Lloyd George: Hitler’s one of greatest men I’ve met
PM hero-worships Nazi leader in rare pre-war footage
FORMER Prime Minister David Lloyd George is caught on camera laughing and joking at a dinner party with his hero Adolf Hitler in 1936.
Afterwards, the Liberal politician said: “Hitler is one of the greatest of many great men I have met.”
The 20-minute black and white 16mm film shows Lloyd George and his entourage twice meeting the Nazi ruler, as well as admiring newly-created autobahns.
Grainy footage captures him with Hitler at a dinner party and laying a wreath at a war memorial in Munich, with the alarming sight of the Nazi flag hanging alongside the UK’s Union Flag.
The film belongs to a British historian with a collection of archive footage and has now been put up for sale for £1,200.
Ben Jones, of Shropshire-based Mullock’s Auctions, said: “It is a significant film and interesting to see how Lloyd George was laughing and joking and everything appears to be okay. My guess is this film was made by someone from Lloyd George’s entourage.
“Perhaps it was for propaganda purposes because you can see the Germans don’t look at the camera while Lloyd George’s entourage do acknowledge it.”
Lloyd George, the PM during the First World War, visited Hitler’s home at Haus Wachenfeld in 1936 near Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps.
He met Germany’s leader alone on September 4 at his Berghof residence and then he returned the following night. Hitler said he was pleased to have met “the man who won the war”.
And Lloyd George was impressed by Germany’s public works, which he saw first hand. He believed Hitler was rearming Germany for defence and that a war between Germany and Russia would not happen for at least 10 years.
After the visit, Lloyd George said in an interview: “Germany does not want war. Hitler does not want war. He is a most remarkable personality.”
Although he was wrong about Hitler’s thirst for war and invasion, Lloyd George – who turned down three offers to serve in Winston Churchill’s War Cabinet – observed Germany’s love for their leader.
He said: “Affection is a quite inadequate word to describe the attitude of the German people towards Hitler.
“It amounts almost to worship. I have never seen anything like it.
“Some who are not Nazis are inclined to blame Hitler’s supporters for some things but there is no whisper of criticism of Hitler.
“It is just like our motto, ‘The King can do no wrong’.”