This is CBS Eye on the World. Here's John Batchelor.

Continuing with the author Timothy Ryback, his book is Takeover, Hitler's final rise to power.

Tim is the co-founder and director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation in the Hague.

He speaks to me from Berlin.

Hitler has been defeated on November 6th.

The German people have turned their backs on him compared to the gains of July 31st when he had 37% of the Reichstag. He's been set back

two million votes in the vote of November 6th. The whole party is discouraged. Gerbils is grim

in his diary, but not Hitler. Hitler is always looking to make the best out of anything. He's

never discouraged. He's driven. On the 14th, more than a week later, Hitler gets a call from

von Pappen, the previous chancellor, who is a man that Hitler is mocked repeatedly as a man who only knows about monocles.

He calls him the cabinet of fun, fun, fun, the baron's cabinet.

All Germany calls him the cabinet.

He's a man, as Tim has told and reminded us, who Schleiker, his master, said the reason he has a head or brains is to put a top hat on it, not to use them to think.

But Poppin calls Hitler.

So, Tim, your wonderful story now gets extremely like a drawing room melodrama.

Why does Poppin call Hitler after the election?

I guess in German politics, maybe in all politics, everybody smells blood.

What happens is, as you mentioned, John, Hitler disparaged Poppin. Poppin disparaged Hitler.

The two men despised each other, disdained each other. But after the election, Poppin calls Hitler because he knows the Nazis have lost two million votes,

and he thinks maybe Hitler has softened up.

Poppin himself remains, to this day, the most unpopular

in German history.

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