Adolf Hitler

Much of the information that follows is covered in the Grobman text we’ve been using; we’ve also watched two films, “Hitler: Seduction of a Nation” and “The Century: Ultimate Power” that surveyed the same material.

“No Hitler, no Holocaust”

True: once Hitler came to power, Germany was under charismatic rule (cult of personality)

False: Hitler didn’t carry out the Holocaust single-handedly (he killed no one…)

Born in 1889 in Branau on border of Austria and Bavaria (a center of antisemitism)

Father Alois was 23 years older than mother

Their first 3 children died of diphtheria

Hitler had a younger brother who died at 6 and a sister who lived to adulthood

Alois was autocratic, abusive

Klara, Hitler’s mother, was submissive; doted on Adolf

Hitler identified the Jews with his father and the Germans with his mother

Suspicions that Alois’ father was Jewish…

Infantilism: Hitler was strong-willed

What he wanted when he wanted it

Stubbornness, tantrums, etc.

Narcissism: Hitler was self-centered, arrogant

Lack of empathy, sympathy

Difficulty forming relationships

1907: moved to Vienna

Aspired to become an artist

Had been a poor student

Twice denied admission to the Vienna Academy of Fine arts

Hitler became an antisemite in Vienna

Became obsessed with Jews

“Hatred of the Jew was the most sincere emotion of which Hitler was capable”

Mayor of Vienna led the largest antisemitic party in control in all of Europe (pre-WWII)

Karl Luger – supported by Catholics, against Marxism

“I decide who is a Jew”

Hitler was homeless and unemployed after failure to gain admission to the art academy

Was assisted by a Jewish hostel and landlady; he was nominated for an Iron Cross (and won) by his superior, a Jew

Fought in WWI

Superiors didn’t consider him fit for promotion past corporal

1918: temporary blindness from British gas attack

Ideas of sadism, survival, force, came from war experiences

He later continually talked about destruction

Idea that the German military was “stabbed in the back” by Jews and liberals and forced to sign armistice

Treaty of Versailles humiliated Germany

A shame that had to be erased

1919: Hitler employed as a spy to investigate radical groups

Came across German Workers’ Party

Hitler joined the party, gave up being a spy, and entered politics

Party later became the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, and still later the National Socialists

Fascism: against –

Marxism

Liberalism

Democracy, parliamentarianism

Is this because the Allies that punished Germany at Versailles were all democracies? -- Remember, the Soviet Union was certainly not a democracy. But you could state that certainly for the Americans, British, and French. But most likely democracy was put down because it detracted from the fascist principle of “one nation, one leader”.

Humanitarianism, universalism

For –

Militant ultra-nationalism

Subordination of individual to state

Breaking down class barriers

Violence, struggle, “might makes right”

Integrated national community

Racism (found in Germany, not Italy)

We watched “The Century: Ultimate Power” from the History Channel, which detailed Hitler’s rise from WWI through his attainment of ultimate power in 1934. Students were to make two columns in their notebooks, one labeled LEGAL and one labeled ILLEGAL (by contemporary German law). They were to follow along with the narrative, noting instances where Hitler or his supporters carried out various activities in the effort to gain him power. We paused the film from time to time for emphasis of certain points.

After concluding the video, we discussed the lists the students had compiled. Most were impressed with the fact that violence against parties not in power was condoned under the Weimar regime. They were also astounded at the killings upon Hitler’s ascension to power, and the speed at which they were carried out. Some students remarked that it seemed very “mafia” in the way people were kidnapped and murdered “gangland style”. It was pointed out that the killing of journalist Fritz Schaerlich, where his bloody eyeglasses were then mailed to his wife, was extremely similar to organized crime reports of today.

After the film, students resumed their comparison of the text and the notes. The video really hammered home several points I wanted them to learn, such as election results, and the intrigues of von Papen in “hiring” Hitler in an effort to control the Nazis.

Hitler a ruthless politician

Tremendous oratorical ability

November 9, 1923: attempted putsch against Bavaria

Several Nazis were killed

Hitler put on trial for treason

Sentenced by a sympathetic right-wing judge to a light sentence

Wrote Mein Kampf while in jail

Hitler’s racism and plan of destruction

1924: Hitler released from prison

Weimar Republic inflation

1923: 4.2 trillion marks = 1 dollar

Can you imagine money being worth less than the material (paper, ink, and labor) of which it’s made??

1924-29: Weimar gov’t very stable and was improving

Many people were against it altogether

1928: 491 seats in Reichstag – Nazis had 12

Social Democrats had 153

1929-30: Great Depression devastated Germany

1929: 2.1 million unemployed

1930: 3.1 million

1931: 4.5 million

1932: 5.5 million

60 million Germans total

Even though these students have been exposed to the relatively democratic way in which Hitler ascended, they are still somewhat amazed (hindsight being 20/20) that he did what he did without grabbing power through a coup.

1930: Nazis earned 112 seats (2^nd largest party)

Second to Social Democrats; from worst to #2

At this point I showed an overhead of the growth of the Nazis in terms of Reichstag seats over the period 1919-33 (Landau 81).

Who voted Nazi?

The young

First-time voters

Those desiring national recognition

Lower middle class (peasants, shopkeepers)

Some in middle and upper middle class

July, 1932: 230 seats (largest party in Reichstag – 37% of the vote)

Peak of Nazi approval; never a majority

At this point we do an activity from Facing History and Ourselves on the German election of 1932. Students are broken into seven groups and each group is asked to study the party platforms of the Social Democrats, the Communists, and the Nazis. After, they are assigned a case study of a “typical” German citizen and asked, based on that person’s life situation and the parties’ platforms, how that person would have most likely voted in 1932. As I have used this for several years, students are always amazed when they tab at least four of the seven to vote Nazi (in some years the arguments are good enough to push the National Socialist vote all the way to six out of seven).

November, 1932 election: Nazis lost 40 seats

Internal squabbles, party financial difficulties

Despite this, Hitler came to power

Chancellor was ruling by decree under Article 48 since 1930

Hindenburg gave Bruening this power

Democracy was in trouble

Businessmen and other conservatives, led by von Papen, urged Hindenburg to make Hitler chancellor

“We are ‘hiring’ Hitler”

Hitler chancellor, von Papen vice-chancellor

Sought mass appeal of Nazis and a chance to weaken the socialists and trade unions

von Papen thought he could “box Hitler in”

Late February, 1933: fire in the Reichstag

Hitler used this as an excuse to ban civil liberties

Communists blamed, and banned

I’ve seen it speculated in more than one place that the Nazis actually set the fire. “Ultimate Power” did not address that possibility.

Hitler called new elections in 1933

Last semi-free election

Nazis polled 44% of Reichstag seats

Formed coalition with Catholic Centre and ultraconservative party (gave Nazis a ²/₃ majority)

1933: Enabling Act in March

Hitler ruled by decree

Claimed he ruled legally and no one could question him

All opposition parties were pushed aside

Nazi program began to be implemented