“Germany: The rise of Nazism and Hitler, the slow degradation of the social status of Jewish people”

This was the topic we were assigned, we decided to break the explanation up into 4 major parts:

-The rise and life of Adolf Hitler-The Government-The Jewish People -The Humiliation of Germans after WWI

The Life of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, was born on April 20th, 1889 in a small town called Brannau. His father(Alois) was 52 when Adolf was born. He often was abusive toward Adolf due to his short temper and anger outbursts. I believe that is the reason why Hitler had such violent and brutal tactics. His mother (Klara Pölzl) was the opposite of Alois, she was caring and loving and always took Adolf's side when his fathers temper got the best of him. For the rest of his life, Adolf carried a photo of her everywhere.

The Life of Adolf Hitler

Hitler had never given up on his dream of becoming an artist. His life was destroyed when at 18, his mother died of cancer. Some say he spent hours starring and sketching his mother’s dead body as she lay on her death bed.

Adolf was rejected from the Vienna Academy of Art because the drawings he showed them were of landscapes, and they wanted students who could draw people!

The Life of Adolf Hitler

• Adolf was convinced that it was the Jewish professor that had rejected his work

• He was convinced it was the Jewish doctor that had been responsible for his mothers death

• By 1910, Hitler was set upon his hatred for Jewish people-also known as anti-Semitism.

The Life of Adolf Hitler

In August 1914 WWI was declared! Hitler joined the German Arm along with others. He was a brave soldier and his job was a regimental runner (which means he carried messages to officers behind the front line, and then return to the front line to return enemy fire). Hitler was awarded with six medals for bravery, one (which was the highest award for bravery in Germany) Iron Cross

The Life of Adolf Hitler

1920, Hitler joined National Socialist German Workers Party known as the Nazis. The Nazi called for all Germans, even those in other countries, to unite into one nation: they called for a strong central government. Hitler became the leader of the Nazi party and built up membership quickly, mostly because of his powerful speaking ability. Hitler organized an army for the Nazi party called the Strom Troopers, who were called upon to fight groups to end the Nazi ideal.

The Life of Adolf Hitler

IN July 1932, the Nazis received about 40% of the vote and became the strongest party in Germany. Once in this position, Hitler moved quickly toward attaining a dictatorship. In 1934, Hitler already had control over German and proclaimed himself leader.

Under Hitler's government, called the Third Reich, there was no please for freedom. The government controlled every part of someone's life. Hitler used extensive propaganda to brainwash the nation into believing his theory about creating the perfect race. Therefore, it was Hitler's plan to rid the nation and eventually the world of Jews, Gypsies, Negros, handicapped, and mentally ill person. This plan was called the “Final Solution”.

The Life of Adolf Hitler

The Life Line of Adolf Hitler

April 20th, 1889 Hitler is Born

1895-1903 (8years) Hitler’s Childhood

January 3rd, 1903 Hitler’s Father Dies

October 1907 Hitler Fails Art Exam

December 21st, 1907 Hitler’s Mother Dies

1909-1913 (4years) Hitler becomes homeless

1914-1918 (4 years) Hitler Joins German Army and Fights in WWI

November 11th, 1918 War Ends with Germans being Defeated

1919 Hitler Joins National Socialist German Workers Party

1920 Nazi Party is formed

July 1921 Hitler becomes leader of Nazi Party

October 29th, 1929 The Great Depression Begins

September 14th, 1930 Germans Elect Nazis

1932 Hitler runs for President

January 1933 Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany

March 23rd, 1933 Hitler becomes Dictator of Germany

The Government

Government• During World War 2 it was if the German government did not exist.

• Hitler was one of the few in control of the German army which controlled almost everything.

• Hitler was great at manipulation, and therefore the German army used his tactics and strategies against other countries. This would come into play when he began to gain complete power over Germany.

• The Minister of the Economy was named Hjalmar Schacht. And he introduced what he called the “New Plan” which was supposed to reduce imports, reduce unemployment, channel government spending into a wide range of industries and make trade agreements with other nations.

• However by 1939, Germany still imported 33% of its required raw materials.

Government“Government income had been 10 billion Reichsmarks in 1928.

In 1939, it stood at 15 billion. However, government spending had increased from 12 billion Reichsmarks in 1928 to over 30 billion in 1939 - a difference of 15 billion Reichsmarks. From 1933 to 1939, the Nazi government always spent more than it earned so that by 1939, government debt stood at over 40 billion Resichsmarks.”

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nazis_and_the_german_economy.htm

Hitler made it clear that all should work in Nazi Germany.

They called it the "economic miracle" and it was based on unemployment which started disappearing by 1939.

GovernmentUnemployment in Germany Total

January 1933 6 million

January 1934 3.3 million

January 1935 2.9 million

January 1936 2.5 million

January 1937 1.8 million

January 1938 1.0 million

January 1939 302,000

The chart

It was also believed that this unemployment chart may not be true. it may have been a way to persuade the nation and Europe into thinking this was something that had been achieved that other European nations had not during the time of economic depression.

•Soon a number of policies were put in place which caused unemployment to drop.

These included

•Women were no longer included in the statistics. Any women who remained out of work under the Nazi’s rule did not exist as far as the statistics were concerned.•The unemployed were given a very simple choice, which was to do whatever work was given to them by the government or be classed as "work-shy" and put in a concentration camp.•Jews lost their citizenship in 1935 and as a result were not included in unemployment figures even though many lost their employment at the start of Hitler’s time in power.There was also a lot of work that did get given to the people of Germany.Some included these.

Type of Event Number of events Number of people involved

Theatre performances 21,146 11,507,432

Concerts 989 705,623

Hikes 5,896 126,292

Sports Events 388 1,432,596

Cultural events 20,527 10,518,282

Holidays and cruises 1,196 702,491

Museum tours 61,503 2,567,596

Exhibitions 93 2,435,975

Week-end trips 3,499 1,007,242

Courses/Lectures at the German Adult Education Office 19,060 1,009,922

Government

German Humiliation

German HumiliationHitler was a brilliant speaker and a good organizer and politician. He was a driven, unstable man, who believed that he had been called by God to become dictator of Germany and rule the world. This kept him going when other people might have given up. His self-belief persuaded people to believe in him.

After WWI, Germany was forced to sign the treaty of The Treaty of Versailles. The German general public was so angry over the Treaty because it was becoming a symbol of Germany's humiliation and defeat.  The deep anger about the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles created an underlying bitterness to which Hitler's viciousness appealed, so they gave him support, as Hitler promised to get rid of the Treaty.  After Hitler staged on armed up rise against the government in Munich in November 1923 he was put in jail. While in jail Hitler realized that Nazis would have to attain power.  Once out of prison Hitler’s Nazi party expanded.  By 1932 the organization had over 800 000 members. 

German Humiliation

 Industrial leaders, aristocrats, military officers, and higher bureaucrats looked to Hitler for leadership. Under pressure Hinenburg allowed Hitler to become president in 1933 and created a new government.  Within two months Hitler had complete control over Germany.  With his new power the Nazis quickly brought all institutions under their control. They purged the civil service of democratic elements, this included Jews.  Jews were blamed for Europe’s economic faults. So they set up a prison called Concentration Camps as a result, this caused a lot of panic for the Jewish people.  

German Humiliation

The Social Degradation Of Jewish People

Quote From Hitler• “Here is one thing that perhaps distinguishes us from you

Austrians, as far as our program is concerned, although it is very much in the spirit of things: our attitude to the Jewish problem. For us, this is not a problem you can turn a blind eye to-one to be solved by small concessions. For us, it is a problem of whether our nation can ever recover its health, whether the Jewish spirit can ever really be eradicated. Don't be misled into thinking you can fight a disease without killing the carrier, without destroying the bacillus. Don't think you can fight racial tuberculosis without taking care to rid the nation of the carrier of that racial tuberculosis. This Jewish contamination will not subside; this poisoning of the nation will not end, until the carrier himself, the Jew, has been banished from our midst.” - Speech delivered by Hitler in Salzburg, 7 or 8 August 1920. (NSDAP meeting)

As Hitler’s power rose, the Jews rights and equality declined. The Jews slowly seemed less “human-like” to others, which made it seem right and fair for them to be treated horrendously. Because of Hitler’s strong voice and ability to manipulate others to believe what his twisted mind believed, the image of Jews being a “disease” to the human race was burned into others minds.

Social Degradation

Swastika

Original meaning of the swastika: "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. Therefore, before the Nazis overtook the symbol, it meant “to be good”. Throughout many cultures, over the last 3000 years, the swastika was always used to represent life, power, good luck, sun and strength. One of those cultures being that of the Jews… it seems ironic that it was used by the Jews, for centuries, long before Hitler was born and until he used it against them.

Salute

• Hitler saluting, or others saluting to Hitler, is known as the Nazi Salute. It was accompanied by the cries of “Hail Hitler!” or “Hail, Fuhrer!” which means leader in German. It symbolized obedience and gratitude towards Hitler and the Nazi beliefs.