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Speaking Russian fluently and knowing the country well, Rosenberg became the first contact man between Hitler and the wealthy Russian immigrants. As the Party's expert on the Jewish question, it was Rosenberg who first showed Hitler a booklet entitled The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, the most important propaganda document of the White Russian anti-Semites. The booklet, said to be the minutes of a secret meeting of Jewish leaders in 1897, the year of the first International Zionist Congress, revealed a terrible plot to undermine European society and overthrow all governments. The principal weapon to be used in the accomplishment of this conspiracy was international financial manipulations. Hitler was fascinated with the Protocols and immediately recognized their propaganda value. The Thule Society arranged to have the Protocols printed in German by the Ludwig Miiller publishing firm. The success was extraordinary. By incorporating anticapitalist points in the Party program, it seems unlikely that Hitler could hope for contributions from the upper class. In fact, everything about his presentation at the beer hall, the violence, the vicious anti- Semitism, and the fire-breathing oratory-would seem to have discouraged respectable support. However, there was still a great danger of a Communist revolution in Gennany at the time, and if the Communist forces in all the industrial centers of Germany rose up at once, the Army, which simply did not have enough troops, would have difficulty in suppressing them. The Generals and the upper class needed a new nationalist party that would appeal to the workers and win them away from the Marxists. Very few members of the upper class would want to join such a party, but because of Hitler's method of responding to Communist violence with counter violence it would be a useful ally. Naturally, they did not want to have violence at the meetings of their conservative parties, but if a Communist revolution were to break out they would need a patriotic workers' party that was willing to fight. Dietrich Eckart, who had entree to the higher levels of Berlin society because he had once been a drama critic for a conservative newspaper there, was also a great help in putting Hitler forward. He presented him in the homes of several wealthy upper-class families. One of the ladies who received Hitler in her salon, Frau Helene Bechstein, the wife of the piano manufacturer Carl Bechstein, was particularly struck by him. Hitler was a bit ill at ease when he first arrived at the Bechstein residence, a great monstrosity of a house in the center of the city, built in the 1870s. The interior and furnishings were all very pretentious in the style of the Berlin haute bourgeoisie. Frau Bechstein, who was wearing diamonds as big as cherries strung around her neck and wrist, greeted Hitler with a friendly smile. A vivacious, self-confident woman, she was intrigued by his initial shyness and tried to draw him out. As soon as the conversation turned to politics Hitler warmed up and began to speak. Before the evening was over he had found his first socially prominent supporter. With Frau Bechstein's patronage Hitler would eventually be accepted socially in the highest circles. More important, Helene Bechstein was soon to give him sizeable contributions and urge her friends to do likewise. Hitler returned to Munich on March 31,1920. The next day he finally decided to leave the Army. He collected his back pay and signed out of the barracks for the last time. What is important is not simply that Hitler had supported himself on an Army salary during his first year in politics, but that he was an Army representative working under orders from his commanders. As such, he received assistance and protection from the most powerful institution in Germany. Simply because he quit being a soldier does not indicate that any break took place with his former employer. Actually, Hitler's action was of mutual benefit to both himself and the military.