In 1932, Duesterberg was nominated by
Der Stahlhelm and DNVP to run for
President of Germany, but the Nazis ultimately destroyed any chance Duesterberg had of gaining mass support from the German people when they revealed he had
Jewish ancestry. In April 1932, the deeply anti-Semitic Duesterberg learned for the first time that his grandfather was a Prussian Jewish doctor who converted to
Lutheranism in 1818, a revelation that caused Duesterberg to suffer a nervous breakdown and to submit his resignation in shame from
Der Stahlhelm. Several of Duesterberg's friends persuaded him not to resign, and in an attempt to stay on as
Der Stahlhelm deputy federal leader, he suggested new requirements for every member, namely that: • That
Der Stahlhelm members present notarized copies of church records proving that their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had no "Jewish blood". • That
Der Stahlhelm members swear on their word of honor that they had no personal, familial or business dealings with Jews in any form or way. • That
Der Stahlhelm members present proof that their ancestors had fought in the
"wars of liberation" against Napoleonic France and/or the wars of unification and on what side. • That
Der Stahlhelm members present proof that they had fought in the World War and in what capacity. The revelation of Duesterberg's Jewish ancestry caused Duesterberg to poll poorly in the first ballot of the election, and he withdrew from the runoff election that followed. During the 1932 presidential elections, the Nazis went out of their way to taunt Duesterberg for having Jewish ancestry with
Joseph Goebbels and
Richard Walther Darré being especially vicious in their attacks. Duesterberg was so hurt by Darré's attacks that he challenged him to a duel, a challenge that Darré rejected because it was beneath him to fight a man with "Jewish blood". Duesterberg then took up his dispute with Darré before the court of honor of the Former Officers of the 1st Hanoverian Field Artillery Regiment of Scharnhorst, number 10 to which Darré belonged. Duesterberg argued before the court of honor that Darré should be expelled for engaging in behavior that was unbecoming of a German officer while Darré argued that he had right and duty to subject Duesterberg to anti-Semitic insults. The court of honor ruled in Darré's favor, stating that he was right to insult Duesterberg for having "Jewish blood". Ironically, Duesterberg was offered a position in Hitler's cabinet when Hitler became
Chancellor of Germany in 1933, but Duesterberg flatly refused the proposal. Franz Seldte, however, did enter Hitler's cabinet, In April 1933, Duesterberg was strongly urged to resign from
Der Stahlhelm by President
Paul von Hindenburg and the Defense Minister, General
Werner von Blomberg, who told him that he was now a liability to them with Hitler now chancellor. ==Arrest and later life==