History is written by the victors. This is true. The ancient Egyptians were notorious for it. Babylonians and Persians were too scared to record negative historical events of their rulers. Romans always added a ‘glory of Rome’ slant and bias in recording some of their historical events. But, in the more common era, how did the Nazis handle their nations history and how did they record their own events?
We must first understand HOW the Nazi party came to power.
Let’s first look at The Nazi party of Germany before they began World War 2. But, first, we must call them by their own actual party name: The National Socialist German Workers Party. They were made official in 1921 and unknown Hitler joined it that year. At their founding, they were actually just called the German Workers Party, but were socialist in principle. Hitler soon emerged as a charismatic public speaker and began attracting new members with speeches blaming Jews and Marxists for Germany’s problems. The tactic of deflecting, blaming, and vilifying opponents and opposing opinions. His popularity grew and by mid 1921, he was the leader of the officially renamed National Socialist German Workers Party. Hitler gave speech after speech in which he stated that unemployment, rampant inflation, hunger and economic stagnation in postwar Germany would continue until there was a total revolution in German life. Most problems could be solved, he explained, if communists and Jews were driven from the nation. His fiery speeches swelled the ranks of the Nazi Party, especially among young, economically disadvantaged Germans.
In 1923, Hitler and his followers used armed groups (SA toughs) to provide security at their rallies and to stir up unrest elsewhere in the country. They were then used to staged the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, a failed takeover of the government in Bavaria, a state in southern Germany. Hitler had hoped that the “putsch,” or coup d’etat, would spark a larger revolution against the national government [kinda like Antifa and CHAZ/CHOP of Seattle and Porland]. 9 November 1923, Hitler led a demonstration through the streets of Munich, aiming to take control of the war ministry building. Armed police blocked their route, and violence broke out on both sides. Fourteen Nazis and four policemen were killed. He was jailed for that. Hitler’s subsequent trial for treason and imprisonment made him a national figure. A judge sympathetic to the Nazis’ nationalist message allowed Hitler and his followers to show open contempt for the Weimar Republic, which they referred to as a “Jew government.” After his release from prison, he set about rebuilding the Nazi Party and attempting to gain power through the election process. Never again would he attempt an armed uprising. Instead, the Nazis would use the rights guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution—freedom of the press, the right to assemble, and freedom of speech—to win control of Germany.
How much of this is similar to today? A lot.
In 1929, Germany entered a period of severe economic depression and widespread unemployment. The Nazis capitalized on the situation by criticizing the ruling government and began to win elections. They promised to restore Germany’s standing in the world and Germans’ pride in their nation as well as end the depression, campaigning with slogans such as “Work, Freedom, and Bread!” In the July 1932 elections, they captured 230 out of 608 seats in the “Reichstag,” or German parliament. Big-business circles had begun to finance the Nazi electoral campaigns, and swelling bands of SA toughs increasingly dominated the street fighting with opposition groups that accompanied such campaigns.
Are we seeing this today? Yep.
The German republic President, Paul von Hindenburg, named Hitler as chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. Hitler used the powers of his office to solidify the Nazis’ position in the government during the following months. Hermann Göring’s role in particular was very important. He was a minister without portfolio who got to control the police force of Prussia, the larger part of Germany. For the Nazis, this was reason to celebrate their ‘national revolution’. Then the arrests and intimidation were increased. The government banned the Communist Party. By 15 March, 10,000 communists had been arrested. In order to house all these political prisoners, the first concentration camps were opened. College students and schools encouraged and assisted in book burning of non-German writings. Mass censorship of books, writings, speeches, organizations, and anything that disagreed with the Nazi party was imposed [kinda like Twitter, Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Amazon today].
Nazis tore down statues too. Fragments of a statue of mounted Polish King Wladyslaw II Jagiello lie on the ground after it was destroyed by Nazi troops following the 1939 invasion of Poland.
Then, Nazi troops await the order to pull down a bust of Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss after the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938.
Nazis then ordered the destruction of French statues once they invited and occupied France. Even forced the French to do it themselves.
Tearing down statues is not just a Nazi thing, the head of a monument to Russian Tsar Alexander III during its dismantling in central Moscow. The gigantic statue was ripped down soon after the 1917 revolution that led to communist rule in Russia.
Even the Taliban destroyed history. A landscape of Bamiyan shows the gap in the rock where Afghanistan’s famous giant Buddha stood for centuries before being destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, a move the group said was “in accordance with Islamic law.” And Islamic State militants pushes over a statue inside a museum in Mosul, northern Iraq, in 2014 or 2015. The Muslim extremists smashed several ancient treasures in the museum — which the militants deemed “idolatrous” — with sledgehammers and power tools.
Sounding familiar today? Yep.
The Nazis started advocating clear messages tailored to a broad range of people and their problems. The propaganda aimed to exploit people’s fear of uncertainty and instability. These messages varied from ‘Bread and Work’, aimed at the working class and the fear of unemployment, to a ‘Mother and Child’ poster portraying the Nazi ideals regarding woman. Jews and Communists also featured heavily in the Nazi propaganda as enemies of the German people. Goebbels used a combination of modern media, such as films and radio, and traditional campaigning tools such as posters and newspapers to reach as many people as possible. It was through this technique that he began to build an image of Hitler as a strong, stable leader that Germany needed to become a great power again.
The elections of March 5, 1933—precipitated by the burning of the Reichstag building only days earlier—gave the Nazi Party 44 percent of the votes, and further unscrupulous tactics on Hitler’s part turned the voting balance in the Reichstag in the Nazis’ favour. On March 23, 1933, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act, which “enabled” Hitler’s government to issue decrees independently of the Reichstag and the presidency; Hitler in effect assumed dictatorial powers.
On July 14, 1933, his government declared the Nazi Party to be the only political party in Germany. The idea that their party is most righteous and most justified, a party of absolute self-righteousness. An idea that is very present in far-left movements.
Hitler also reduced the authority and influence of the regional German police departments and instituted his own police force to impose his ideals on the people. Known as the ‘brown shirts” and where from the SS came out of. Makes me wonder what the left will put in place if they defund the police?
Nazi Party membership became mandatory for all higher civil servants and bureaucrats, and the gauleiters became powerful figures in the state governments. This is sadly true in America, in some areas, the only way to get nominated and possibly elected is by having to join the Democrat or Republican party… it is essentially mandatory or you don’t meet the rules or qualifications and don’t have a chance of election.
Labor unions that did not adhere to nazism were dismissed and dismantled. The loyal nazi unions then were used to influence the workers and prevent any sort of strikes or opposition to the goals of the party. The Nazi party then organized and supported boycotts of Jewish products and businesses. Kinda like religious and gun rights businesses and organizations today.
Its vast and complex hierarchy was structured like a pyramid, with party-controlled mass organizations for youth, women, workers, Unions, media, press, the arts, and other groups at the bottom, party members and officials in the middle, and Hitler and his closest associates at the top wielding undisputed authority. Very similar to socialist leftist organizations now.
Nazi ideology: the belief in race science and the superiority of the so-called Aryan race (or “German blood”). For the Nazis, so-called “German blood” determined whether one was considered a citizen. The Nazis believed that citizenship should not only bestow on a person certain rights (such as voting, running for office, or owning a newspaper); it also came with the guarantee of a job, food, and land on which to live. Those without “German blood” were not citizens and therefore should be deprived of these rights and benefits.
Now, think for a second, how do we determine if someone is “black” or “white”? It is primary assumed by their skin color. And “blackness” and “whiteness” is determined some cultural superior academic who studies “race science.” Who then pushes that down on the populous. Then, certain ‘rights’ or specialist treatment is then bestowed and granted to someone who satisfies that superior academical consensus on “blackness.” Which then, has a negative effect on someone who that superior academic imposes “whiteness” on, and racial prejudice and “positive” discrimination is “justified.” In Germany, it was positive prejudice for “German blood,” and negative prejudice for Jews; in America, it it positive prejudice for “Blackness.” and negative prejudice for “Whiteness.” The logical similarities are worrisome.
Why are Americans now, acting like Nazis?
Don’t worry, the same can be said about communists. They were also masters of history revision, censorship, propaganda, and tearing down statues; but since majority of young Americans have a decent to favorable view of communism, hopefully the similarities of Nazism will get them thinking.
Resources and Citations
- https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-holocaust-and-human-behavior/rise-nazi-party
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nazi-Party
- https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/germany-1933-democracy-dictatorship/
- https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-nazi-rise-to-power/the-nazi-rise-to-power/
THE AMERICAN LIFE JOURNAL 