The subject of Adolf Hitler’s relationship with his part-jewish chauffeur and bodyguard who worked for him between 1919 and 1931 has been repeatedly used as a defence of ‘accepting’ part-jews, jews and those with jewish spouses/partners into the wider nationalist movement I thought I would address it directly.
In the first instance comparing him to people who knowingly violate their professed principles completely mischaracterizes Maurice. Since he was by all accounts unaware that he had jewish ancestry until 1935 – at which time he had ceased to work for Adolf Hitler although they were still friends – (1) and as such he did act in good faith.
Maurice violated none of his principles or his honour and served Adolf Hitler loyally for twelve years.
Indeed he also acted as a confident for Hitler in regard to the latter’s now barely known romances with women like the sixteen year old Maria Reiter (2) as well as serving as Hitler’s secretary for part of the time that he was in prison in Landsberg. (3)
In the second instance comparing people who have personal relationships in violation of their principles also mischaracterizes Maurice. He wasn’t drummed out of Hitler’s service for violation of any principle, but rather because he had begun a romantic liaison with Hitler’s niece Geli Raubal of which Hitler strongly disapproved and threw his employee out on his ear. (4)
In the third instance Maurice’s jewish origins was only a violation of the criteria for being an officer in the SS (i.e., Aryan ancestry back to 1750). When Maurice was to marry his fiancé Hedwig in 1935; SS genealogists discovered that one of his great-grand parents called Charles Maurice Schwartzenberger was of jewish origin. (5)
Himmler naturally wanted to expel Maurice and his brothers from the SS officer corps as per the rules of the organization, but Hitler intervened for Maurice on personal grounds. (6)
Now according to the Nuremberg laws Maurice would have been considered non-jewish, but not pure Aryan because of his one jewish great-grand parent. In doing so Hitler only overrode the internal laws of the SS and not the Nuremberg laws.
Thus, to claim that Maurice is somehow an excuse for ideologically inconsistent behaviour in regard to race and the jews is absurd. Precisely because he was only 1/8th jewish, which he only discovered in 1935 when he had already been fired from his position as bodyguard and chauffeur to Adolf Hitler.
References
(1) Lothar Machtan, 2001, ‘The Hidden Hitler’, 1st Edition, Perseus Press: Oxford, p. 164
(2) Ian Kershaw, 1998, ‘Hitler: Hubris 1889-1936’, 1st Edition, Penguin: New York, p. 284; John Toland, 1977, ‘Adolf Hitler’, 1st Edition, Book Club Associates: London, p. 212
(3) Toland, Op. Cit., pp. 194; 197
(4) Kershaw, Op. Cit., pp. 353; 485
(5) Machtan, Op. Cit., p. 164
(6) Ibid.