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Ernst "Putzi" Hanfstaengl (1887-1975)
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mid-priority person dossier

Ernst "Putzi" Hanfstaengl (1887-1975)

; pre-WWI ran the NYC branch of the family Hanfstaengl art-publishing firm. Returned to Munich 1922; befriended Hitler that year; played key role in NSDAP financial / public-relations / external-image management 1922-1937. Per Sutton WSRH Ch 30: "played a suspiciously prominent role in the incident that brought Hitler to the peak of dictatorial power — the Reichstag fire of 1933." Broke with Hitler 1937; worked for Allied intelligence 1942-1944. The single human bridge between Hitler's and FDR's circles. Died November 6, 1975. (Claim SUT-WSRH-008.)FDRHalf-American (mother Katharine Heine of New York); Harvard 1909, where he met