they re-timetabled White to begin on September . Army liaison
officer Colonel Nicolaus von Vormann found the Führer in daz-
zling spirits. “He’s confident,” recorded the colonel, “that we
can manipulate Britain so that we have only Poland to contend
with.”
Later that day Henderson returned with Britain’s reply. It
did not say much. Retiring to the conservatory with Hitler and
Himmler, Göring urged them with perceptible nervousness,
“Let’s stop trying to break the bank.”
“It’s the only game I’ve ever played,” retorted Hitler, “
breaking banks.”
Hitler’s restless optimism infected the building. “The
Führer,” wrote one colonel in the Abwehr, “has told Ribbentrop,
Himmler, Bodenschatz, etc., ‘Tonight I’m going to hatch
something diabolical for the Poles something they’ll choke
on!’ ” Baron von Weizsäcker, sensing the buoyant new mood,
attributed it to Dahlerus and his “rose-tinted” views. Göring
commanded an adjutant to telephone the hotel to express Ger-
many’s thanks to the indefatigable Swede.
The emotional high continued the next morning. Dahlerus
found it at Göring’s Bodenschatz pumped his hand, and
Göring acclaimed him with the words, “The Führer insists that
you are to be given the highest distinction that the Reich can
bestow.”
Later that day Hitler handed to Henderson his new terms.
They were diabolical indeed generous beyond belief, but cou-
pled with the demand that a Polish “plenipotentiary” arrive in
Berlin to negotiate on the very next day, the thirtieth.
“This,” said Henderson, choking, “sounds like an ultima-
tum!”
At : .. the FA’s wiretappers heard the British embassy
staff dictating the new terms to London, then Henderson