Ernst "Putzi" Hanfstaengl
Creator(s)
- Ernst Hanfstaengl (Subject)
- Henry (Heinz) V. Jaworsky (Camera Operator)
- David Marwell
Biographical History
Ernst Sedgewiek Hanfstaengl (or Hanfy or Putzi, as he was usually called) (1887-1975), was a German-American at the core of the rise of Hitlerism. Born into a well-known New England family, he was introduced to Hitler in the early 1920s by Captain Truman-Smith, the U.S. Military Attache in Berlin. He became an ardent Hitler supporter, on occasion financed the Nazis and, according to Ambassador William Dodd, .".. is said to have saved Hitler's life in 1923." Putzi became not only an early friend, backer and financier of Hitler, but among those early Hitler supporters he was, .", . almost the only person who crossed the lines of his (Hitler's) groups of acquaintances." In 1931, Hanfstaengl became NSDAP foreign press chief. Hanfstaengl became alienated from Hitler in 1937 and fled to England. He was interned in a Canadian prisoner of war camp. With Germany and the United States now at war Putzi re-calculated the odds and concluded, "Now I knew for certain that Germany would be defeated." Putzi's release from the POW camp came with the personal intervention of old friend President Roosevelt.
Scope and Content
Ernst "Putzi" Hanfstaengl was an early confidant of Hitler but fell increasingly out of favor after Hitler's assumption of power. In 1937 Hitler ordered Hanfstaengl to parachute over Spain and act as an agent for Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Hanfstaengl feared this was really a plot on his life and, in his telling, he convinced the plane's pilot to return to Germany. According to Albert Speer in his memoirs, this was all an elaborate practical joke and no harm was intended. However, Hanfstaengl was frightened enough to decide to defect. It is this episode which is documented in this footage. "Putzi" Hanfstaengl and a small entourage exit a building in overcoats and hats, and carry luggage to a car. We then see "Putzi" and friends on an air strip. 01:00:26 Putzi stands beside General Karl Bodenschatz. 01:00:33 General Gustav Kastner-Kirdorf in profile on left of screen. An officer straps a parachute onto "Putzi's" back, he enters the plane with other men. INT, MCU, "Putzi" inside the plane. "Putzi" disembarking from the plane. MCU, the airplane's propeller after landing.
Note(s)
See Film and Video subject files for biographical and other information on Ernst "Putzi" Hanfstaengl.
Subjects
- CIVILIANS
- AERIAL VIEWS
- HANFSTAENGL, ERNST
- CITIES
- BODENSCHATZ, KARL
- LUFTWAFFE (GERMAN AIR FORCE)
- NAZI OFFICIALS
- AIRPLANES
Places
- Munich, Germany
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.