would run the train themselves, but they would first kidnap every Communist they could find and would take them back to Munich on the commandeered train. What would then happen to the Communists was left to everyone's active imaginations. The Communists capitulated, the train ran. Hitler won!- Contributed by Erich S.
Coburg was a town which had long been dominated by Marxists. And the Marxists, of course, wanted no part of the Nazi "foreigners". When the Nazis arrived at Coburg, a uniformed policeman told them they could not march into the city with bands playing or flags flying. The words were music to the "opportunist" ears. Hitler pushed aside the policeman and they marched into the center of town, all flags flying, all instruments blaring. A crowd of thousands threatened to bar their way. No one was sure who these fanatics from Munich were. Suddenly some of the crowd (mostly Marxists) ,began to throw things and a furious fight ensued for perhaps 15 minutes. In time most of the crowd began to join the Nazis and before long they had won over the townspeople. Here, at last, they saw a savior" from the Communist repression. The town officials, of course, were not impressed or happy. The next day as the Nazis triurnphantly boarded the train, Hitler was told the "Reds" would not run the train back to Munich. Again, Hitler saw an opportunity. He told the officials that he and his group would run the train themselves, but they would first kidnap every Communist they could find and would take them back to Munich on the commandeered train. What would then happen to the Communists was left to everyone's active imaginations. The Communists capitulated, the train ran. Hitler won!- Contributed by Erich S.
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