With Hitler and Mussolini: Memoirs of a Nazi Interpreter

by Eugen Dollmann, Gerhard L. Weinberg (Foreword by)

Overview

An insider’s view of Hitler, Himmler, Heydrich, and Mussolini.

In the years before World War II, Eugen Dollmann arrived in Rome on a scholarship, intending to write a history of the Catholic Church. Instead he joined the Nazi Party and became an interpreter to various members of the German and Italian Fascist hierarchy.

In this capacity Dollmann attended the Munich Conference of 1938 and was present at most of the important meetings between Hitler and Mussolini, also witnessing many of the endless squabbles between Mussolini’s son-in-law Galeazzo Ciano and Hitler’s foreign secretary, Joachim von Ribbentrop. He interpreted for Heinrich Himmler during his visits to Rome and was, curiously for one of his temperament, appointed Obersturmführer in the Allgemeine SS. He played a considerable role in the surrender of the German Army in Italy, helping to prevent the execution of Hitler’s scorched-earth orders.

The book is full of piquant anecdotes—Himmler’s excavations for the legendary treasure of King Alaric; the visit of Reinhard Heydrich to the House of the Provinces, a brothel frequented by officers and men of means; Hitler’s dread and annoyance at being piloted into his newly conquered Ukraine by Mussolini—to mention only a few.

Throughout, Dollmann makes no attempt to conceal or exonerate his association with the Nazis. With Hitler and Mussolini is a fascinating memoir filled with political intrigue, undercover activity, and insights into the biggest personalities connected to the Second World War.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510715967
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	03/21/2017
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Eugen Dollmann was born in 1900 in Ratisbon, Germany. He graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Munich and continued his studies in the Vatican Library. After the war he wrote and translated books in both German and Italian. Dollmann died in 1985 in Munich, Germany.

Gerhard Weinberg is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of several books on World War II, including A World at Arms.

Table of Contents

Foreword 7

I His Majesty 13

II Arcadia 19

III Contacts 44

IV The Police Chiefs 76

V The Honeymoon 100

VI Interlude with a Courtesan 136

VII The Two Corporals 185

VIII Twenty-Four Fateful Hours 217

IX The Snake-Pit 235

X My Fight for Rome 262

XI Cur Non?-Why Not? 305

Index 347

Illustrations

Obersalzberg, 1939: Balbo, Dollmann and Hitler frontispiece

Hitler's visit to Rome-May 1938 see insert

Himmler in Tripoli-November 1938

Visit of Reichsfrauenführerin Scholtz-Klinck to Italy-1939

The Contessa Colonna, Duchessa di Sermoneta

Hitler with the Countess Attolico

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor with Hitler at the Berghof

The Crown Princess of Italy with the German Ambassador to Rome, von Mackensen, and his wife

Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Central State Security Bureau, in Rome-October 1938

Count Ciano, Mussolini and von Hassell awaiting the arrival of Chamberlain and Halifax in Rome-January 1939

Hitler, Dollmann, Ciano and von Ribbentrop in Berlin-May 1938 Mussolini and Hitler

Hitler, Mussolini, Ciano and Keitel in Florence-October 1940

Ricci's visit to Goebbels

Osteria 'Alfredo'-Rome 1938

The funeral of Bocchini in Rome-November 1940

Castle of Klessheim-April 1943

Mussolini at Kesselring's headquarters in Parma-August 1944

Editorial Reviews

“Eugen Dollmann gave a unique literary picture of what it was like to be a young German historian of Italian art, roped into World War II in With Hitler and Mussolini: Memoirs of a Nazi Interpreter. The book is, in some ways, a comic masterpiece. Like many a German admirer of the Nazis, Dr. Dollmann relished the chance to shed his academic gown and don the uniform of an S.S. Colonel as the curtain rose. Yet for all the excitement of interpreting for “great” warriors at the very top, from the Wolf’s Lair to the Eagle’s Nest or the Renaissance villa of Achilles Gaggia at Feltre, he never forgot his training. His descriptions of the cultural contrast between senior Italian and German officials such as Ciano and Ribbentrop capture the grotesque clash of “Pact of Steel” civilizations dragging Europe into the apocalypse—with the “summits” of Hitler and Mussolini like opéra bouffe. Memorable and strangely arresting, in our very different yet often disturbingly similar cultural times.”
—Nigel Hamilton, author of the FDR at War trilogy

“Eugen Dollman was more than a fly on the wall as a top Nazi interpreter and mediator in Italy and Germany during World War II. A classical scholar, art historian, bon vivant, and polished writer, he vividly portrays the Machiavellian intrigues of Hitler, Mussolini, Ciano, Himmler and other notable fascists. What emerges is a riveting inside look at the outcasts of history as they bamboozle, rage, intrigue, and defy in their years of despotic rule.”
—Anthony S. Pitch, author of Our Crime Was Being Jewish

“Dollman was an SS man whose manner and elegance enabled him to move in Fascist Italy’s highest circles as a diplomat and interpreter. He was also an inveterate intriguer and an accomplished storyteller, with a knack for being present at crucial moments and a nose for scandal. His insider’s perspective may be embellished, but is never tedious.”
—Dennis Showalter, author of Patton and Rommel

“Having earned a PhD in history from a Munich university, Eugen Dollmann spent 1927 to 1930 in Rome, writing a history of the Farneses, one of the great families of Renaissance Italy. A man of enormous charm and erudition, Dollmann eagerly joined the Nazi Party and accepted a commission in the SS. He served during the 1930s and World War II as Italian interpreter to Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, and Adolf Hitler, and was present at the major meetings between Hitler and Mussolini. This memoir provides a one-of-a-kind insider view of the evolution of the fatal connection between fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. This alone would make it valuable as history. But it is the self-portrait of Dollmann—an acerbic and effete charmer who was also an icy political nihilist—makes this one of the strangest, most fascinating, and most disturbing books you are likely to read about World War II.”
—Alan Axelrod, author of Lost Destiny: Joe Kennedy Jr. and the Doomed WW II Mission to Save London and Patton: A Biography

“There are very few German memoirs of the German presence in Italy, the Axis ally. Dollmann's account of his life as an interpreter and translator between the German and Italian leaderships brings vividly to life the bizarre world of Axis diplomacy and Axis ambitions. It is a reminder that alongside the brutality and fanaticism of the regime, cultured Germans tried to retain more traditional values, blind to the harsh reality around them.” —Richard Overy, author of Why the Allies Won
“SS Colonel Eugen Dollmann was not one of the most central figures in Hitler’s inner circle, but he certainly was the most dishy. As the Rome-based interpreter who linked together the German-Italian axis during World War II, he had unique access to the Führer and his top henchmen, as well as the decadent milieu surrounding Mussolini. . . . Precisely because he did not drink fully from Hitler’s poisoned chalice, Dollmann was able to observe his masters from a droll distance like the world-weary characters played by George Sanders. This perspective—intimate, but detached—makes his memoirs an utterly fascinating and disturbing reading experience.” —David Talbot, from the foreword

“Eugen Dollmann gave a unique literary picture of what it was like to be a young German historian of Italian art, roped into World War II in With Hitler and Mussolini: Memoirs of a Nazi Interpreter. The book is, in some ways, a comic masterpiece. Like many a German admirer of the Nazis, Dr. Dollmann relished the chance to shed his academic gown and don the uniform of an S.S. Colonel as the curtain rose. Yet for all the excitement of interpreting for “great” warriors at the very top, from the Wolf’s Lair to the Eagle’s Nest or the Renaissance villa of Achilles Gaggia at Feltre, he never forgot his training. His descriptions of the cultural contrast between senior Italian and German officials such as Ciano and Ribbentrop capture the grotesque clash of “Pact of Steel” civilizations dragging Europe into the apocalypse—with the “summits” of Hitler and Mussolini like opéra bouffe. Memorable and strangely arresting, in our very different yet often disturbingly similar cultural times.”
—Nigel Hamilton, author of the FDR at War trilogy

“Eugen Dollman was more than a fly on the wall as a top Nazi interpreter and mediator in Italy and Germany during World War II. A classical scholar, art historian, bon vivant, and polished writer, he vividly portrays the Machiavellian intrigues of Hitler, Mussolini, Ciano, Himmler and other notable fascists. What emerges is a riveting inside look at the outcasts of history as they bamboozle, rage, intrigue, and defy in their years of despotic rule.”
—Anthony S. Pitch, author of Our Crime Was Being Jewish

“Dollman was an SS man whose manner and elegance enabled him to move in Fascist Italy’s highest circles as a diplomat and interpreter. He was also an inveterate intriguer and an accomplished storyteller, with a knack for being present at crucial moments and a nose for scandal. His insider’s perspective may be embellished, but is never tedious.”
—Dennis Showalter, author of Patton and Rommel

“Having earned a PhD in history from a Munich university, Eugen Dollmann spent 1927 to 1930 in Rome, writing a history of the Farneses, one of the great families of Renaissance Italy. A man of enormous charm and erudition, Dollmann eagerly joined the Nazi Party and accepted a commission in the SS. He served during the 1930s and World War II as Italian interpreter to Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, and Adolf Hitler, and was present at the major meetings between Hitler and Mussolini. This memoir provides a one-of-a-kind insider view of the evolution of the fatal connection between fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. This alone would make it valuable as history. But it is the self-portrait of Dollmann—an acerbic and effete charmer who was also an icy political nihilist—makes this one of the strangest, most fascinating, and most disturbing books you are likely to read about World War II.”
—Alan Axelrod, author of Lost Destiny: Joe Kennedy Jr. and the Doomed WW II Mission to Save London and Patton: A Biography

“There are very few German memoirs of the German presence in Italy, the Axis ally. Dollmann's account of his life as an interpreter and translator between the German and Italian leaderships brings vividly to life the bizarre world of Axis diplomacy and Axis ambitions. It is a reminder that alongside the brutality and fanaticism of the regime, cultured Germans tried to retain more traditional values, blind to the harsh reality around them.” —Richard Overy, author of Why the Allies Won
“SS Colonel Eugen Dollmann was not one of the most central figures in Hitler’s inner circle, but he certainly was the most dishy. As the Rome-based interpreter who linked together the German-Italian axis during World War II, he had unique access to the Führer and his top henchmen, as well as the decadent milieu surrounding Mussolini. . . . Precisely because he did not drink fully from Hitler’s poisoned chalice, Dollmann was able to observe his masters from a droll distance like the world-weary characters played by George Sanders. This perspective—intimate, but detached—makes his memoirs an utterly fascinating and disturbing reading experience.” —David Talbot, from the foreword

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