Rise of the Nazis

by Rabbi Eliahu Ellis & Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

The Nazi promise to restore Germany's honor and glory struck a powerful chord.

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One of the parties that started to gain in popularity and strength would become the German National Socialist Party, which was neither particularly Nationalist nor Socialist. Hitler joined and galvanized the party around a grandiose idea - they were going to take over Munich, and then after Munich, they would go for the rest of Germany. Their aim was to get Germany back to its "true" values, "true" traditions.

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Beer Hall Putsch, November 1923
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

The "Beer Hall Putsch" was their attempted coup of Munich which failed, leaving 16 Nazis and 3 German policemen dead. The result was that Hitler was arrested for high treason, given a light sentence for 5 years but only spent 9 months in prison. It was during this time that he wrote the famous "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle"), which was basically, "What I will do when I run the world." The book was a runaway best seller in Germany. It made him independently wealthy, a millionaire.

Upon his release from prison, Hitler revitalized the Nazi party.

In German politics, the Nazi Party never had a majority in the government. They had 2%-3%, in the 1920's - never more. Then in 1929, history intervened with the "Great Economic Depression." The situation in Germany went from "worse" to "horrible." The country was completely in chaos. Now there were food riots, pitched battles in the street every night. HItler's twisted promises offered Germans a solution to their despair.

Von Hindenburg was the president of Germany. He was a World War I general, a war hero whom everyone loved. But he was getting old now, and a bit senile. The military, the industrialists and others pressured Von Hindenburg into a special deal. Although 1932 elections made the Nazi party the largest in Germany, no single party had actually won a majority. No one could form a government.

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Hindenberg Receiving Hitler As New Chancellor
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

Under his special powers, the president could dissolve the parliament and appoint a chancellor. That chancellor's job would be to prepare Germany for a new election. Under pressure from the military and industrial sectors, Von Hindenburg appointed Hitler. The "powers that be" thought Hitler was a bit strange, but they planned to use his following and add it to theirs. That would create a majority government and shore up their power base... But as soon as he got into office, it became clear that Hitler was not about to listen to anyone. It was rather like letting the fox into the chicken coop to guard the chickens. Hitler got in and became chancellor, and did what any fox would do when he gets into the coop - he started destroying the chickens.

Read a reaction of Jews in Poland.

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