A "Light Luncheon" with the Fuhrer

By Hugh Sidey/Washington

The sound was like a tide pushing everything before it, remembers Richard Helms. He had never heard anything like it before, nor has he in the 53 years since Sept. 13, l936.

By some strange fate Helms rode in the car just behind Adolf Hitler's that day in Nuremberg. Helms would later become director of the Central Intelligence Agency, but then he was a 23-year-old United Press reporter lucky enough to get a glimpse of history being forged. For 20 minutes, Hitler stood beside his SS chauffeur in his special Mercedes-Benz, engulfed in the frightening adoration that he ignited. Hitler's car moved slowly; his bodyguards in other vehicles patrolled at the sides, automatic weapons laid out on the car floors. The bareheaded Hitler, so ordinary a man in himself, seemed transformed. "The nonchalant flip of the hand and a faint smile acknowledged the tributes," Helms recalls. "Even little children spontaneously shot out their arms." The bright sun glanced off the red Nazi flags hanging everywhere.

That morning Helms and a few other foreign correspondents had watched from the stands as Hitler marched to somber, rolling drums through 200,000 uniformed followers. "The wonder of this age is that you have found me -- an unknown man among millions!" Hitler shouted.

Invited to a "light luncheon" with the Fuhrer, Helms was directed to a nearby castle, and made his way to the battlements. "Suddenly I heard from behind me a throaty voice say in German, 'That's a lovely view.' " Helms turned and was face to face with Hitler, who had stepped onto the balcony.

Helms recently exhumed his notes, which were written later. "A firm handshake, the Nazi salute, a smile. The personality of Germany's dictator was not hypnotic. Physical appearance: less attractive than from a distance. Hair: dark brown, fine in texture, inclined to rustiness in front, slightly graying on the crown. Eyes: bright blue. Skin: coarse with a pinkish tinge. Mustache: slightly shot with gray. Teeth: bottom row gold-plated, which leads to the hunch that they are false. Stature: shorter than expected. Uniform: brown boots and breeches, simple brown shirt, adorned only by the Iron Cross and Nazi brassard. Smile: humorless. Salute: stylized by throwing the hand back over the shoulder. Manner: pleasant, usually not at ease, knees moving back and forth nervously."

Bolshevism was mentioned. "It was like hitting Hitler with a torpedo. He assumed the platform manner on a small scale, the toss of the head, the laugh of scorn, the sweep of the hand. Only the snarl was missing. 'I have only one fear,' Hitler said. 'It is that the countries around us, into which the poison of Bolshevism is eating its way, will succumb to the Red wave one after another. Moscow is seeking to dominate Europe. We shall never permit that.' "

Just as suddenly Hitler subsided. He stepped to the parapet and waved to a few below who were shouting, "We want to see our Fuhrer!" Then the group went to lunch, Hitler surrounded by party members. He dined quickly and lightly. Helms recalls noting that the Fuhrer's favorite chocolates were neatly arranged next to his plate.