Sound Recordings

Select Audiovisual Records

The National Archives Trust Fund Board
Washington, DC 20408

• Speeches
  
  
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The publication of a list to a heretofore little-known collection of captured Nazi recordings should require no elaborate justification. Serious historical inquiry and unflagging popular interest virtually guarantee that nazism and the Third Reich will be ever topical and relevant. Similarly, both the public and the scholarly community readily agree that recorded oral history provides us with a unique historical perspective on our times. Thus the combination of an important historical subject and a fruitful form of source material should, in itself, be sufficient reason to produce such a list, provided that the material in the collection is historically significant and does not simply duplicate what is already available elsewhere.

Of necessity, there is some duplication in this collection, but as the list should make readily apparent, it contains many significant items, especially speeches by Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering, Albert Speer, and other Nazi leaders. Most of these speeches are not available on recordings and many are not extant in any other form. Stated simply, the collection contains material of genuine historical importance.

But there is a special dimension to the value of this material that goes beyond general considerations of documentary significance and the appeal of oral history, for the heart of the collection consists of voice recordings, and nazism had an unusually close relationship with the spoken word. Throughout its history, the Nazi party and its leaders placed heavy stress on the importance of speech to publicize their programs. Hitler and Goebbels, excellent public orators, pushed the party into prominence by means of mass rallies. Through political speeches they provided the essential oral punch for the Nazi drive to power.

In utilizing speech as a propaganda device, the Nazis were quick to exploit two technical devices for the dissemination and preservation of the spoken word, namely, radio and phonograph recordings. They used the radio, on one hand, to create the effect of an enormous electronic mass rally. As E. H. Gombrich observed:

It was the mass rally that carried Hitler and Goebbels from strength to strength and ultimately to victory through intrigue and intimidation. Small wonder that the novel instrument of radio was conceived by them first of all as a means to extend the range of listeners and thus to convert the whole of the nation into a super-monster rally which hung on the lips of the Fuehrer and at least vicariously joined in the cheering and the chanting of slogans.1

For the speaker, as well as the audience, Nazi radio speeches were extensions of the political rallies out of which the movement had been born.

The Nazis made less effort to tap the propaganda potential of recordings, but they did grasp the efficiency potential of phonograph equipment. The SS, for example, used recording equipment to obtain transcripts of Himmler's speeches. During the 1930's many of Himmler's speeches were taken down in shorthand by secretaries or SS aides who later typed texts from these shorthand notes. Then, beginning in 1940, efforts were made to replace the stenographers with sound recording equipment. Though initial efforts were not very successful, by late l942 the technique had been perfected and nearly all the extant typed and printed texts of Himmler speeches dating from 1943 and 1944 were derived from recordings made while Himmler was speaking.2 Goebbels also found speech recordings useful. After delivering an address, he could leisurely listen to the recording and make the changes that he felt would heighten the speech's propaganda effect. Then the propaganda ministry would issue a press release containing the edited text, or parts of it, which German newspapers would publish as if they were presenting the text of the original speech.3

Though the recordings were chiefly just useful tools, Himmler, Goebbels, and other prominent Nazis were careful not to destroy the original discs. The Nazis' interest in preserving oral records matched their prodigious efforts to save written records of their rise to power and days of glory.4 The leaders of the Third Reich were convinced that they were participating in events of great historical magnitude, and, because of the importance they attached to the spoken word, it must have seemed obvious to them that the recordings should be preserved.

As World War II entered its last destructive phase and the rapid advance of the Allied armies turned the Nazi recordings into genuine "dustbin" history, havoc, disorganization, and the collapse of the German civil government scattered collections and destroyed materials. In this dazed and defeated country, overrun by conquering armies, there was little time or opportunity to worry about the preservation of anything as fragile and seemingly unimportant as Nazi phonograph records. Furthermore, Allied military authorities, as well as individual soldiers, had sharply different ideas about what should be done with the recordings they found. Some left them where they were, some seized them as captured documents, and others, presumably, destroyed them. In consequence, pure chance determined the selection process by which certain recordings moved upward through the chain of command to take their place as part of a U.S. Army collection of captured enemy records. The very randomness of this wartime and immediate postwar collection procedure should allay any suspicion that what remains is a group of recordings purposefully arranged to further the ends of Nazi propaganda.5

By June 1947 so many Nazi recordings had found their way to the higher levels of the US War Department that the Army initiated a program to transfer some of them to the National Archives. The Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Edward F. Witsell, requested on June l7 that the National Archives take custody of "approximately 525 sound recordings of Axis leaders and other propaganda material which appear to have permanent value." 6 At that time the recordings were on loan from the Army to the Foreign Activities Correlation Division of the Department of State in Washington, D.C. The National Archives readily agreed in July 1947 to the transfer and assigned the 525 recordings to Record Group 242, National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, 194l- , with the understanding that "these recordings are only a part of captured enemy records in the custody of the War Department" and that "other records will be transferred to the [National] Archives from time to time." 7

In fact there were additional groups of recordings being held by various military and civil authorities. 8 One of the largest, and probably the most significant, was the collection that was assembled by the war crimes investigators at Nuernberg. This collection seems to have included a substantial number of Himmler's speeches. The prosecution readied some of these for use against SS men in the trials held between 1946 and 1949. Two of these recordings were covered by prosecution document numbers NG 4977 and NO 5909 for case 11, United States v. Weiszacker et al., but the recordings do not seem to have been used in court; one additional recording, however, was played in court during the same case as part of the evidence against SS Obergruppenfuhrer Gottlob Berger. 9

Some time after the American series of trials ended in 1949, the recordings in Nuernberg and perhaps recordings from other sources were transferred to the National Archives. Two of the items that had been prepared for case 11 were assigned to Record Group 238, National Archives Collection of World War II War Crimes Records, but the other 319 recordings were added to Record Group 242, where they took their place alongside the 525 items that the National Archives had earlier acquired from the War Department. 10

In 1962 the National Archives initiated a process of re-recording and systematizing the 844 items in Record Group 242. Some confusion arose because most of the original recordings had been made with pairs of disc recording machines, which meant that there was a good deal of overlapping at the beginning and end of each disc. A more serious problem was the breakage, disorganization, and confusion that had occurred since 1945. Consequently, not much headway was made in reorganizing the collection, but all of the material was re-recorded on tape. In 1971, as part of a research project on Himmler's speeches, the editors of the present list became interested in the collection and, with the generous assistance of Leslie Waffen of the Audiovisual Archives Division, began to locate and reassemble the Himmler speeches. The Himmler recordings were not only the most numerous of the items in the collection (over 500 of the original discs and tapes); they were also the ones that had been most widely scattered and often lacked identifying labels. Once these items were correctly identified and collated, the systematizing of the rest of the collection was relatively simple. Subsequently, a new master tape of all the disc recordings was made to conform with the entries in the select list. Duplication and disc overlaps have been eliminated to produce as complete a speech as possible. A 10-second pause occurs in the master tapes to indicate each instance where disc sides were missing.

In the preparation of this list, our primary concern has been to ease the researcher's task of identifying and locating materials in the collection. Rather than simply listing the items by record number, they have been arranged in three general sections. Section I contains recordings of individual speakers arranged alphabetically and thereunder by date. Section II contains ceremonial performances arranged chronologically. Section III includes a unique set of radio broadcasts arranged chronologically and made by Allied authorities in the summer of 1944 that were monitored by the Germans in Lille, France. Included are recordings of intercepted code messages as well as one item (242-231; entry 64) that appears to be the monitoring of a meeting of British and American POW's in a German prisoner-of-war camp.

Additional recordings that were found among the captured German recordings have not been included in this list because of their marginal historical value. Such recordings, which may have been used for propaganda purposes, were originally recorded on magnetic tape at 30 IPS (inches per second). They contain brief fragments and disjointed segments of popular American songs sung in English with a heavy German accent. Also excluded were several miscellaneous recordings of industrial machinery, gunfire and battle noise.

1. Speaker and/or subject.
2. Place and date.
3. Length of the recording.
4. Item number (the first part of which is the Record Group number and the second part is the file number). When there is more than one reel, the reel number appears.
5. A descriptive paragraph, including a notation if the recording is incomplete and giving comparisons with other sources, additional information, and cross-references.

Throughout this publication various file numbers are used. For the reader's information, file numbers containing the letters "NG" or "NO" refer to prosecution documents that were used by the 12 US military tribunals at Nuernberg. Some file numbers are prefaced by the letters "EAP," which refer to an archival classification used by the Germans. The German designation "Heft Nr.," which is used before some file numbers, simply means pamphlet number. The designation "IMT" stands for International Military Tribunal. Occasionally a file number contains the letters "PS," which refer to a prosecution series of the IMT. Finally, in section III, the file numbers are the original ones that were used by the Germans.

Inquiries concerning the availability and cost of audio copies of items in this list should be addressed to the Motion Picture and Sound Recording Branch (NWCS-M), National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Rd., Room 3360, College Park, MD 20740-6001; or by facsimile at (301) 837-3620; or through internet e-mail at mopix@nara.gov. Copies are available in most state-of-the-art audio formats.

The National Archives holds large accumulations of textual, still photographic, and motion picture records that are closely related to the sound recordings described in this list. These records are located in Record Group 238, National Archives Collection of World War II War Crimes Records, and Record Group 242, National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, 1941- . Several other record groups include related documentation that is important but less extensive than that found in these collections.

We have received generous help from many people while engaged in this project, including James W. Moore, Director of the Audiovisual Archives Division of the National Archives; George Stein of the State University of New York at Binghamton; Walter Roller of the Deutsche Rundfunk Archiv, Frankfurt am Main; Dietrich Fleischhauer of the Norddeutsche Rundfunk, Hamburg; Helmut Regel of the Bundesarchiv, Koblenz; and especially from Helen Berman of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Leslie Waffen of the Audiovisual Archives Division of the National Archives; and William E. Dunstan of the Editorial Branch, who edited this publication. A grant-in-aid from the National Endowment for the Humanities assisted in the background research for this list as well as for a project on Himmler's speeches. To all of these individuals and organizations we should like to express our thanks.

Agnes F. Peterson
Hoover Institution Stanford, CA

Bradley F. Smith
Aptos, Calif.

Notes

1 E. H. Gombrich, Myth and Reality in German War-Time Broadcasts (London, 1970), p. 4.

2 See entries 7 and 8 for data on the Himmler speeches of Dec. 13 and Dec. 18, 1940, the earliest Himmler speeches to SS audiences for which any recorded material is extant. The first nearly complete recording is of Himmler's speech of June 19, 1942.

3 Joseph Goebbels, Goebbels-Reden, ed. Helmut Heiber, 2 vols. (Dusseldorf, 1971-72), vol. 1, p. xxii-xxiii.

4 In the limited space of this introduction it is not possible to do more than suggest some of the diverse forms that this passion for preservation assumed. Beyond the holdings of governmental archives, the party formed its own Hauptarchiv in 1934 (see Grete Heinz and Agnes F. Peterson, NSDAP Hauptarchiv: Guide to Hoover Institution Microfilm Collection, Stanford, Calif., 1964). Many of the top party leaders nonetheless maintained their own personal and organizational collections of historical materials (see, for example, the enormous number of items preserved by Himmler's Personlicher Stab in Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police, National Archives Microfilm Publication T175). Special projects were also undertaken, such as Bormann's well-known program to preserve Hitler's table talk, for which an unobtrusive stenographer had to be used rather than the cumbersome recording equipment then available (see Henry Picker, ed., Hitlers Tischgesprache im Fuhrerhauptquartier, 1941-1942, Stuttgart, 1963).

5 Maj. Gen. Edward F. Witsell, Adjutant General, to Solon J. Buck, Archivist of the United States, June 17, 1947, enclosed in Accession File No. 2615, National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, 1941- , Record Group 242.

6 "National Archives Report on Records Proposed for Transfer," July 25, l947, enclosed in Accession File No. 2615, RG 242.

7 The majority of the recordings remained in Germany and are now part of the holdings of the Deutsche Rundfunk Archiv and the Frankfurt am Main Bundesarchiv, Koblenz.

8 See section I for the two RG 238 recordings (Nuernberg document numbers NG 4977 and NO 5909). The recording that was used in court was apparently 242-229 or 229A. The recording entered in evidence bore the Nuernberg citation of Prosecution Exhibit 3508, Document No. NO 5909A, and the reference appears in the English language transcript of United States v. Weiszacker et al., vol. 64, p. 28388.

9 In the National Archives there is another category of recordings that has some World War II material related to Germany, namely RG 262. The descriptive list for these recordings states that they were made or acquired by the Federal Communications Commission" or were "sound recordings of foreign broadcasts monitored by the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service and . . . [containedj speeches by foreign statesmen as well as broadcasts by US citizens over the German Radio 1940-1945." Many of these items appear to have historical significance, but they were not captured German recordings and thus have not been covered in this list.

10 See Bradley F. Smith and Agnes F. Peterson, Heinrich Himmler Geheimreden (Frankfurt, Berlin, Vienna, 1974).

Section I: Speeches

1. Bormann et al. "Speeches to the Reichs and Gauleitertagung." Posen, Oct.6, 1943. Approx. 6 hours, 15 min. Item 242-223, reels 1-13. According to the tagesprogramm, (Germany, Reichsfuhrer SS und Chef der deutschen Polizei. Personlicher Stab. Himmler Files. File 342. In Hoover Institution Collection) the meeting was opened by Martin Bormann. A speech by Albert Speer (there is an account of this speech in Albert Speer, Erinnerungen [Berlin, 1969], p. 325) was followed by speeches of his deputies: Willy Schliecker, the expert on American rearmament; Walther Rohland, the head of Panzer production; Karl Frydag, who was in charge of aircraft building; and Otto Merker, who was responsible for naval expansion. In the afternoon Erhard Milch spoke on the problems of the Luftwaffe, Karl Doenitz on the Navy, Wilhelm Schepmann on the SA, and Heinrich Himmler on the SS. A comparison with the typed text shows the recordings are complete. Disc sequence is numbered 1-87. The text for the speeches (with the exception of Heinrich Himmler's speech, in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Folder 63. EAP 161-b-12/82. Tl75, roll 85, frames 2610152-200) can be located on EAP 161-b-12/275. T175, roll 119, frames 2644970-075. Recordings of the above event are also available on tape at the Deutsche Rundfunk Archiv, Frankfurt.

2. Bormann, Martin. "Introductory Remarks to Gauleitertagung." Posen, Oct.6, 1943. Approx. 3 min. Item 242-223, reel 1.

3. Doenitz, Karl. "Speech to Gauleitertagung." Posen, Oct. 6, 1943. Approx. 45 min. Item 242-223, reels 11-13.Text of speech in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung.. Unnumbered folder.EAP 161-b-12/275. NARS Microfilm Publication T175, roll 119, frames 2645036-048. For further information see entry 1, "Speeches to the Reichs and Gauleitertagung."

4. Goebbels, Joseph. "Speech of Introduction for Adolf Hitler." Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin, Sept. 28, 1937. Approx. 9 min. Item 242-108. See entry 31 concerning Hitler's speech of same date.

5. Goebbels, Joseph. "Speech on Winterhilfswerk." Sportspalast, Berlin, Sept. 4, 1940. Approx. 70 min. Item 242-175D, 242-175E, 242-175F. Incomplete. For further information, see entry 35.

6. Goering, Hermann. "Speech to the Employees of the Hermann Goering Reichswerke in Berlin." Berlin, Sept. 9, 1939. Approx. 90 min. Item 242-181. Incomplete. In a sequence of 43, discs 18, 26, and 28 are missing. Speech was broadcast by Grossdeutsche Rundfunk. Also available on record Ariola (ADENA 51125K).

7. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to SS Fuhrer, Fifth Division 'Deutschland.'", Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Dec. 13, 1940. Approx. 34 min. Item 242-187, 242-188, 242-191. Incomplete. No text or notes are extant. Internal evidence indicates that this speech was given to the officers of the 5th Division during the brief interval in which it was called Division Deutschland. Weidinger dates such a visit and speech as December 13, 1940, but his account of the content of the speech does not coincide clearly with the extant fragments. See Otto Weidinger, Division Das Reich, 3 vols. (Osnabruck, 1967-73), vol. 2, p. 314-316.

8. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Commanders of the Waffen SS" ("Kommandeurbesprechung der Waffen SS"). Kasino der Leibstandarte, Berlin, Dec. 18, 1940. Approx. 8 min. Item 242-213. Incomplete. Discs 9 and 35 only. Comparison with speaker's notes indicates the recording consists of two brief disconnected passages from the speech. Speaker's notes are extant only from the files of correspondence kept by E. Lorenz, RF-SS Adjutantur. See EAP 161-b-12/264. T175, roll 112, frames 2636892-896.

9. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Officers of the Division 'Das Reich'" ("Rede zu dem Fuhrerkorps der Division 'Das Reich'"). Place unknown, June 19, 1942. Approx. 100 min. Item 242-202. Incomplete. Discs 7 and 21 missing. An abbreviated text is extant in the files of Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. l2. EAP 161-b-12/327B. T175, roll 90, frames 2612900-910. As a basis of comparison, there are short gaps in the recording corresponding to pages 4 and 1O in the typed text. It should be noted, however, that the typed text is a summary with many cuts and rewordings and that the recording is more complete than the typed text.

10. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Commanders of an SS Panzerkorps" ("Kommandeurbesprechung SS Panzerkorps"). Charkov, Apr. 24, 1943. Approx. 80 min. Item 242-214. Text is extant in the unpublished file of PS-1919, IMT. On the basis of comparison with that text, there has been considerable editorial rewording in the typed text.

11. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to Junkerschule." Bad Tolz, May 27, 1943. Approx. 4 min. Item 242-179. Incomplete. Only disc 1 extant. This speech fragment is of very poor quality. Only notes for the speech are extant in PS-1919, IMT unpublished file. No satisfactory comparison can be made.

12. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the SS Officers" ("Rede zu den SS Fuhrern"). Posen, Oct. 4, 1943. Approx. 190 min. Item 242-256, 242-259, 242-257, 242-251, 242-252, 242-249, 242-264, 242-263, 242-250, 242-266, 242-180. The speech has been published in IMT, Trial of the Major War Criminals (Nuernberg, 1947-49), vol. 29, p. 110-173.

13. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Gauleiter" ("Rede auf der Gauleitertagung"). Posen, Oct. 6, 1943. Approx. 32 min. Item 242-189, 242-224. Incomplete. Only a very small section of the middle of the speech is reproduced, according to text in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Folder 63. EAP 161-b-12/82. Tl75, roll 85, frames 2610152-200. Recording also contains Wilhelm Schepmann's speech of the same date (see entry 43). For further information, see entry 1, "Speeches to the Reichs and Gauleitertagung."

14. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Army Generals" ("Rede zu den Befehlshabern der Wehrmacht"). Bad Schachen, Oct. 14, 1943. Approx. 165 min. Item 242-205. Comparison with the published text in IMT, Trial of the Major War Criminals (Nuernberg, l947-49), vol. 37, p. 498-523, indicates the recording has one gap corresponding to pages 520-521 of the published text. Extant discs are numbered 1-35 in sequence; recording and text match very closely. The recording has short concluding remarks by an unidentified army officer.

15. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech for 'Tag der Freiheit, Warthegau.'" Posen, Oct. 24, 1943. Approx. 90 min. Item 242-204. Comparison with text in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. EAP 161-b-12/87. T175, roll 91, frames 2613053-075, indicates the recording and wording of the text match very closely. There are concluding remarks by Gauleiter Arthur Greiser.

16. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the SS Fuhrer and Officials of the General Government" ("Rede vor den SS Fuhrern und Beamten des General Gouvernement"). Krakau, Nov. 18, 1943. Approx. 50 min. Item 242-218. Incomplete. In a sequence of 25, discs 1-7, 14, 16, l7, and 23 are missing. No typed text is extant. Notes for the speech are in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. 17. EAP 161-b-12/87. T175, roll 91, frames 2613195-198.

17. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the German Press" ("Rede vor der deutschcn Presse"). Weimar, Dec. 4, 1943. Approx. 65 min. Item 242-197. Incomplete In a sequence of 25, discs 1, 2, 23, and 24 are missing. Speaking notes are in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. l7. EAP 161-b-12/87. Tl75, roll 91, frames 2613169-171, the text is in Tl75, roll 91, frames 2613144-158 and 175. Both the notes and text omit the first part of the speech. An unidentified speaker makes concluding remarks, which are distorted by recording noise.

18. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Commanders of the Ordnungspolizei and the Police Presidents" ("Rede zu den Befehlshabern der Ordnungspolizei und den Polizeipraesidenten"). Hotel Ostland, Posen, Dec. 15, 1943. Approx. 72 min. Item 242-217. Incomplete. In a sequence of 41, discs 1-21 and 28 are missing. Only notes are extant in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. 16. EAP 161-b-12/87. T175, roll 91, frames 2613159-162. Comparison with notes indicates that the first half of the speech is missing from the recording.

19. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Generals." Sonthofen, May 5, 1944. Approx. 115 min. Item 242-200, 242-210. Speech was held as part of a political education program. Comparison with text as found in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. 22. EAP 161-b-12/280. T175, roll 92, frames 2613448-537, indicates the recording omits the equivalent of the text pages 34, 54, and 55. Disc sequence, however, is complete and numbered 1-43.

20. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to an Abwehr/SD Meeting" ("Rede zur Abwehr/SD Tagung"). Salzburg, May 15, 1944. Approx. 155 min. Item 242-203. Notes for the speech are in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Unnumbered folder. EAP 161-b-12/277. T175, roll 94, frames 2614681-688: two typed copies of the text are on roll 92, frames 2613547-633. Wording of the recording is nearly identical with the typed text.

21. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Commanders of the Galician SS Volunteer Infantry Division" ("Rede zu dem Fuhrerkorps der galizischen SS Freiwilligen Infanterie Division"). Neuhammer, May 16, 1944. Approx. 55 min. Item 242-206. Incomplete. In a sequence of 24, discs 21-23 are missing. Comparison with typed text in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Unnumbered folder. EAP 161-b-12/277. T175, roll 94, frames 2614657-675, indicated the recording is complete except for the last four paragraphs. The recording also includes a sentence-by-sentence translation into Ukrainian.

22. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to High-ranking Wehrmacht Officers" ("Rede vor den Teilnehmern des politisch-weltanschaulichen Lehrgangs"). Sonthofen, May 24, 1944. Approx. 105 min. Item 242-211. Incomplete. In a sequence of 25, discs 17-20 are missing. Comparison with text in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Unnumbered folder. EAP 161-b-12/277. T175, roll 94, frames 2614609-647, indicates the recording has a gap equivalent to pages 24-32 of the typed text. The wording on the recording is nearly identical with the typed text. This speech was one in a series of political education programs for high-ranking Wehrmacht officers.

23. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Representatives of German Justice" ("Rede zu den Vertretern der deutschen Justiz"). Kochem, May 25, 1944. Approx. 170 min. Item 242-198. Incomplete. In a sequence of 41, disc 1 is missing. Comparison with the typed text in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. 27. EAP 161-b-12/88. T175, roll 93, frames 2613736-779, indicates the recording has sections missing equivalent to pages 1-4 of the typed text. In wording, the text and the recording are almost identical. There are brief concluding remarks on the recording by Justice Minister Otto Thierack.

24. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Generals." Sonthofen, June 21, 1944. Approx. 100 min. Item 238-3940. Incomplete. Using the extant typed text of the speech in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. 28. EAP 161-b-12/88. T175, roll 93, fromes 2613945-992, as a basis of comparison, the equivalent text on the recording of pages 47-49 is missing.

25. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Officers of Infantry Division 544, Major General Ehrig, C.O." ("Rede zu den Offizieren der Infanterie Division 544, Volksgrenadier"). Grafenwohr, July 25, 1944. Approx. 32 min. Item 242-201. Incomplete. In a sequence of 33, discs 1-9, 14, 15, 17, and 20-32 are missing. Comparison with typed text in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. 28. EAP 161-b-12/88. T175, roll 93, frames 2613873-901, indicates the recording has gaps equivalent to pages 1-7, 13, and 18-28 of the text.

26. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Officers of the 545 Infantry Division [Volksgrenadier], Colonel Obenaus, C.O." ("Rede vor dem Offizierskorps einer Grenadier Division auf dem Truppenubungsplatz Bitsch"). Bitsch, July 26, 1944. Approx. 180 min. Item 242-209. Comparison with text in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. 30. EAP 161-b-12/88. T175, roll 93, frames 2614140-169, indicates that the typed text and the recording match closely.

27. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to two Volksgrenadier Divisions" ("Rede zu zwei Volksgrenadier Divisionen"). Dorn, Aug. 13, 1944. Approx. 115 min. Item 242-190. Incomplete. In a sequence of 29, discs 17, 19, 21, and 23 are missing. No notes or text are extant for this speech.

28. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to Officers of two Volksgrenadier Divisions; 543 Infantry, Lieutenant General Rasp, C.O., and 547 Infantry, Colonel Meiners, C.O." ("Rede vor dem Offizierkorps zweier Volksgrenadier Divisionen"). Munsingen, Aug. 27, 1944. Approx. 130 min. Item 242-195. Incomplete. In a sequence of 35, discs 22 and 23 are missing. No notes or text are extant for this speech.

29. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Officers of a Volksgrenadier Division" ("Rede zu den Offizieren einer Volksgrenadier Division"). Place unknown, Aug. 29, 1944. Approx. 118 min. Item 242-254, 242-255, 242-269, 242-262, 242-253. No notes or text are extant. Speech was originally recorded on magnetic tape (30 IPS), but because only one recorder was used there are no overlapping sections. Based on internal evidence, the speech may be complete.

30. Himmler, Heinrich. "Speech to the Commanding Officers of the Wehrkreise and the Commanding Officers of the Training Schools" ("Rede zu den Wehrkreisbefehlshabern und den Kommandeuren der Schulen"). Jagerhohe, Sept. 21, 1944. Approx. 120 min. Item 242-267, 242-258, 242-247, 242-248, 242-260, 242-265. Incomplete. Comparison with text extant in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Heft Nr. 26. EAP 16 1-b-12/276. T175, roll 92, frames 2613636-658, indicates the only gap in the original magnetic tape recording corresponds to pages 8 and 9 of the 23-page typed text. This recording, however, is more complete in a number of places (i.e., sections equivalent to pages 11 and 22) than the text, which contains substantial rewording.

31. Hitler, Adolf. "Speech Introducing Benito Mussolini." Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin, Sept. 28, 1937. Approx. 10 min. Item 242-107. Text appears in Adolf Hitler, Reden und Proklamationen, 1932-1945, ed. Max Domarus, 2 vols. (Wurzburg, 1962-63), vol. 1, p. 736-738 (hereafter referred to as Domarus).

32. Hitler, Adolf. "Speech to the Reichstag." Berlin, Apr. 28, 1939. Approx. 130 min. Item 242-178. Incomplete. In a sequence of 45, discs 1-5, 7, 22, and 24 are missing. Printed text is available in Domarus, vol. 2, p. 1147-1179. Concluding words by Hermann Goering. Recording of speech also available at Deutsche Rundfunk Archiv, Frankfurt.

33. Hitler, Adolf. "Speech in Danzig." Danzig, Sept. 19, 1939. Approx. 75 min. Item 242-182. Incomplete. In a sequence of 32, discs 1-4, 9, and 11 are missing. Printed text available in Domarus, vol. 2, p. 1354-1366. Also the conclusion of the Deutschlandlied at end of speech is cut short. Recording of speech is available at the Norddeutsche Rundfunk, Hamburg, and a fragment is preserved at the Bundesarchiv, Koblenz.

34. Hitler, Adolf. "Speech to Reichstag." Berlin, July 19, 1940. Approx. 135 min. Item 242-175H, 242-175G, 242-175C. Printed text is in Domarus, vol. 2, p. 1540-1559. Introduction and conclusion by Hermann Goering. Recording of speech also available at the Deutsche Rundfunk Archiv, Frankfurt, and the Norddeutsche Rundfunk, Hamburg.

35. Hitler, Adolf. "Speech on Winterhilfswerk." Sportpalast, Berlin, Sept. 4, l940. Approx. 70 min. Item 242-175D, 242-175E, 242-175F. Incomplete. In a sequence of 28, discs 1-4, 13, and 15 are missing. Printed text is in Domarus, vol. 2, p. 1575-1583. Recording includes introduction by Joseph Goebbels. Recording of speech also available at Deutsche Rundfunk Archiv, Frankfurt, and at the Bundesarchiv, Koblenz.

36. Hitler, Adolf. "Speech at Commemorative Ceremony for November 1923 Putsch." Munich, Nov. 8, 1940. Approx. 80 min. Item 242-175B. Incomplete. In a sequence of 25, discs 1 and 3 are missing. Printed text is in Domarus, vol. 2, p.1602-1608. Also available at the Deutsche Rundfunk Archiv, Frankfurt, and in parts at the Norddeutsche Rundfunk, Hamburg.

37. Hitler, Adolf. "Speech to the Workers of a Berlin Armaments Factory" ("Rede vor den Arbeitern eines Berliner Rustungswerkes"). Berlin, Dec. 10, 1940. Approx. 110 min. Item 242-175A. Printed text is in Domarus, vol. 2, p. 1626-1634. Also available at the Deutsche Rundfunk Archiv, Frankfurt, and at the Bundesarchiv, Koblenz.

38. Hitler, Adolf. "Speech for Anniversary of the Founding of the NSDAP." Hofbrauhaus-Festsaal, Munich, Feb. 24, 1941. Approx. 90 min. Item 242-87,242-119,242-173. Only part of the speech is available in printed text in Domarus, vol. 2, p. 1668-1670.

39. Hitler, Adolf. "Speech to the Reichstag." Berlin, Dec. 11, 1941. Approx. 95 min. Item 242-219. Printed text is in Domarus, vol. 2, p. 1794-1811. Introduction and conclusion by Hermann Goering. Recording of speech also available at Deutsche Rundfunk Archiv, Frankfurt.

40. Juttner, Hans. "Speech by Chief of SS Fuhrungshauptamt and Kommando Amt Waffen SS, to SS Fuhrer." Kienschlag (Bohmen-Mahren) [now in Czechoslovakia] Apr. 13, 1944. Approx. 65 min. Item 242-184. No printed text or notes are available. Speech is a survey of the Waffen SS, updating Heinrich Himmler's report of Nov. 19, 1943.

41. Milch, Erhard. "Speech to Gauleitertagung." Posen, Oct. 6, 1943. Approx. 95 min. Item 242-223, reels 8-l0. Text of speech is in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Unnumbered folder. EAP 161-b-12/275. T175, roll 119, frames 2645049-075. For further information see entry 1, "Speeches to the Reichs and Gauleitertagung."

42. Rosenberg, Alfred. "Speech Commemorating Second Anniversary of Austrian Anschluss." Konzerthaus, Vienna, Apr. 2, 1940. Approx. 103 min. Item 242-183. Incomplete. In a sequence of 21, disc 6 is missing. The missing part, however, occurs during an introduction by an unidentified speaker. The speech by Rosenberg, which is complete, is followed by brief concluding remarks by an unidentified speaker and by music. Neither text nor notes are available.

43. Schepmann, Wilhelm. "Speech to Gauleiter by Chief of SA." Posen, Oct. 6, 1943. Approx. 32 min. Item 242-189, 242-224. Text is in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Unnumbered folder. EAP 161-b-12/275. Tl75, roll 119, frames 2645023-035. Recording also includes part of Heinrich Himmler's speech of the same date (see entry 13 ). For further information see entry 1, "Speeches to the Reichs and Gauleitertagung."

44. Schwerin-Krosigk, Lutz, Graf von. "Speech to Businessmen." Probably Cologne in period of Sept. 1932-June 1933. Approx. 10 min. Item 242-221. Incomplete. The speaker, a financial expert, discusses the results of the Ottawa Imperial Economic Conference of July and August 1932 and attempts to predict the outcome for Germany of the Monetary and Economic Conference in London, June and July 1933. Recording contains two repeats of same part of speech.

45. Speer, Albert. "Speech to Gauleitertagung." Posen, Oct. 6, 1943. Approx. 76 min. Item 242-223, reels 5-8. Text of speech is in Reichsfuhrer SS. Personlicher Stab. Schriftgutverwaltung. Unnumbered folder. EAP 161-b-12/275. T175, roll 119, frames 2644970-990. For further information see entry 1, "Speeches to the Reichs and Gauleitertagung."

46. Streicher, Julius. "Speech at Nurnberg." Ca. 1934. Approx. 90 min. Item 242-l85. Incomplete. In a sequence of 22, discs 1 and l3 are missing. Neither text nor notes are available. Recording of speech is of very bad quality with excessive background noise. 4

47. Weinrich, Karl. Report to the People of Kassel by the Gauleiter of Kurhessen. Kassel, Jan. 11, 1939. Approx. 45 min. Item 242-177. Neither text nor notes are available. Speech is a progress report on schools, transportation, rebuilding of the city center, culture, and the arts. For Weinrich's part in a ceremony on May 21, 1939, see entry 48.

Section II: Ceremonies

48. Ceremony Erecting a Monument for the Fallen of the NSDAP and the Wehrmacht in Kurhessen. Kreis Melsungen, Kurhessen, May 21, 1939. Approx. 26 min. Item 242-176. Speakers are identified as Dr. Reinhard, the Gauamtsleiter; Karl Weinrich, the Gauleiter; the leader of the Gau Kurhessen Choral Society; and Dr. Schwitz, the Kreisleiter. For another speech by Karl Weinrich, see entry 47.

49. "Christmas Address on Radio to German Troops." Place unknown, ca. 1941. Approx. 10 min. Item 242-222. Incomplete. Brief, distorted fragment; speaker unknown.

50. "Christmas/New Years Greetings to the SS Troops." Place unknown, ca. 1943. Approx. 8 min. Item 242-225. Incomplete. May be Henrich Himmler's message read by unknown speaker.

51. "Commemorative Ceremony for Establishment of the Anti-Comintern Pact." Reichskanzlei, Berlin, Nov. 25, 1941. Approx. 8 min. Item 242-199. Only the speeches of the Foreign Minister of Hungary, Laszlo de Bardossy; the Representative of Manchukuo, Lue-i-wen; and the Foreign Minister of Spain, Ramon Serrano Suner, are included.

52. "Commemorative Ceremony for Naming of the SS Standarte Kurt Eggers." Place unknown, Nov. 7, 1943. Approx. 50 min. Item 242-216, 242-216A. Kurt Eggers, an SS Obersturmfuhrer in the Division Wiking, was killed on the Eastern Front. His name was given to a propaganda unit (Einheit der Kriegsberichterstatter) in a Fuhrerbefehl (Hitler order) of October 31, 1943. Recording includes a military review, speeches, ceremony, and a reading of the Fuhrerbefehl that established SS Standarte Kurt Eggers.

Section III: Monitored Broadcasts

53. "Monitored Broadcast." Lille, France, n.d. Approx. 15 min. Item 242-236. English language coded messages monitored from Lille by the Germans. (No. 190, Lille 20).

54. "Monitored Broadcast." Lille, France, n.d. Approx. 15 min. Item 242-237. English language coded messages monitored from Lille by the Germans. (No. 193, Lille 17).

55. "Monitored Broadcast." Lille, France, n.d. Approx. 15 min. Item 242-238. English language coded messages monitored from Lille by the Germans (No. 194, Lille 26).

56. "Monitored Broadcast." Lille, France, n.d. Approx. 25 min. Item 242-239, 242-240. English language coded messages monitored from Lille by the Germans. (No. 195, Lille 42). Recording also includes a discussion on the Royal Armoured Corps, tank usage, a description of minesweepers in action, and airborne ambulance operations. All descriptions are in English monitored from Lille. (No. 196, Lille 43).

57. "Monitored Broadcast." Lille, France, n.d. Approx. 15 min. Item 242-242. English language coded messages with mixture of recorded music near the end, monitored from Lille by the Germans. (No. 199, [London] Lille 24).

58. "Monitored Broadcast." Lille, France, n.d. Approx. 15 min. Item 242-245. Incomplete. English language word and number codes, fragmented, interrupted by static, monitored from Lille by the Germans. (No. 203, Lille 1).

59. "Monitored Broadcast." Lille, France, ca. 1944. Approx. 15 min. Item 242-241. Incomplete. A monitored radio comedy-routine with Eddie Cantor, Lionel Barrymore, and Fred Waring from the Armed Forces Radio "Mail Call" series; a fragment of a report by war correspondent Frank Gilliard, monitored from the BBC; and a brief, garbled, static-laden code section monitored from Lille by the Germans. (No. 197, Lille 61).

60. "Monitored Broadcast." Lille, France, June 18, 1944. Approx. 15 min. Item 242-244. An English language BBC review of parliamentary sessions reported by Ernest Atkinson, making references to V-bomb attacks during the summer of 1944; a fragment of "News from Canada," a BBC broadcast by Jerry Wilmot after D-day; and parts of British coded speeches and groups of numbers monitored from Lille by the Germans. (No. 201, Lille 70). A more extensive section of the "News from Canada" can be found on item 242-234 (entry 62).

61. "Monitored Broadcast." Place unknown, n.d. Approx. 15 min. Item 242-232. U.S. and British radio communications, presumably for Allied units, monitored by the Germans. Probably coded; communications are generally in numbers.

62. "Monitored Broadcast." Place unknown, summer 1944. Approx. 15 min. Item 242-234. This BBC broadcast made after D-day contains two sections of British code messages (in English) and a section of Canadian news. Part of the news material is duplicated on items 242-244 (entry 60).

63. "Monitored Broadcast." Place unknown, July 1944. Approx. 10 min. Item 242-279. Monitored Allied radio broadcasts, including part of a BBC radio broadcast commentary.

64. "Stalag III-B Conference." Place unknown, May 22, 1944. Approx. 25 min. Item 242-231. Incomplete. Although the Germans called this a conference, it seems to be a disjointed recording of British and American voices, often unintelligible. May be a monitoring of POWs in a German camp.