Paul Schmidt

Paul-Otto Schmidt (23 June 1899 - 21 April 1970) was an interpreter in the German foreign ministry from 1923-1945. During his career he served as the translator for Neville Chamberlain's negotiations with Adolf Hitler over the Munich Agreement, the British Declaration of War and the surrender of France.

Paul Schmidt, (center) interpreting between Philippe Pétain and Adolf Hitler, October 1940. The Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop stands in the background to the right.

Quotes

• You can see that there were no strong characters surrounding Hitler. There were only weaklings like Ribbentrop, Funk, and so forth. Hitler wanted a silent audience. Even Goering, who superficially gives the appearance of a strong man, was in reality a childlike, weak character who was known as a dope addict in the inner circles.
  • To Leon Goldensohn (13 March 1946). Quoted in "The Nuremberg Interviews" - by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004

• I am naturally anti-Russian just as most Germans are. I admire their achievements in industrial fields. I was in Moscow personally. I would not be in favor of the Russian system in the western nations. I don't condemn the system — I recognize the good results that it has produced in its proper setting. But in order to be Communist, one must be a fanatic. I am very suspicious of all systems requiring fanaticism. I am convinced that the world would be a better place if people were satisfied with enough to eat and a job to keep them occupied.
  • To Leon Goldensohn (13 March 1946). Quoted in "The Nuremberg Interviews" - by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004

• Our foreign policy was an improvisation. Like Schacht's financial policy, it lacked foresight. The Nazis kept talking about a thousand-year Reich, but they couldn't think ahead for five minutes!
  • To Leon Goldensohn (13 March 1946). Quoted in "The Nuremberg Interviews" - by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004

• The forty-eight hours after the march into the Rhineland were the most nerve-racking in my life. If the French had then marched into the Rhineland, we would have had to withdraw with our tails between our legs, for the military resources at our disposal would have been wholly inadequate for even moderate resistance.
  • Quoted in "What Hitler Knew: The Battle for Information in Nazi Foreign Policy" - by Zachary Shore - 2003

• The Jewish question is no question of humanity, and it is no question of religion; it is solely a question of political hygiene.
  • Quoted in "Social Theory After the Holocaust" - Page 150 - by Robert Fine, Charles Turner - History - 2000