Edward R. Murrow Met Privately With Hitler
Famed journalist's defense: "Was just trying to re-establish communications"
Newly unearthed documents, long hidden in communist East Germany, prove that legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow visited Adolf Hitler. The secret meeting took place during the height of World War II at Berghof, Hitler's mountain retreat located near Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps.
At the time of the meeting, American and British soldiers were fighting fiercely in the Battle of the Bulge, while Jews were being put to death in German concentration camps. Although rumors of such a meeting circulated widely during and after the war, the new documents are the first evidence that the meeting did in fact take place.
Evidence has also been found of a long rumored “toast to peace” between Murrow and Hitler.
A handwritten letter, identified as Murrow’s, addressed to his colleagues in the United States, explained his reasoning for the controversial visit.
“It was the first time I have seen him in seven years,” Murrow wrote. He said that Hitler was “cheerful, upbeat.” The pair discussed “issues we disagreed on,” such as genocide, racial superiority, and the results of the 1938 Munich Olympics.
“We didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues and I told him so. What we did agree on was to restart communications,” Murrow explained.
“For those asking why I would speak to the Fuhrer during such fraught times, I guess I would ask back, ‘Why wouldn't I?’” Murrow continued. “Neville Chamberlain often spoke with world leaders with whom he and his nation profoundly disagreed.”
Murrow quoted Hitler as telling him, “I very much appreciate the fact that you want to have open communication. In many ways, it’s too bad that it wasn’t done long ago.”
Asked about the revelation, Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinsky declined to comment.
Suddenly I’m thinking of the cowardly Mika and Joe bending the knee for the Orange Fascist at Mar A Lardo.
Good one! This should shame Joe and Mika, but it won’t.