INTERVIEW WITH HITLER, MAY 4TH, 1937.            
 
 
Hitler received Lord Lothian and Mr. Conwell-Evans
at 4 p,m, at the Chancellery in the Wllhelmstresse, the only other                                                                    
person present was Dr. Schmidt, from the German Foreign Office, who
acted as lnterpreter. Both visitors were very cordially greeted;
but one had the feeling from the beginning that the Chancellor
was in a grave mood;; at times his tone showed traces of bitterness,
if not disillusionment in regard to the more recent British attitude 
to Germany, nevertheless the frank discussion lasting 2 1/2 hours
indicated his earnest desire to bring about a permament improvement
and cooperation.
 
 
Lord Lothian asked what were the causes from the German
point of view of the apparent deterioration of the last six months
in the relations between the two countries.
 
 
The Chancellor replied that the deterioration was due 
in the first place to factors in the international position whlch 
affected Britain and Germany only indirectly. It arose from the
different ways in whioh Germany and England regarded events in       
Abyssinia and in Spain. Another cause was the discussion of the
colonial question to which he would refer later.
 
 
The divergence in the opinions of Britain and Germany
on Abyssinia and 8pain was explained by the fact that Communism
and its dangers were regarded in a very different light in England
and Germany.                                                      
 
 
Lord Lothian asked what the Abyssinian affair had to do
with Communism. Hitler replied that if Italy had been defeated,
Europe would have lost one of the leading protectors of its civilisation,
as Italy would have become Bolshevik.
 
 
We Germans, said the Chancellor, would have understood
if Britain, from the point of view of its own interests, had taken a
strong line at the beginning in dissuadlng the Italians from embarking 
upon the adventure. But When the campaign had started, inter-