6182
November 19th, 1942
In the heart of Germany - The Amerika, the Führer's private train, while running between Berlin and Rastenburg, welcomes a distinguished guest, Marshal Ion Victor Antonescu. The pretext of the visit is a short ceremony where the Romanian dictator receives the "Odessa arm plate" in gold. This plate is not really a decoration, but a kind of testimony which (in another metal) will be given the following days to all the Romanian and German soldiers who participated in the Odessa campaign.
It is only then that the serious things begin, in one of the luxurious lounges of the train. It is a question of taking stock, with two weeks of hindsight, of the strategic perspectives opened by the capture of Odessa. This meeting of the two despots has since been the subject of many comments, since Adolf Hitler's translator, Paul-Otto Schmidt will tell it after the war. However, the veracity of Schmidt's words has been too often disputed to be trusted, beyond the twenty minutes of the tape recording made in secret by one of the SS men present.
After an interminable monologue on the necessary conquest of the Lebensraum (living space) of the Aryans in the east, and the equally necessary destruction of Judeo-Bolshevism, the Führer enters into the heart of the matter. According to Schmidt, to the great astonishment of the participants, Hitler would have recognized to be mistaken by underestimating the military capacities of the USSR. Diplomat, Antonescu would have then affirmed that he would have made the same error.
To Schmidt's astonishment (as the latter will tell us), Hitler then asked the Romanian marshal's advice as to the strategy to adopt on the southern front, while declaring that he still intends to seize the whole Ukraine, because of its raw materials.
- So", Antonescu replies, "first we must take Kiev. Our troops in Odessa will continue to advance to the river Bug, forcing the enemy to hold the river. In this way, we will force them to immobilize troops in the south and we will serve as a diversion. You will then launch a pincer attack to encircle the defenders of Kiev and seize the entire region.
According to Schmidt, a unique event occurred: Hitler accepted a campaign plan proposed by someone else, without adding anything to it or taking anything away from it! General von Schobert's 11th Army, along the Black Sea, would be the right blow for the advance towards the Bug. The XI. ArmeeKorps of General von Kortzfleisch will be the left hook. Meanwhile, the 4th Romanian Army will take over the defense of Odessa.
In spite of the military morgue displayed by the Romanian, the Führer shows himself to be very friendly throughout the rest of the conference. It is true that the two dictators share a taste for long litanies on the greatness of their country and its glorious history.
Hitler easily forgives Antonescu for his hatred of Hungary, because he himself deeply despises the Magyars.
In the heart of Germany - The Amerika, the Führer's private train, while running between Berlin and Rastenburg, welcomes a distinguished guest, Marshal Ion Victor Antonescu. The pretext of the visit is a short ceremony where the Romanian dictator receives the "Odessa arm plate" in gold. This plate is not really a decoration, but a kind of testimony which (in another metal) will be given the following days to all the Romanian and German soldiers who participated in the Odessa campaign.
It is only then that the serious things begin, in one of the luxurious lounges of the train. It is a question of taking stock, with two weeks of hindsight, of the strategic perspectives opened by the capture of Odessa. This meeting of the two despots has since been the subject of many comments, since Adolf Hitler's translator, Paul-Otto Schmidt will tell it after the war. However, the veracity of Schmidt's words has been too often disputed to be trusted, beyond the twenty minutes of the tape recording made in secret by one of the SS men present.
After an interminable monologue on the necessary conquest of the Lebensraum (living space) of the Aryans in the east, and the equally necessary destruction of Judeo-Bolshevism, the Führer enters into the heart of the matter. According to Schmidt, to the great astonishment of the participants, Hitler would have recognized to be mistaken by underestimating the military capacities of the USSR. Diplomat, Antonescu would have then affirmed that he would have made the same error.
To Schmidt's astonishment (as the latter will tell us), Hitler then asked the Romanian marshal's advice as to the strategy to adopt on the southern front, while declaring that he still intends to seize the whole Ukraine, because of its raw materials.
- So", Antonescu replies, "first we must take Kiev. Our troops in Odessa will continue to advance to the river Bug, forcing the enemy to hold the river. In this way, we will force them to immobilize troops in the south and we will serve as a diversion. You will then launch a pincer attack to encircle the defenders of Kiev and seize the entire region.
According to Schmidt, a unique event occurred: Hitler accepted a campaign plan proposed by someone else, without adding anything to it or taking anything away from it! General von Schobert's 11th Army, along the Black Sea, would be the right blow for the advance towards the Bug. The XI. ArmeeKorps of General von Kortzfleisch will be the left hook. Meanwhile, the 4th Romanian Army will take over the defense of Odessa.
In spite of the military morgue displayed by the Romanian, the Führer shows himself to be very friendly throughout the rest of the conference. It is true that the two dictators share a taste for long litanies on the greatness of their country and its glorious history.
Hitler easily forgives Antonescu for his hatred of Hungary, because he himself deeply despises the Magyars.