Summary

Abstract

Hermann Rauschning’s book “Gespräche mit Hitler”, published first in French at the end of 1939, in German in 1940, and then translated into many other languages, was a world-bestseller. The conversations contained in this book between Hitler and Rauschning, then President of the Senate of the Free City of Danzig, took place in the years 1933 and 1934. The questions arises whether these conversations are authentic and whether or not they can be regarded as primary historical sources. There can be not doubt of the book’s deep and wide-reaching impact: Hitler’s war policy seemed to confirm its statements in many points. It still furnished evidence for the Nuremberg trial before the International Military Tribunal. After the Second World War, however, the scholarly evaluation of the book was not unanimous: while a number of historians (e. g. H. Trevor-Roper, A. Bullock), who were interested in the person and the political system of Hitler, attributed a high source value to the “Gespräche”, others (e. g. A. Jacobsen, E. Jaeckel), proceeding from particular aspects, expressed strong criticism.