Ive read two versions of his flirting with communism.. one is the prevailing theory that he joined and got disillusioned with it and decided national socialism was better There was also writings that indicated he joined on behalf of the fledgling national socialist party as an infiltrator/ spy The latter Ive been somewhat dubious of as it provides a cover story for the faithful to account for their "hero" being a commie for a while.. In either case theres a lot of data indicating he was a commie .. at least for a little while