of the NSDAP (Reichspropagandaleiter der NSDAP). In his position as Kreisleiter of Westend in Berlin, Hanke was the first party official to establish contact with the young architect Albert Speer. Hanke contracted Speer to convert a villa in the western suburbs into an office for the local party organization in 1932. Hanke and Speer became close friends. In 1944, according to Speer's book (Inside the Third Reich), Hanke strongly advised Speer never to visit "a camp in Upper Silesia" (Auschwitz) for any reason. Hanke had "seen something that he was not allowed to describe and indeed could not describe." Government service Adolf Hitler took an early liking to the outspoken young Hanke, who by April 1932 had become an NSDAP delegate to the Prussian State Parliament (Landtag). Later in November 1932, Hanke was elected to the German Parliament (Reichstag) on the slate of the NSDAP, representing Potsdam. He held this seat until the end of the war in Europe. Hanke again secured a task for Albert Speer in July 1932, having him build a headquarters for the Berlin NSDAP in the centre of the city (at Vossstrasse 11). Following the Nazi takeover of power and the parliamentary elections of March 1933, Goebbels established the Propaganda Ministry (Propagandaministerium). Hanke followed his boss there as his private secretary and aide. At the time, Hanke was a favorite of Goebbels and accompanied his boss on official visits to Italy and Poland. On 15 February 1934, Hanke joined the Allgemeine SS or general SS with membership number 203,103. He was attached to the 6th SS-Standarte which was situated in Berlin. This led to Hanke serving as a special duties officer on the staff of the Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler from January 1935 through 1 April 1936. Then in late 1937, he was promoted to State Secretary (Deputy Minister) in the Propaganda Ministry. The effective date for the promotion being 15 January 1938. Also in January 1938, he became second vice president of the Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture; RKK) succeeding Walther Funk. Hanke's seemingly unstoppable ascent on the coattails of Goebbels came to a sudden, albeit temporary, halt when he was drawn into the marital affairs of Joseph Goebbels and his wife, Magda. Goebbels had many extramarital affairs. By the winter of 1937, Goebbels began an intense affair with the Czech actress Lída Baarová. After Magda Goebbels learned of this, she had a long conversation