The adjutant handed Hitler the receiver, believing that Speer was on the line. When Hitler announced himself, ‘The Führer speaking’, there was a bellow of laughter from the other end. This was the paymaster who, still laughing, shouted into the receiver: ‘You’re crazy!’ I feared an outburst of rage with serious consequences, but Hitler merely returned the receiver with the observation: ‘Just someone else who thinks I’m mad.’ No outward annoyance and no negative consequences followed, which I found surprising since this episode occurred after the 20 July 1944 bomb plot.