My Battle Against Hitler Read online

  True to my promise, I had also spoken to Schuschnigg about Wilhelm Wolf in an attempt to soften Fr. Alois’ comments about Wolf. This was very stupid of me, as I later discovered—too late unfortunately. Schuschnigg had made a positive impression on me. He was still quite young at the time, about thirty-six, I think. There was something clean, elegant, and cultivated about him.

  On this day, or perhaps earlier, I visited Funder,*52 the publisher and editor in chief of the Reichspost. I forgot to say that my article had appeared a few days earlier in the Reichspost, I think while I was in Hallein. A notice announcing my dismissal from the University of Munich had also appeared in the Reichspost. It was a short notice with the heading, “Dietrich von Hildebrand Dismissed!”, yet with a certain hint of outrage over my dismissal, as if to say, “this goes too far.” Klaus emphasized how important it was that I should seek out Funder on the grounds that a leading journalist had much more influence than I thought.

  Funder received me with great warmth, and when I told him that I wanted to settle in Vienna, he clapped his hands enthusiastically. I no longer recall how much I told him about our plans. In any event, he encouraged me warmly and perhaps even offered suggestions for how I might go about getting a meeting with Dollfuss. He was very enthusiastic about my article in the Reichspost. I think it was already on this occasion that Funder asked me whether Klaus was Jewish—when I was alone with him. To take Klaus for Jewish revealed the complete lack of an eye for typically Jewish features. Yet Funder’s question revealed that mistrust for the Jews—that old “Luegerian” anti-Semitism*53—was also widespread among members of the Christian Social Party. Later on I still often encountered this anti-Semitism in Vienna.

  The next day I went to see the adjutant in charge of scheduling audiences with Dollfuss. I waited for hours. Several people were there and I was the last in line. But when my turn finally came, I was told that Dollfuss had to ride immediately to Salzburg in order to speak with Rintelen*54 on the train. Rintelen, who was then governor in Graz and sympathetic toward Nazism, was on rather tense terms with Dollfuss. My chances of meeting with Dollfuss were thereby frustrated. It was uncertain how long Dollfuss would stay in Salzburg. I had the feeling that my chances of seeing him in Vienna were very slim, and it occurred to me that I might have greater success in Salzburg. I think I had already tried twice to get an audience with him. Now my third attempt was also turning out to be unsuccessful, thanks to Dollfuss’ trip to Salzburg.

  Waiting in attendance on people, especially when it requires self-promotion, is among the most uncomfortable things imaginable. The adjutant said to me sympathetically, “I can well understand your desire to see him; after all, it is your livelihood that is at stake.” This only added to my dejection. I was not here to find a position but to offer something to Dollfuss in his interest, that is, in the interest of Austria. The adjutant saw in me a man whose only interest lay in finding a position—and, of course, one among many, even countless others, who came every day. This was all very depressing, so I decided to travel to Salzburg to attempt to speak with Dollfuss there. If this failed, I would try to secure a later meeting with Dollfuss with plenty of advance preparation, while returning to Florence for the time being. Klaus would remain in Vienna to prepare for the founding of the journal by raising more money for it.

  So I left for Salzburg. In the meanwhile I had lost all my fear of being seen there, despite the fact that objectively nothing had changed in the political situation. My attempt to speak with Dollfuss in Salzburg did not meet with success, as he had already left the next day.

  Around the beginning of October, von Hildebrand decided to go to Vienna a second time, this time making preparations to meet Dollfuss. His friend Fr. Alois Mager suggested enlisting the help of his friend Gottfried Domanig (1895–1964), who was a close friend of Dollfuss. Von Hildebrand agreed and also went to stay with another person who might help him, Walter Breitenfeld (1878–1967), a prominent Catholic who lived in Saalfelden, a town near Salzburg.

  Walter Breitenfeld picked me up at the train station in Saalfelden and drove me to his country house which sat on a large property. He was a man of about fifty-five years. He wore the traditional Austrian dress, and in general there was something outspokenly Austrian in his speech. But most importantly, he was an ardent Austrian patriot. We were very much in agreement about Nazism, which to my delight he rejected completely.

  On the first day of my stay with the Breitenfelds (or was it the second?), news came that there had been an assassination attempt on Dollfuss. I was terribly upset and full of worry. So many of our hopes—for the continued struggle against Nazism and for Austria’s awakening and recovery of its own identity—depended on the person of Dollfuss! The objective loss for Austria and for the world would have been enormous had the assassination attempt succeeded, while for me personally it would have meant the undoing of all my hopes. Thank God he was not injured. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God.

  Breitenfeld was certainly for Dollfuss, but not to the degree I would have liked. He and Dollfuss had previously been colleagues, when Breitenfeld had held the same position in Burgenland as Dollfuss had had in Lower Austria. For this reason, he felt himself to be at least equal if not even superior to Dollfuss. He was an enthusiastic monarchist, and here we were again very much of one mind. He was also a very committed Catholic, which of course greatly won me over for him. He had previously served as president of “Logos,” the Catholic intellectual association in Vienna with which I had already been familiar for many years. Breitenfeld struck me as a little too self-assured and at times he could be too sweeping in his judgments. He was also not entirely free of a certain anti-Semitism. These qualities certainly made me uneasy.

  Yet he and his wife were very friendly to me, truly receiving me with the greatest warmth. They even offered to let me stay at their residence in Vienna located on Gumpendorfer-Strasse, with which I was quite familiar. They gave me the key and urged me to make myself completely at home. Breitenfeld was not close enough to Dollfuss to provide me with an introduction, nor was he able to contribute any important suggestions regarding my plans. But the days with him were stimulating and the relationship to him and his wife delightful and rewarding.

  Von Hildebrand looked forward to having friends he could trust in Vienna when, as he hoped, he would be visiting the city frequently. The Breitenfelds told him of several friends, including leading legitimists who advocated for a restoration of the Habsburg monarchy. He stayed at the Breitenfelds’ apartment in Vienna, near the house in which he had lived in 1911 and 1912, and in which his son Franzi had been born. “The unique world of Vienna,” he writes, “spoke to me in a much more intimate and potent way than it had on my visit six weeks before.”

  Klaus’ wife, Anneli, had also come to Vienna after visiting her parents. She had found an apartment very near the Danube Canal in the center city, not far from the beautiful church of Maria Stiegen. Klaus told me how he had already spoken once with Minister Ludwig,*55 the chief of the Austrian government press office. Klaus was full of hope, and Brüll and Marcuse continued to be interested. I still remember going with Klaus to the Prater.*56 We sat there in a café drinking coffee while music played from records which transported me back to my life here in 1912. It was a popular tune. The sun was shining though it was somewhat pale—and I do not know why I so strongly perceived the contrast between the atmosphere evoked by the music and the world in which I was now living. And I don’t mean the “world” embodied by the city of Vienna, so unique, grand, and beautiful, which stood out with particular clarity in light of the entire political situation and the awakening of Austria to its identity.

  Soon after my arrival, I received a dinner invitation from the Domanigs who lived in Klosterneuburg. It was a very lovely evening with them, and I was very happy to see Mrs. Domanig again, whom I had not seen since 1924 when she had attended one of my afternoons in Munich following her return from Rome. She was engaged (though not yet offi
cially) to Domanig at the time, whom she had gotten to know in Rome while she was working as secretary for Pastor.*57 Domanig delighted me: his seriousness and his deep piety were paired with a distinctively Austrian gracefulness which I found charming.

  The rapport that soon developed between us was lively and warm. I told him about my plans, which he liked a great deal. He raised many intelligent questions, finally saying, “If you present all of this to Dollfuss as you have now, I am certain it will awaken his strong interest and that he will accept your proposal.” I was overjoyed. Domanig said he would speak to Dollfuss and then let me know when and where Dollfuss would have time to receive me.

  Domanig also told me many things about Dollfuss which interested me greatly and further intensified my enthusiasm and devotion for him. The Domanigs became great friends of ours, and I still have much to tell about both of them. I returned to the Breitenfelds’ apartment in Vienna in a very happy state of mind.

  I spent an interesting and satisfying evening with Fr. Frodl*58 at Klaus’ apartment. I had already heard a great deal about him because of his famous debate over the Christian conception of ownership with Fr. Biederlack,*59 his fellow Jesuit in Innsbruck. He was intelligent and immensely likeable. There was also something incredibly warm and natural about him in the midst of great priestly dignity. In his debate with Fr. Biederlack, Fr. Frodl argued that the person is naturally ordered to community and, consequently, that property rights are essentially limited by the common good of the community. Fr. Biederlack, on the other hand, defended the inviolable dignity of personal property. The debate was eventually cut off by order of the superior.

  Fr. Frodl’s political outlook was wonderful. He saw with clarity the abysmal horror of Nazism in all its aspects, and he understood the absolutely unchristian spirit of anti-Semitism, an attitude which even opponents of Nazism in Austria did not always possess. It was a joy to speak with him. A friendship sprung up between us already on this first encounter, and it lasted throughout all the years I lived in Austria. I still have much to tell about Fr. Frodl.

  Soon after, Domanig sent word that he would pick me up the next day to meet Dollfuss, who had invited me to his home after lunch. I was very happy. This was something quite different and far more personal than being granted an audience at the Chancellor’s office in the Ballhaus. Dollfuss already knew the nature of my hopes and plans, and the fact that he was willing to let me come seemed to indicate that he was interested. I awaited our conversation with great anticipation and hope and with much prayer for a good outcome.

  As Domanig and I entered, Dollfuss welcomed us with great warmth. From the first moment I was completely taken by his unique personality. He was quite short and of slight build, and he looked authentically Austrian. Everything about him radiated a great and specifically Austrian charm. His small stature was of the kind one often finds with great men of genius whose energy and abundance of life is so totally “concentrated” in their inner life that one has the feeling nothing much is left over for their body. Here I don’t have in mind that spirituality which gives a person a certain ethereal appearance, such as one found, for example, in Nuncio Pacelli. This immaterial dimension also occurs in persons of large physical stature. No, it is a specific kind of concentration in which much spiritual energy and talent are compressed into a small body.

  I began to lay out my plan for the journal and emphasized the great mission of Austria in the present moment as the bastion of the Church. Dollfuss said to me, “Indeed, politics today no longer deals with purely political matters but with fundamental questions of worldview. I see the battle against National Socialism as defending the Christian conception of the world. Hitler wants to draw on ancient Germanic paganism, but I want to draw on the Christian Middle Ages.” I also spoke of the role of Austrian universities in the battle against National Socialism; they should provide intellectual guidance to young people vulnerable to Nazi ideology.

  Dollfuss then said, “I have a plan. I want all professors of history and philosophy who sympathize with National Socialism to be replaced by professors from Germany who oppose it. Austrian professors with National Socialist sympathies should after all be glad to live and work in Nazi Germany. Of course, I want their replacements to be Catholics. As soon as this plan is executed and teaching positions in philosophy become vacant, I will appoint you as professor.” This made me very happy, of course, yet I told him that meanwhile I wanted to pursue the journal so as to wage the intellectual battle against National Socialism on behalf of an independent and Catholic Austria. Dollfuss fully supported my plan and told me to discuss the details with his friend Weber,*60 the chief of the Austrian news service.

  The entire interview, which was so decisive for me and my future and which found us in such deep agreement, lasted only about half an hour. I also met Dollfuss’ wife on this occasion. In the midst of my visit, it was decided that Dollfuss and his family would travel to the countryside. My visit was in fact taking place on a Saturday. There was some uncertainty whether he could free himself for two days. When somehow it became possible, he asked his wife to make preparations for an immediate departure and also to ready the two children, a little boy and little girl, who were also to come along. As I heard this, and with everything unfolding so naturally and informally, the character of the interview became more special.

  I was overjoyed as I left, not just because the path now lay open for me to accomplish what seemed to be the work God was asking of me, but also because my heart was overflowing with enthusiasm for Dollfuss: I already admired and revered him for his many deeds, yet his personality and his every word not only confirmed but far exceeded what I had seen from afar. A real love for Dollfuss had taken hold of me, and I was happy to be able to work with him—in the fight against the anti-personalism, the totalitarianism, and the racism of National Socialism, and on behalf of an independent and Catholic Austria.

  I was beside myself with joy as I left and thanked Domanig from the bottom of my heart, for it was entirely due to him that I had been able to see Dollfuss. Domanig explained to me that, while Ludwig was the official minister in charge of press affairs, it was in fact Weber—a personal and likeminded friend and close confidant of Dollfuss—who really directed this division, even though officially he was only director of the news service. That same afternoon I was still supposed to meet with Weber, who had already been notified by Dollfuss.

  Stupidly, I first went to see Wilhelm Wolf to ask his advice on how much money I should request for myself on a monthly basis. I did not want to be pretentious and ask for too much money, but at the same time I needed enough to devote myself completely to my work and to live in a place befitting my status and mission. I was thinking of 1,000 schillings, which was then about 600 marks. Naturally, it was ridiculous that I told Wolf anything about my success with Dollfuss, and that I should consult him in such a matter as what I should ask to be paid. I hardly knew him. Why did I not discuss this question with Domanig, whom I could trust completely?

  Only later did I realize that in being so transparent with Wolf, I had let the fox into the henhouse. I had been so overanxious in Hallein, so silent in March, even toward my friends in Salzburg, yet now I was placing my confidence in a man about whom I really knew nothing. Of course, my confidence in Wolf stemmed from the fact that my friends in Salzburg had described him as their friend and that I had gotten to know him there. Still, it was madness on my part, especially when I think of the way things turned out with Wolf. He listened to me with astonishment; he was friendly, though showing no enthusiasm for my success with Dollfuss. I did not make anything of his passivity, thinking it was simply his manner. I was also too happy, too caught up in my good fortune to take notice. Wolf thought my proposal of 1,000 schillings appropriate.

  Of course, I had sent word to Klaus about my success. I met him on the street, where he was waiting for me with Anneli and Brüll. When I told them the good news, Anneli jumped for joy and there was great rejoicing among us.
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  I went to meet with Weber. He greeted me in a very friendly way and our conversation was quite pleasant. I described my plan for the journal, which greatly interested him. I immediately told him that I had my eye on a highly talented young journalist to serve as editor and that without him I could not develop the journal as I intended. I also hastened to say that I would insist on bringing my own secretary. I did this from the outset to secure for Marguerite Solbrig the possibility of coming to Vienna and to facilitate a livelihood for her.

  Yet our conversation focused primarily on the journal and the decision to proceed with its founding. When I mentioned that a number of men were ready to contribute money for the establishment of the journal, Weber responded that funds were available and that no further contributors were needed. Of course, that was just fine with me. He told me that at the Chancellor’s wish I would be paid 1,000 schillings per month out of a discretionary fund over the coming six months. I told him I still had to return to Florence for a few days to get my family, but that I would permanently settle in Vienna before November 1. Then we could discuss all the many details and begin with the production of the journal.

  There were of course still many questions to discuss. Who would be the official legal owner of the journal? (I thought it might be an association.) What would be the name of the journal? How much money had to be invested to launch the journal and to finance its operations until it could sustain itself through subscriptions? How much salary should be paid to the editors and to other employees? I do not think we discussed any of this at the time. Of the first and second questions, I am even quite certain they were only dealt with upon my return from Florence. Perhaps we did already discuss the amount of money that would have to be invested—I think it was 25,000 schillings. And perhaps I did also mention how much should be paid to Marguerite and Klaus. But on further reflection, I think these points were only discussed upon my return to Vienna.