Years later, some have claimed that in private, Wiedemann broke entirely with Nazism. He met with the British agent
Sir William Wiseman, warning him of Hitler's unstable personality and urging Britain to attack Germany. He also offered to publicly denounce the German regime, but the White House at that time had no interest in such an offer. Wiedemann was, at a minimum, a man of contrasts; it has been reported that Wiedemann was given a choice as to whether or not he wanted the post in San Francisco. It is important, when evaluating Wiedemann's dedication to the Nazi cause, to note that he served "as chief of the Nazi propaganda and espionage services in the United States." Thomas Weber has found the records of Wiedemann's 1940 talks with Wiseman in which Wiedemann openly warned against Hitler and claimed Hitler had a "split personality and numbered among the most cruel people in the world, saw himself better than Napoleon and that peace with him was impossible." He told Wiseman of Hitler's plans to attack and conquer the UK and "recommended strongly" that the British themselves strike as quickly and as "hard as possible" against him. Wiedemann also told Wiseman that the morale of the German population and the support of Hitler were lower than generally believed. Thomas Weber After his removal from the United States in 1941, Wiedemann appeared in Argentina and other South American countries, before he was subsequently to
Tientsin where he was a central figure in German espionage in
China, apparently this time without betraying Hitler. This adds further contrast to the modern claims that he was not sympathetic to the views of the
Third Reich. In his interrogation after his arrest, Wiedemann stated that after his post in San Francisco,
Joachim von Ribbentrop (at the time the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Nazi Germany) instructed Wiedemann to "be very cautious with uttering my opinions because I was well known to be a defeatist." He continued about his time in Germany after leaving San Francisco, "I didn't see Hitler because I didn't ask for an audience and I went back to my -- to Berlin first and sent to a little farm I have in Bavaria. I have to tell you Ribbentrop asked me if I was ready and willing to go to East Asia because it was my wish -- I said 'Yes, of course, as soon as possible.'" In 2012 it was claimed that Wiedemann had helped to save Hitler's Jewish commanding officer,
Ernst Hess. Hess's daughter Ursula, by then 86 and still living in Germany, stated in an interview with the
Jewish Voice that her father had, by chance, met Wiedemann, with whom he served in the First World War and that when he later became Hitler's adjutant, he secured concessions for Hess that were not otherwise open to Jews. On one occasion he actively intervened to help the Jewish-born widow of
Willi Schmid, a victim of the
Night of the Long Knives, escape Germany. == Post–World War II ==