Hitler arrived in the foyer. Rather oddly, he was wearing a
black frock coat with his Iron Cross. He and Scheubner-Richter
of the Combat League had difficulty getting in. Police were al-
ready sealing off the building because it was so full, so Hitler
went outside again to await the arrival of Göring and the shock
troop from the Torbräu. They arrived at : .. Leaving one
man behind with a machine gun to cover the doors, he took
three men with him, flung open the doors, and plunged into
the hall, drawing his Browning . revolver. (“You’re hardly
going to go in waving a palm branch!” he scoffed to his later
judges.) An uproar broke out. Kahr faltered in mid-sentence,
then dried up. People climbed onto chairs to look. Police Chief
Seisser heard voices shouting, “It’s Hitler!” and he saw a wedge
of armed, helmeted men pushing through the hall toward
them. Two paces from the rostrum Hitler halted, glared at
Kahr, pocketed his revolver, and climbed onto a chair.
The din was thunderous. Kahr just gasped, clutching his
half-finished speech. As Hitler swung around to face the audi-
ence, they could see him shouting but could not hear what. Im-
patient, Hitler tugged the Browning out of his back pocket
again, cocked it with his left hand in a swift move, and loosed off
a shot into the ceiling. “The national revolution has begun,” he
screamed. “I have six hundred heavily armed men surrounding
this hall. Nobody is to leave!”
There were shouts of anger and disbelief.
“If you don’t quiet down,” he shouted, “I’ll have a machine
gun set up in the gallery.”
His voice forced and unnatural, he rounded on Kahr and
ordered him off the rostrum. Then he told the three Bavarian
leaders to accompany him outside, promising, “I can vouch for
your safety.”
They filed out meekly behind him Kahr, Lossow, and