Winifred and Wolf - Again, the Illimitable Power of Music

We all know, of course, of the town of Bayreuth, where the music of Wagner established its base and world identity.
The great music dramatist, we know, had an immense hold upon the young Hitler, who identified with the great music and attendant sagas of Richard Wagner. It is known that Hitler had seen the drama Rienzi at least forty times.
Winifred Wagner, the daughter-in-law of the fabled composer, got to know Hitler in the very early days of his rise, and from the twenties to her own passing in 1980 remained loyal to Hitler and his political views.
What is not generally known, perhaps, is her direct aid to Hitler while he was in prison.
Hitler was already known for his actions and speeches, and received special consideration while in prison. The paper upon which Mein Kampf was written was sent by Winifred from Bayreuth, along with other items he demanded.
Winifred had joined the Nazi party, and was delighted when Hitler became Chancellor in 1933; sadly, she was wrong when she remarked at that time about her doubts that Hitler would retain power for very long. It did not take very much time to pass before the entire world discovered the errors of her prediction.
Bayreuth, before Hitler's accession to power, was in a rather bad way fiscally, but was saved when Hitler, after attaining power, saw to it that monies from various state sources sustained Bayreuth and Wagner's music. He knew that the state and Bayreuth were intertwined by ideology, both politically and artistically.
An example or two of the role of music coming from these times:
It was from the Wagner estate in Bayreuth that Hitler made the decision to send the tyrant Franco military aid in the Spanish Civil War, which was going on at the time.
It was in France in 1940 that Winifred Wagner made a trip to occupied Paris to organize a concert of the music of Wagner, which was conducted by Herbert Van Karajan.
It was in some of the death camps in occupied Europe that inmates were given live performances of Wagner's music before they were exterminated.
The male performers in the Bayreuth Festivals were exempt from military service, even though Hitler had consigned children as young as fourteen to kill as many Russian troops as possible as they entered Berlin during the final days.
Winifred and Wolf (Hitler's nick-name among the privileged few) - truly a couple designed to enhance the panache that is sometimes attached to the entity we call History.
In an interview in 1975, Winifred said that " if Hitler were to come through that door in front of me at this very moment, I would unhesitatingly welcome him."