122. Domarus, 821; there is no record of any prior telephone conversation with Mussolini (see Keitel, 179, n.32), though it is likely that the telegram followed such a call, to ensure the Duce’s approval for the final step of full Anschluß.
123. Domarus, 822.
124. Below, 92; Domarus, 820–21 for the law. A first draft had already been drawn up before Stuckart left Berlin (Erwin A. Schmidl, März 38. Der deutsche Einmarsch in Österreich, Vienna, 1987, 214).
125. Kube, 248 and n.118. Stuckart flew at midday on 13 March to Vienna to discuss the draft with Keppler and representatives of the Austrian government (Schmidl, 214).
126. ‘Anschluß’ 1938, 330–31.
127. Tb Irving, 107, 108–9 (14–15 March 1938); Tb Spiegel, 31/92, 107, 110, entry for 14 March (dealing with events of the previous day) has ‘The Anschluß is practically there. The Führer is staying in Linz on Sunday’ (‘Der Anschluß ist praktisch da. Der Führer bleibt Sonntag in Linz’). The entry for 15 March (reporting on ‘yesterday’) has: ‘Anschluß completed. Election on 10 April… The Austrian armed forces under the Führer’s command’ (‘Anschluß vollzogen. Am 10.April Wahl… Die österreichische Wehrmacht dem Führer unterstellt’). This suggests that the signing of the Anschluß legislation took place in the evening of 13 March.
128. Account of the decision for the Anschluß based on Below, 92; Leonidas E. Hill (ed.), Die Weizsäcker-Papiere 1933–1950, Frankfurt am Main/Berlin/Vienna, 1974, 124 (26 March 1938); Domarus, 820–21; Schmidl, 214–15; ‘Anschluß’ 1938, 328ff; Irving, Führer, 91.
129. Kube, 248–9; David Irving, Göring. A Biography, London, 1989, 210–11. The frequently cited version — see, for example, Toland, 452; Irving, Führer, 91; Wagner and Tomkowitz, 211 — of Göring sending an intermediary to Linz with the suggestion of moving to full Anschluß and Hitler agreeing, rests on a single piece of doubtful testimony, and reflects Göring’s embellishment of his own role. (See Kube, 248 n.117.) Papen, influenced by Göring’s Nuremberg testimony, also stated that Hitler moved to Anschluß at Göring’s insistence (Papen, 438).
130. Domarus, 821; Below, 92; Pauley, 219–20.
131. Below, 92–3; Domarus, 822; Gedye, 318; Botz, Wien, 72.
132. Botz, Wien, 119.
133. Domarus, 822.
134. Gedye, 318.
135. Below, 93; Schroeder, 85; Domarus, 822; Gedye, 318–19; Botz, Wien, 73.
136. Keitel, 180.
137. Botz, Wien, 69–71.
138. Botz, Wien, 73–4.
139. Botz, Wien, 55–8.
140. Domarus, 823; Botz, Wien, 75.
141. Domarus, 824; Wagner and Tomkowitz, 226–9.
142. Papen, 432–3. Papen says the meeting lasted an hour. Botz, Wien, 76, 120, 523 n.19, claims it was no longer than a quarter of an hour. Hitler’s tight schedule would not have allowed for Papen’s lengthier audience.
143. Papen, 433; Botz, Wien, 120.
144. Botz, Wien, 123; Lewy, 212.
145. Domarus, 825; Botz, Wien, 122.
146. Domarus, 825–6; Botz, Wien, 76, 523 n.19.
147. Domarus, 830.
148. Domarus, 832–50.
149. BA, R55/445, ‘Wahlparole Nr.8’, 1 April 1938.
150. Domarus, 850.
151. BA, R55/445, ‘Rundspruch Nr.69. Tagesparole vom 11. April 1938, betr. die Kommentierung des Wahlergebnisses’. [‘Ein solches, beinahe 100 prozentiges Wahlergebnis ist gleichzeitig ein Ruhmesblatt für alle Wahlpropagandisten.’]
152. See Botz, Der 13.März 38, 2.4–6, and, especially, Botz, Wien, ch.II; Ernst Hanisch, National sozialistische Herrschaft in der Provinz. Salzburg im Dritten Reich, Salzburg, 1983, 52–71, for the vote in Austria; also Helmut Auerbach, ‘Volksstimmung und veröffentlichte Meinung’, in Knipping and Müller, 273–93, here 279. One example, cited by Auerbach (279 n.33), of ballot-rigging was the case in the Konstanz area where thirty-two voting slips containing ‘Nein’ votes had been counted as ‘Ja’. (See Jörg Schadt (ed.), Verfolgung und Widerstand unter dem Nationalsozialismus in Baden. Die Lageberichte der Gestapo und des Generalstaatsanwalts Karlsruhe 1933–1940, Stuttgart, 1976, 270.)
153. Tb Irving, 123 (20 March 1938); Tb Spiegel, 31/92, 110.
154. Papen, 438.
155. Botz, Wien, 57.
