This made me curious again and I stayed to see what would happen. At any rate, I learned the names of these gentlemen. The President for the organization in the Reich was a Herr Harrer, the Munich Chairman was Anton Drexler.
The Minutes of the last meeting were read and a vote of thanks given to the lecturer.
Then came the election of new members, i.e., the business of admitting myself.
I began to ask questions. Apart from a few leading principles there was nothing, no programme, not a leaflet, nothing at all in print, not even a miserable rubber stamp ; but obviously plenty of faith and good intention.
I no longer wanted to smile. I well knew what these men were feeling ; it was a longing for a new Movement, which should be more than a Party in the accepted sense of the word.
The hardest question of my life confronted me. Was I to join in with it or abstain ?
Fate seemed to be beckoning me. I should never have joined one of the existing great Parties, and I shall explain my reasons more precisely. In my eyes it seemed an advantage that this ridiculous little band, with its handful of members, had not stiffened into an “organization”, but still offered the individual a real opening for personal activity. There was work to be done, and the smaller the Movement was, the sooner could it be pulled properly into shape. It was still possible to determine the character, objective and methods of this society, and that was quite impossible in the case of the existing great parties.
The longer I turned it over in my mind, the more the conviction grew in me that some small Movement such as this one might pave the way for