The early days of Nazism with Emil Maurice, Hitler's Jewish friend

Emil Maurice, one of Adolf Hitler's earliest companions, enrolled in the DAP (the embryo of the future Nazi party) as early as late 1919, despite having a Jewish great-grandfather, was a convinced patriot. In 1921, he became the head of the first close-protection security unit, the forerunner of what would become the SA. In early 1923, he was Berchtold's deputy at the head of the Stosstrupp (embryo of the SS) and actively participated in the Munich putsch of 9 November 1923.

Arrested, he was very close to Adolf Hitler during their imprisonment at Landsberg, serving in some respects as his majordomo and becoming his personal friend — one of the rare few permitted to address him informally. He also contributed to typing the manuscript of Mein Kampf and smuggled it out of prison. This confidant of the tribune became his chauffeur, and also the co-founder of the SS, of which he would be number 2 — until his falling-out with Hitler at the end of 1927, over the latter's niece, Geli Raubal.

The reconciliation takes place in 1933 and Emil Maurice becomes SS-Oberführer, obtaining a dispensation from Hitler for his marriage — he would be the only SS officer of Jewish origin to receive such authorisation. But through his story, this is also a history of the early days of Nazism, primarily from 1919 to 1927, as you have never read it before, with previously unpublished and little-known information — a sweeping page of History that can be read in a single sitting, thanks to the wealth of testimonies and a fabulous iconography: nearly 600 photographs and documents, covering subjects such as the birth of antisemitism in Germany, the Revolution in Bavaria and the Freikorps, the Thule Society (whose emblem in colour the author has rediscovered), parties and movements unknown in France but which played a major role, the putsch of 9 November 1923, a detailed history of the Stosstrupp, and the question: did Geli Raubal take her own life?

We discover a Hitler who had invented nothing and would appropriate the discoveries of others. Unpublished and remarkable documents on a great page of History.

An extract from the book can be viewed by clicking here