Chapter 3 Nazism And The Rise Of Hitler

In the spring of 1945, after Germany's defeat in World War II, an 11-year-old German boy named Helmuth overheard his parents discussing killing themselves or their family. His father, a prominent doctor and supporter of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, feared retribution from the Allies for the atrocities committed against Jews and the disabled. The next day, his father took his own life. Helmuth was deeply traumatised, refusing to eat at home for nine years, fearing poisoning.

While Helmuth might not have fully grasped the situation, his father was a Nazi. Many associate Hitler and the Nazis with Germany's ambition for power, conquering Europe, and the mass murder of Jews. However, Nazism was more than just isolated acts; it was a complex and terrifying system and structure of ideas about the world and politics.

In May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies. Ahead of the surrender, Hitler, his propaganda minister Goebbels, and their families committed suicide in April.

After the war, an International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was established to prosecute Nazi war criminals. They faced charges for Crimes against Peace, War Crimes, and especially, Crimes Against Humanity. Germany's actions during the war, particularly the systematic mass killings, shocked the world and raised profound moral and ethical questions.

These crimes involved a genocidal war (large-scale killing aimed at destroying groups) resulting in the mass murder of specific civilian groups in Europe. Victims included an estimated 6 million Jews, 200,000 Gypsies, 1 million Polish civilians, 70,000 German disabled individuals, and countless political opponents. The Nazis developed horrifying methods for killing, such as gassing people in specialised centres like Auschwitz.

The Nuremberg Tribunal sentenced only eleven leading Nazis to death, imprisoning many others for life. While some justice was served, the punishment was widely seen as inadequate compared to the scale and brutality of the crimes.

The Allies were hesitant to impose terms as harsh on defeated Germany as they had after World War I. Many believed that the rise of Nazi Germany was partly a consequence of Germany's experiences following the end of the First World War.

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Birth Of The Weimar Republic

In the early 20th century, Germany was a powerful empire that participated in the First World War (1914-1918) alongside the Austrian empire against the Allies (initially England, France, and Russia, later joined by the USA). The war, initially met with enthusiasm and hopes for a quick victory, unexpectedly dragged on for years, exhausting Europe's resources.

Germany initially achieved successes, occupying parts of France and Belgium. However, the Allies, bolstered by the United States' entry in 1917, ultimately defeated Germany and the Central Powers in November 1918.

The defeat of Imperial Germany and the Kaiser's abdication created an opportunity for parliamentary groups to establish a new political system. A National Assembly convened at Weimar and drafted a democratic constitution, establishing a federal structure. Representatives were elected to the German Parliament, the Reichstag, through equal and universal suffrage for all adults, including women.

However, this new democratic republic, known as the Weimar Republic, faced significant public opposition. This was largely due to the punitive terms Germany was forced to accept in the peace treaty signed at Versailles with the Allied Powers.

The Treaty of Versailles imposed a harsh and humiliating peace on Germany. Key terms included:

• Loss of overseas colonies.
• Loss of a tenth of its population.
• Loss of 13% of its territories.
• Loss of 75% of its iron ore and 26% of its coal resources (primarily to France, Poland, Denmark, and Lithuania).
• Germany was demilitarised by the Allied Powers to curb its strength.
• The notorious War Guilt Clause held Germany solely responsible for starting the war and the damages suffered by the Allied countries.
• Germany was compelled to pay massive war reparations (compensation) amounting to £6 billion.
• Allied armies occupied the resource-rich Rhineland region for much of the 1920s.

Many Germans blamed the new Weimar Republic not only for the military defeat but also for the national humiliation inflicted by the Treaty of Versailles.

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The Effects Of The War

World War I had a profound and devastating impact across Europe, affecting countries both psychologically and financially. The continent transitioned from being a creditor (lender) to a debtor (borrower).

Tragically, the fledgling Weimar Republic inherited the burden and was forced to bear the consequences of the previous empire's actions. It carried the heavy weight of war guilt, national humiliation, and crippling financial obligations due to reparations.

Supporters of the Weimar Republic, particularly Socialists, Catholics, and Democrats, became targets of severe criticism and attack from conservative nationalist groups. They were derisively labeled the ‘November criminals’, blamed for signing the armistice in November 1918 which led to Germany's defeat and the subsequent treaty.

This bitter political atmosphere significantly shaped the political landscape in the early 1930s.

Beyond finance and politics, the war deeply altered European society and attitudes. Soldiers were elevated above civilians, and politicians and media glorified aggression, strength, and masculinity. While propaganda depicted trench life heroically, the reality for soldiers was miserable, marked by rats, corpses, poisonous gas attacks, shelling, and constant casualties.

Aggressive war propaganda and national honour dominated public discourse, contributing to a rise in support for the conservative dictatorships emerging across Europe. Democracy, being a new and delicate concept, struggled to survive amidst the instability of the interwar period.

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Political Radicalism And Economic Crises

The establishment of the Weimar Republic coincided with a wave of political unrest, including the revolutionary uprising by the Spartacist League. Inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Soviets (councils) of workers and sailors were formed in numerous German cities, and there were demands for a Soviet-style government, particularly in Berlin.

Groups opposed to this radical movement, including Socialists, Democrats, and Catholics, met in Weimar to draft the constitution and establish the democratic republic. The Weimar Republic suppressed the Spartacist uprising with the help of a veterans' organisation called the Free Corps.

Following their defeat, the anguished Spartacists founded the Communist Party of Germany. This event created a deep rift between Communists and Socialists, making them bitter enemies and preventing them from uniting against Hitler later on. Both revolutionary and militant nationalist factions were seeking radical solutions to Germany's problems.

Political instability was exacerbated by a severe economic crisis in 1923. Germany had largely financed the war through loans and was now required to pay war reparations in gold. This quickly depleted its scarce gold reserves.

In 1923, Germany defaulted on its reparation payments. France retaliated by occupying Germany's main industrial region, the Ruhr, to seize coal. Germany responded with 'passive resistance' by ordering workers to strike and printing vast amounts of paper currency to pay them.

The reckless printing of money led to an astronomical increase in the supply of German marks, causing their value to plummet. This phenomenon is known as hyperinflation – a situation where prices rise incredibly high.

The value of the German mark crashed dramatically: from 24,000 marks per US dollar in April 1923 to trillions of marks per dollar by December. Prices of goods soared uncontrollably. Images of Germans needing carts full of banknotes just to buy basic necessities like bread circulated globally, eliciting sympathy.

Eventually, the United States intervened to help Germany out of the crisis by introducing the Dawes Plan. This plan restructured the terms of war reparations to alleviate the financial burden on Germany.

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The Years Of Depression

Between 1924 and 1928, Germany experienced a period of relative stability, but this stability was precarious. Germany's economic recovery and industrial investments were heavily reliant on short-term loans, predominantly from the USA.

This fragile support collapsed when the Wall Street Exchange in the USA crashed in 1929. Fearing further price drops, people frantically sold their shares, with 13 million shares sold on October 24 alone. This event marked the beginning of the Great Economic Depression.

Over the next three years (1929-1932), the national income of the USA halved. Factories closed, exports plummeted, farmers suffered immensely, and investors withdrew their money from markets. The economic downturn quickly spread globally, impacting economies worldwide.

The German economy was among the hardest hit by the Great Depression. By 1932, industrial production had fallen to 40% of its 1929 level. Businesses shut down, leading to widespread job losses or reduced wages. The number of unemployed reached a staggering and unprecedented 6 million people.

Unemployed men were seen on streets wearing placards advertising their willingness to work. Desperate youths resorted to playing cards on street corners or queuing endlessly at employment exchanges. With jobs scarce, crime increased, and widespread despair became common.

The economic crisis fueled deep anxieties and fears across German society. The middle classes, including salaried employees and pensioners, saw their savings wiped out by the currency's loss of value during hyperinflation. Small business owners and retailers were ruined. These groups feared proletarianisation – being reduced to the status of the working class or, worse, becoming unemployed.

Only organised workers managed to cope somewhat, but even their ability to negotiate was weakened by high unemployment. Big businesses faced crisis. The vast majority of peasants suffered from sharply falling agricultural prices. Women, unable to feed their children, experienced deep despair.

Politically, the Weimar Republic was inherently fragile. Its constitution had significant defects that contributed to its instability and vulnerability to authoritarianism:

• Proportional Representation: This electoral system made it nearly impossible for any single party to achieve a clear majority, leading to frequent coalition governments which were often unstable.
• Article 48: This clause granted the President emergency powers, allowing him to suspend civil rights and rule by decree in times of crisis. This power was used frequently and contributed to the erosion of democratic norms.

In its short lifespan (1919-1933), the Weimar Republic saw twenty different cabinets, each lasting only about 239 days on average, and Article 48 was invoked liberally. Despite this, the government seemed incapable of effectively managing the crises. People lost faith in the democratic parliamentary system, perceiving it as offering no solutions to their problems.

Hitler’s Rise To Power

The backdrop of severe economic hardship, political instability, and social despair provided fertile ground for Hitler's ascent to power.

Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889 and spent his early life in poverty. He enlisted in the army when World War I began, served as a messenger, achieved the rank of corporal, and earned medals for bravery. Germany's defeat in the war horrified him, and the Treaty of Versailles infuriated him.

In 1919, Hitler joined a small political group called the German Workers' Party. He quickly took control and renamed it the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, which became known as the Nazi Party.

In 1923, Hitler attempted a putsch (coup) to seize control of Bavaria and march on Berlin but failed. He was arrested, tried for treason, but later released.

The Nazi Party struggled to gain widespread popular support until the early 1930s. It was the onset of the Great Depression that transformed Nazism into a mass movement. As banks collapsed, businesses failed, unemployment soared, and the middle classes faced destitution, Nazi propaganda offered hope for a better future.

In the 1928 Reichstag elections, the Nazi Party received only 2.6% of the votes. However, by 1932, amidst the deepening depression, the Nazis had become the largest party in the Reichstag, winning 37% of the votes.

Hitler was a charismatic and powerful orator. His passionate speeches resonated with people, promising to rebuild a strong nation, overturn the injustices of the Versailles Treaty, and restore Germany's pride and dignity. He pledged to provide employment, secure the future of the youth, eliminate foreign influences, and resist perceived foreign conspiracies against Germany.

Hitler employed a new style of politics centered on the importance of rituals and spectacle for mass mobilisation. The Nazis held massive rallies and public gatherings to showcase support for Hitler and foster a sense of national unity. The use of the red banners with the Swastika symbol, the Nazi salute, and ritualised applause were all part of this calculated display of power.

Nazi propaganda effectively portrayed Hitler as a messiah or saviour who would rescue the German people from their distress. This image appealed strongly to a population whose dignity and pride had been shattered by defeat and economic crisis.

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The Destruction Of Democracy

On January 30, 1933, President Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, the highest position in the cabinet. By this time, the Nazis had gained the support of conservatives.

Upon gaining power, Hitler immediately began dismantling the structures of democratic rule. A mysterious fire in the German Parliament building (Reichstag) in February 1933 provided a pretext for his actions.

The Fire Decree of February 28, 1933, indefinitely suspended fundamental civic rights like freedom of speech, press, and assembly, which were guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution. Hitler then targeted his main political opponents, the Communists, many of whom were quickly sent to newly established concentration camps – places where people were imprisoned without due process, often behind electrified fences.

The repression of Communists was severe, but they were only one group among many persecuted by the Nazis. Across Germany, 52 different types of victims were targeted.

On March 3, 1933, the significant Enabling Act was passed. This act effectively established a dictatorship in Germany, granting Hitler the power to rule by decree, bypassing and sidelining the Parliament. All political parties and trade unions were banned, except for the Nazi Party and its affiliated organisations.

The state gained complete control over the economy, media, army, and judiciary.

To enforce Nazi control and order society according to their will, special surveillance and security forces were created. In addition to the regular police (green uniform) and the SA (Storm Troopers), new forces included the Gestapo (secret state police), the SS (protection squads), criminal police, and the Security Service (SD).

The extra-constitutional powers given to these new forces contributed to the Nazi state's reputation as a fearsome and criminal regime. Individuals could be detained and tortured by the Gestapo, rounded up and sent to concentration camps, deported arbitrarily, or arrested without legal procedures. These police forces operated with impunity.

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Reconstruction

Hitler tasked economist Hjalmar Schacht with the responsibility for economic recovery. Schacht focused on achieving full production and employment through state-funded work creation programs. Notable projects included the famous German superhighways (Autobahns) and the development of the 'people's car', the Volkswagen.

In foreign policy, Hitler also achieved rapid successes. Germany withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933. The Rhineland was reoccupied in 1936. In 1938, Austria and Germany were integrated under the slogan 'One people, One empire, and One leader' (Anschluss). Hitler then demanded and took control of the German-speaking Sudetenland region from Czechoslovakia before absorbing the rest of the country.

These aggressive moves had the tacit support of England, which felt the Versailles Treaty had been excessively harsh on Germany. These quick successes, both domestically and internationally, seemed to dramatically reverse Germany's fortunes.

However, Hitler's ambitions extended further. Economist Schacht had warned against excessive investment in rearmament due to the state's deficit financing. Yet, cautious advice was unwelcome in Nazi Germany, and Schacht was dismissed.

Hitler viewed war as a solution to the impending economic crisis. He believed resources could be acquired through territorial expansion. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, initiating war with France and England – the start of the Second World War.

In September 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact, solidifying their alliance as the Axis Powers and reinforcing Hitler's claim to international power. Puppet regimes loyal to Nazi Germany were installed across large parts of Europe. By the end of 1940, Hitler had reached the height of his power.

Hitler then turned to his long-held goal of conquering Eastern Europe, seeking 'living space' (Lebensraum) and ensuring food supplies for Germans. In June 1941, Germany launched an invasion of the Soviet Union. This proved to be a critical strategic error, exposing Germany's western front to British aerial bombing and its eastern front to the powerful Soviet armies.

The Soviet Red Army inflicted a decisive and humiliating defeat on German forces at Stalingrad. Following this, the Soviet army pushed the retreating Germans back, eventually reaching Berlin. This victory established Soviet dominance over Eastern Europe for the next fifty years.

The United States had initially tried to avoid involvement in the war due to the economic difficulties experienced after World War I. However, Japan's expansion in the Pacific, including its occupation of French Indo-China and planned attacks on US bases, made neutrality untenable. When Japan bombed the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, the United States entered World War II.

The war concluded in May 1945 with Germany's defeat and Hitler's suicide, followed by the US dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

The Nazi Worldview

The horrific crimes committed by the Nazis were not random acts but were deeply rooted in a specific belief system and set of practices, collectively known as the Nazi ideology, which was synonymous with Hitler's worldview.

At the core of this ideology was the belief in a racial hierarchy, denying the equality of people. At the supposed peak were the blond, blue-eyed Nordic German Aryans. At the absolute bottom were the Jews, viewed as an 'anti-race' and the ultimate enemies of the Aryans. Other populations with different skin colours were ranked in between, based on physical traits.

This racist ideology drew distorted interpretations from the ideas of scientists like Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer. Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection explained how species adapted and survived. Herbert Spencer added the concept of 'survival of the fittest' to describe which species were best suited to environmental changes.

Nazi thinkers misused these concepts to justify their racial beliefs and actions. They applied 'survival of the fittest' to human races, arguing that the strongest race (the Aryan race) would thrive while weaker ones would disappear. They believed the Aryan race must maintain its purity, become stronger, and dominate the world. It is crucial to note that Darwin himself never advocated for human intervention in the natural selection process.

Another central tenet of Hitler's ideology was the geopolitical concept of Lebensraum, meaning 'living space'. He believed Germany needed to acquire new territories in Eastern Europe for German settlement. This expansion would increase the physical size and resources of the 'mother country' and maintain the connection between settlers and their origin, ultimately enhancing Germany's power.

Hitler planned to expand Germany's borders eastwards to geographically consolidate all Germans in one vast area. Poland became a testing ground for this expansionist policy.

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Establishment Of The Racial State

Once in power, the Nazis rapidly began to implement their vision of creating an exclusive racial community consisting solely of 'pure' Germans throughout their expanded empire. This involved the systematic physical elimination of all groups considered 'undesirable'.

The Nazi ideal society comprised only 'pure and healthy Nordic Aryans', who were considered 'desirable' and worthy of life, prosperity, and reproduction. All others were classified as 'undesirable', meaning even Germans deemed 'impure' or 'abnormal' were considered unfit to live.

Under the infamous Euthanasia Programme, individuals with mental or physical disabilities, including Germans, were condemned to death. Helmuth's father, a Nazi official, was involved in these killings.

Besides disabled Germans, other groups classified as 'undesirable' faced brutal persecution. Gypsies (Sinti and Roma, who originated in India) and blacks in Nazi Germany were considered racially 'inferior' and a threat to the purity of the 'Aryan' race. They were widely targeted and persecuted.

Even Eastern Europeans, specifically Russians and Poles, were deemed 'subhuman' and unworthy of humane treatment. When Germany occupied Poland and parts of Russia, captured civilians were forced into slave labour, leading to death from overwork and starvation.

However, the Jews suffered the most intensely under Nazi rule. While traditional Christian hostility towards Jews (stereotyping them as Christ's killers or usurers - moneylenders charging excessive interest) had existed for centuries, restricting them to ghettos and leading to periodic violence and expulsion, Hitler's hatred was based on pseudoscientific racial theories. These theories claimed that conversion to Christianity would not solve the 'Jewish problem', which could only be resolved through their total elimination.

The Nazi persecution of Jews unfolded in distinct stages:

• Stage 1: Exclusion (1933-1939) - The Nazis terrorised, pauperised (impoverished), and segregated Jews to compel them to leave Germany. Key legal measures included the Nuremberg Laws of Citizenship (September 1935):
  • Only persons of German or related blood could be German citizens.
  • Marriages and extramarital relations between Jews and Germans were forbidden.
  • Jews were prohibited from flying the national flag.
  Other measures included boycotts of Jewish businesses, expulsion from government services, forced sale and confiscation of properties. Jewish properties were vandalised, houses attacked, and synagogues burned in organised violence, notably during a pogrom in November 1938, remembered as 'the night of broken glass' (Kristallnacht).
• Stage 2: Ghettoisation (1940-1944) - From September 1941, all Jews were forced to wear a yellow Star of David identification badge and were restricted to Jewish houses or crowded ghettos in eastern territories like Lodz and Warsaw. These ghettos were places of extreme deprivation, hunger, starvation, and disease. Jews had to surrender their wealth before entering the ghettos.
• Stage 3: Annihilation (1941 onwards) - This phase aimed at the mass killing of Jews, referred to chillingly by the Nazis as the 'Final Solution'. Jews from ghettos, concentration camps, and Jewish houses across Europe were transported in freight cars to death factories (killing centres), primarily located in Poland and the east (including Belzek, Auschwitz, Sobibor, Treblinka, Chelmno, and Majdanek). They were murdered with chilling efficiency in gas chambers.

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The Racial Utopia

Under the cover of war, the Nazis pursued their deadly racial ideal. Genocide and war became inextricably linked. Occupied Poland was partitioned; north-western areas were annexed by Germany, and Poles were expelled from their homes and properties to make way for ethnic Germans brought from other occupied European areas.

Poles were herded into the region designated as the General Government, which became a dumping ground for all 'undesirables' from the empire. Large numbers of the Polish intelligentsia (intellectuals and educated people) were murdered to prevent the Polish population from developing intellectual leadership and keep them subservient.

Polish children who appeared 'Aryan' were forcibly taken from their mothers and subjected to 'race tests' by Nazi experts. If they passed, they were raised in German families; if they failed, they were sent to orphanages where most died. The General Government also served as a primary killing ground for Jews, housing some of the largest ghettos and gas chambers.

Youth In Nazi Germany

Hitler was intensely focused on controlling and shaping the youth of Germany, believing that indoctrination with Nazi ideology was essential for building a strong Nazi society. This required comprehensive control over children's lives, both inside and outside school.

Schools underwent a process of 'cleansing' and 'purification'. Jewish teachers or those considered 'politically unreliable' were dismissed. Children were segregated by race; Germans and Jews were not allowed to sit or play together. Eventually, 'undesirable children' (Jews, physically handicapped, Gypsies) were expelled from schools. In the 1940s, many of these children were sent to gas chambers.

'Good German' children underwent extensive Nazi schooling, a prolonged period of ideological training. School textbooks were rewritten to align with Nazi ideology. 'Racial science' was introduced to justify Nazi racial theories, and anti-Jewish stereotypes were promoted even in subjects like mathematics.

Children were taught to be absolutely loyal and submissive, to hate Jews, and to worship Hitler. Even sports were used as a tool to cultivate violence and aggression; Hitler believed boxing, for example, would make boys 'iron hearted, strong and masculine'.

Nazi youth organisations were responsible for educating German youth in the principles of 'National Socialism'. Children as young as ten had to join the Jungvolk. At 14, all boys were required to join the Hitler Youth. In these organisations, they were taught to glorify war, admire aggression and violence, reject democracy, and hate Jews, communists, Gypsies, and all other groups deemed 'undesirable'. After rigorous ideological and physical training, typically around age 18, they joined the Labour Service and then served in the armed forces or other Nazi organisations.

The Nazi Youth League, founded in 1922 and renamed the Hitler Youth four years later, systematically dissolved and banned other youth organisations to ensure Nazi control over the entire youth movement.

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The Nazi Cult Of Motherhood

Children in Nazi Germany were repeatedly told that women were fundamentally different from men. The fight for equal rights, prevalent in democratic movements elsewhere, was deemed wrong and destructive to society.

Boys were trained to be aggressive, masculine, and tough, while girls were instructed on their role as mothers tasked with raising 'pure-blooded Aryan' children. Girls were expected to safeguard the purity of the race, avoid contact with Jews, manage the home, and instill Nazi values in their children. Their purpose was to be the guardians of the Aryan culture and race.

In 1933, Hitler stated, "In my state the mother is the most important citizen." However, mothers were not treated equally. Women who bore racially 'undesirable' children faced punishment, while those who produced 'desirable' children received preferential treatment and awards.

'Aryan' mothers were granted special treatment in hospitals and received concessions on shopping, theatre tickets, and train fares. To encourage high birth rates among 'Aryan' women, Honour Crosses were awarded: bronze for four children, silver for six, and gold for eight or more.

'Aryan' women who deviated from the prescribed code of conduct faced public condemnation and severe punishment. Women who had contact with Jews, Poles, or Russians were publicly shamed, often paraded with shaved heads, blackened faces, and signs proclaiming they had 'sullied the honour of the nation'. Many received jail sentences and lost their civic status, husbands, and families for these 'criminal offences'.

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The Art Of Propaganda

The Nazi regime masterfully and carefully employed language and media to exert control and gain support. The terms they used to describe their brutal practices were chillingly deceptive.

The words 'kill' or 'murder' were avoided in official Nazi communications. Mass killings were referred to as 'special treatment' or 'final solution' (specifically for Jews). The murder of disabled individuals was termed 'euthanasia'. The process of selecting victims for death was called 'selection', and gas chambers were disguised as 'disinfection-areas' and resembled bathrooms with fake showerheads. 'Evacuation' was a euphemism for deporting people to their deaths.

Media was strategically used to popularise the Nazi worldview and secure public backing. Nazi ideas were disseminated through various channels like films, radio, posters, memorable slogans, and leaflets. Propaganda posters often stereotyped, mocked, abused, and demonised groups identified as enemies.

Socialists and liberals were depicted as weak and morally corrupt ('degenerate') and were attacked as malicious foreign agents. Propaganda films, such as the infamous 'The Eternal Jew', were created specifically to incite hatred against Jews. Orthodox Jews were stereotyped with exaggerated features like hooked noses and depicted wearing traditional clothing (kaftans) and having flowing beards.

This was done despite the fact that many German Jews were highly assimilated and not easily distinguishable by outward appearance. Jews were often referred to using dehumanising language, being compared to 'vermin', 'rats', or 'pests', and their movements likened to rodents.

Nazism effectively manipulated people's emotions, tapping into existing prejudices, fears, and anger, and directing these negative feelings towards the groups designated as 'undesirable'.

The Nazis also made concerted efforts to appeal to different segments of the population by suggesting that only they could solve Germany's problems, tailoring their message to various social and economic groups like farmers and workers.

Ordinary People And The Crimes Against Humanity

The reactions of ordinary German people to Nazism were varied. Many internalised the Nazi worldview and language, experiencing genuine hatred and anger towards those portrayed as Jews. They actively participated by marking Jewish homes or reporting suspicious neighbours, believing Nazism would bring prosperity and well-being.

However, not all Germans were Nazis. A minority actively resisted the regime, risking police repression and death. But the vast majority were passive bystanders or apathetic observers. Fearful of repercussions, they chose not to act, disagree, or protest, preferring to look away from the atrocities being committed.

Pastor Martin Niemöller, a resistance figure, famously wrote about the widespread silence among ordinary Germans in the face of Nazi crimes:

“First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Social Democrats, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Social Democrat. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

This lack of intervention was not solely due to terror. As historian Lawrence Rees's interviews suggest, for some, the 1930s under Nazi rule offered a sense of hope and improved personal circumstances, making them overlook or excuse the regime's dark side.

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Knowledge About The Holocaust

Some information about Nazi practices, including the mass killings, started to filter out of Germany during the final years of the war. However, the full extent of the horrors, later known as the Holocaust (the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators), was only truly revealed after Germany's defeat in 1945.

While many Germans focused on their own suffering as a defeated nation amidst destruction, the Jewish survivors were driven by a desire to ensure the world would remember the atrocities and suffering they had endured during the Nazi extermination campaign. Some ghetto inhabitants wished only to survive the war long enough to bear witness and tell their story.

This determination to document the events is evident in the diaries, notebooks, and archives secretly created by people in ghettos and camps.

In contrast, as defeat loomed, the Nazi leadership distributed petrol to officials to destroy all incriminating evidence in their offices.

Despite attempts to hide them, the history and memory of the Holocaust persist today, preserved in memoirs, fiction, documentaries, poetry, memorials, and museums worldwide. These serve as a tribute to those who resisted, a painful reminder to collaborators, and a crucial warning to those who remained silent.