literally from their morning Völkischer Beobachter that they had
been axed. Over at the Foreign Ministry Neurath was replaced
by the haughty Joachim von Ribbentrop, while the Ministry of
Economics currently though inconspicuously held by Göring
himself went to Walter Funk, who was indeed a well-known
homosexual.
Hitler consoled Göring with Blomberg’s old rank, field
marshal no mean consolation, of course, since he thus out-
ranked every other officer in the Reich. For two hours on Feb-
ruary , Hitler offered his own account of these last weeks, while
his senior generals and admirals clustered in a semicircle around
him and Göring. Göring had appeared carrying a field mar-
shal’s baton. (It was probably the only such baton to be fished
out of a stinking bog of intrigue, the army’s illustrious Erich von
Manstein reflected.) Hitler spared no sordid detail of Fritsch’s
felonies before making the only announcement that really mat-
tered that he had appointed himself supreme commander of
the Wehrmacht.
A few days later, brooding upon the circumstances of his
dismissal, General von Fritsch would surmise, “Above all, some-
body must have systematically and deliberately poisoned the
Führer’s confidence in me.” He suspected Himmler, and even
Blomberg. “For the last four years,” he meditated, “he [Blom-
berg] has not been honest with me. But there must be some spe-
cial reason otherwise this lack of trust of the Führer and be-
trayal by Göring defy comprehension.”
Field Marshal Hermann Göring how grand that sounded!
would have to preside over the court of honor now convened to
hear the Fritsch case. Raeder, Brauchitsch, and two legal asses-
sors would assist him. But now his position was markedly differ-
ent from two weeks earlier. No longer in the running for either