The Rise of Hitler

1. The Rise of Hitler

2. Hitler: the soldier • Born in Austria in 1889 • Nevertheless, he fought for the German army during WWI • Temporarily blinded by poison gas in 1918 • After the war he moved to Munich, with many other unemployed war veterans

3. Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) • In Munich, Hitler met many other disillusioned soldiers • He joined the Nazi party • A small, radical, fringe group • Hitler emerges as leader

4. Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) • Nazi National Interests • Establish Germany as a powerful nature and empire (The Third Reich) • Provide space for population growth: Lebensraum • Unify all German people (including those in Denmark & Austria) • Deal with the “Jewish problem” • Rebuild the country’s military power

5. Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) • Herman Goering was a leading member of the Nazis • A former Ace from WWI • He founded the Gestapo in 1933

6. Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) • Joseph Goebbels was one of Hitler’s closest associates and one of the masterminds of the Holocaust • Responsible for book burnings • He regularly organized attacks on German Jews, culminating in the Kristallnacht in 1938

7. Beer Hall Putsch & Jailed in 1923 • Hitler’s early attempt to overthrow the Weimar government • Hitler was arrested for treason and jailed • “History will tear to tatters the verdict of this court” - Hitler

8. Hitler’s Worldview • Hitler’s Racism • Aryans: the supposedly “pure” German race, according to Hitler • Anti-Semitism: hatred of Jews • Lebensraum (living space) • Hitler’s theory that Germans must conquer and colonize territory in the East

9. Hitler Says… "The Jews were responsible for bringing negroes into the Rhineland with the ultimate idea of bastardising the white race which they hate and thus lowering its cultural and political level so that the Jew might dominate." "The Jewish youth lies in wait for hours on end...spying on the unsuspicious German girl he plans to seduce.....he wants to contaminate her blood and remove her from the bosom of her own people. The Jew hates the white race and wants to lower its cultural level so that the Jews might dominate." "The longer I lived in Vienna, the stronger became my hatred for the promiscuous swarm of foreign peoples which began to batten on that old nursery ground of German culture." (A reference to East Europeans)

10. Hitler Says… "Only an adequate large space on this earth assures a nation freedom of existence." A reference to Hitler's policy of living space (Lebensraum) "We must eliminate the disproportion between our population and our area...... Some of this land can be obtained from Russia..... We must secure for the German people the land and soil to which they are entitled."  "(The state) must see to it that only the healthy beget children; that there is only one disgrace: despite one's own sickness and deficiencies, to bring children into the world; and one highest honour : to renounce doing so. And conversely it must be considered reprehensible to withhold healthy children from the nation." This would later develop into Hitler's idea of the Master Race.

11. Hitler Says… "When you tell a lie, tell big lies. This is what the Jews do, working on the principle, which is quite true in itself, that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility......" "Whoever wishes to win over the masses must know the key that will open the door to their hearts."

12. Nazi Take-over

13. Great Depression:Opportunity Sturm Abteilung (Storm Section). The SA (also known as stormtroopers or brownshirts) were instructed to disrupt the meetings of political opponents and to protect Hitler from revenge attacks. Where did the storm troopers come from?

14. Great Depression: Opportunity Cost of a Loaf of Bread in 1923: 428,000,000,000 marks

15. Chancellor in 1933

16. Gleichschaltung – brought into line • Reichstag Fire • Excuse to crack down on Communists • Enabling Act (March 1933) • No independent bodies not connected to the NSDAP • Germany = dictatorship • Night of the Long Knives • Consolidating control in the party • Schutzstaffel (SS) replace SA • Rearmament • In defiance of the Treaty of Versailles

18. They salute with both hands now

19. Germany’s Secret Police: The Gestapo • Loyal solely to Hitler • Led by an SS officer • All Germans feared a visit from the Gestapo • Moved swiftly against student opposition

20. Anti-Semitism • A favourite propaganda point used by both Hitler and Goebbels • In Germany: about ½ million Jews • Some assimilation had occurred • Industrial influence small (contrary to stereotypes) • Bigger influence in retail trade + banking • Professions: intellectual life, art, entertainment • “Us” and “Them” • Aryan: tall, blonde, blue eyes. Purity of blood • Nordic (including Scandinavia & Netherlands)

21. Gradual Discrimination: dehumanization

22. Anti-Semitism: Flashpoints • Nuremberg Laws, 1935 • Establishes rules for maintaining the “Aryan” race • E.g. If you had one Jewish grandparent, you were forbidden from marrying Aryans • Vom Roth murder, Nov. 1938 • Jewish boy killed • Pre-text to unleash a storm of violence • Round-up of Jews who had not left yet • Liquidation of Jewish businesses

23. Anti-Semitism: Flashpoints • Kristallnacht • “Night of Broken Glass • A series of coordinated attacks on Jewish people in Germany and Austria on Nov. 9-10, 1938 • Attacks left streets covered with broken glass from Jewish stores and synagogues • 91 Jewish deaths • 30,000 arrested and put in concentration camps

24. National Interest -> Ultranationalism Nazi National Interests How did these Nazi National Interests become transformed into Ultranationalism? • Establish Germany as a powerful nation • Lebensraum & expansion • Unify all German People • Deal with the so-called “Jewish Problem” • The Holocaust • The Final Solution • Rebuild country’s military power

25. Canadian Anti-Semitism

26. Our Prime Minister is Smitten Excerpt from Mackenzie King’s diary Why is he smitten? “He smiled very pleasantly, and indeed had a sort of appealing and affectionate look in his eyes. My sizing up of the man as I sat and talked with him was that he is really one who truly loves his fellow man and his country ... his eyes impressed me most of all. There was a liquid quality about them which indicated keen perception and profound sympathy (calm, composed) - and one could see how particularly humble folk would come to have a profound love for the man.”

27. “One Jew is too many” On May 15, 1939, the St. Louis, a steamship carrying 907 German Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, set sail from Hamburg, Germany for Havana, Cuba. However, on May 30, when it reached the Havana port, the Cuban government refused to recognize the passengers' entrance visas and none was allowed to disembark. No other Latin American country would admit the refugees, and the St. Louis had to leave port. Canada and the United States were the Jews' last hope, but Mackenzie King ignored the protests of Canadian Jewish organizations and said the crisis was not a "Canadian problem." Frederick Charles Blair, the director of the Immigration Branch of the Department of Mines and Resources was quoted as saying, "No country could open its doors wide enough to take in the hundreds of thousands of Jewish people who want to leave Europe: the line must be drawn somewhere." Canada only took in 8,000, or one percent of the 811,000 Jewish refugees admitted into countries across the world. Mackenzie adopted the policy of "none is too many" regarding the immigration of European Jewry seeking refuge from the Nazis. How is this incident an example of Ultranationalism in Canada?