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home > history > The rise of the Nazis
Hitler and the NSDAP
Hitler in Power
Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass)
The Extreme Right in Belgium
The Refugees
Hitler and the NSDAP
In 1919 Hitler joined the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, a small obscure party with nationalist ideas but with only a few members and with little cash reserves. Mainly due to Hitler’s organizational and rhetorical talents the party began to expand rapidly. On 24th February 1920 the party changed its name to Nationalsocialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei – NSDAP. In 1922 Hitler became leader of the party. Shortly afterwards the party had 10.000 members.
In the party manifesto of 1920 a number of popular and controversial theories were cogently presented.
Every citizen must be a Volksgenosse. This was someone of German blood. No account was taken of religion. A Jew could not be a Volksgenosse
All immigration by non-Germans was forbidden. Non-Germans who had been living in Germany since August 1914 since 2nd August 1914 were forced to leave the country.
The State must ensure that sufficient food supplies and employment were available for its citizens. If and when this would prove to be impossible, then foreigner would have to be evicted from Germany.
The principal duty of every German is work.
No work. No income.
The creation of a Reich, a strong State.
After an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Weimar government (Bierkellerputsch), Hitler was sentenced, in November 1923, to five years imprisonment in Landsberg Prison. As a high profile politician he gained release after serving only nine months of his sentence. During his (comfortable) period of incarceration he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle), in which his opinions over Jews were made quite clear.
“A Jew is, and always will be, a typical parasite, living on and at the expense of his host who, like a poisonous bacillus continues to extend himself over a larger area where a good matrix is to be found ; however wherever he is found after a short time the people that have sheltered him will die.”
In the elections of 1924 The NSDAP only received 6.6% of the vote. This was followed by a period when votes continued to decline. Meanwhile, however, the party was busy with internal reorganization, which saw the formation of the Sturmabteilung – SA (storm troops); Schutzstaffel–SS (security troops) and the Gauleiter (district political officer). The 1930 elections saw the Nazis become the second largest party in Germany. They had successfully manipulated the economic crisis to their advantage. During the campaign electoral posters showed poverty striken citizens with the slogan “Hitler our last hope”.
In July 1932 the Nazis received 37% of the votes (13 million votes) and were the largest party. When new elections were organised a few months later the Nazis lost 2 million votes. Hitler realised that he now had to seize power in order to prevent further loses.
Hitler giving a speech (© Bundesarchiv Koblenz)
Hitler in Power
In January 1933 the NSDAP came to power by forming a coalition with a group of center / right parties. Hitler was appointed Chancellor by Hindenburg, who, in fact, failed to see any danger in this appointment believing that the the real power of state rested with him in his function as President. However within a few months Hitler had skillfully manoeuvred himself so that he was virtually the sole political power in Germany. The destruction of the Reischstag (parliament) by fire on 27th February 1933 was an excuse for Hitler to insist that the President sign an amendment to the Constitution giving the government powers to execute random arrests. Opposition parties were dissolved and the state parliaments pushed to one side. The freedoms associated with a democratic state were removed and a period of merciless terror ensured. When, on 22nd August 1933 Hindenburg died, Hitler appointed himself President.
Nuremberg 1935 (© Yad Vashem)One of the first measures taken by the new government was the inauguration of concentration camps for members of the political opposition beginning with members of the Communist Party, and, quickly followed by trade union members and supporters of the Socialist Party. Finally anyone who set themselves up against the Hitler regime risked incarceration. Between 1933 and 1940, an average of 30.000 to 40.000 Germans were imprisoned in concentration camps.
After having dealt with the German opposition Hitler could now concentrate on putting his racist ideas into practice. He began immediately, in 1933, with an economic boycott of Jews. Anti-Jewish laws followed very quickly. All books that did not conform with the national socialist ideology were burnt. In 1935 Hitler legalised the hatred against Jews by putting on the statute book The Nuerenberg Race Laws. Henceforth it became illegal for Jews to marry Aryans. Jews had to surrender their savings. Jewish men had to be christened ‘Israel’ and Jewesses ‘Sarah’. Identity cards were stamped with the letter ‘J’. At the same time synagogues and cemeteries began to be regularly desecrated. Life became intolerable for Jews in Germany.
Boycott of Jewish shops (© Yad Vashem)
Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass)
The murder of a secretary to the German ambassador in Paris by a boy of 17 years of age seeking revenge for the deportation of his family resulted, on the night of the 9th – 10th November 1938, in a culmination of anti-Semitism, in what was to become known as Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass).
During the Kristallnacht 7.500 shops were plundered, 196 synagogues set alight and about 25.000 Jews, including veterans from WW I, were arrested. The next day the pavements were strewn with glass, broken furniture, destroyed merchandise and clothes which had been torn to shreds. The Jews who had been arrested now joined the political prisoners in Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. The provenu from insurance claims was paid to the State and not to the policy holders.
The Nazi propaganda machine projected these events as if they were a spontaneous reaction from the proletariat, the truth of the matter was, in fact, that this was the work of Josph Goebbels and his henchmen at the Ministry of Propaganda. Afterwards it was officially denied that Jews had undergone any suffering. During a press conference for foreign journalists Goebbels stated that ‘ All the stories that you have heard about so-called plundering and destruction are filthy lies (sind erstunken und erlogen). The Jews have not had one hair on their heads touched (Den Juden ist kein Haar gekruemmt worden).
The Kristallnacht was the last violent public pogrom against the Jews in Germany. Henceforth events would be discreeter and more secretive.
Synagogue of Baden-Baden, 10th of November, 1938
(© Yad Vashem)
The Extreme Right in Belgium before the outbreak of WW II
The economic crisis, inflation and strikes fueled the spread of the extreme right movements in Belgium. The movements formed themselves into political parties and took part in the electoral campaigns.
The Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (VNV) (Flemish National Alliance) was constituted in 1933 and was a radicalisation of the Frontpartij (Front Party). The language question and the demands for Flemish independence formed the basis of their manifesto. The catholics were also represented in this party, however the clergy, who were monarchists, found it difficult to accept the anti-Belgium attitude of the VNV.
The leader of the VNV, Staf de Clercq (d. 1942), gained the electoral support of the middle class and the agricultural community, groups, in fact, who had constantly suffered during the crisis. From the election results it can be seen that the VNV experienced constant growth during the 1930’s.
Elections of 1938:
"Forward with Staf de Clercq!"(© JMDR) REX grew from the French speaking catholic circles at the University of Louvain. This party did not have any clear cut political agenda. REX and its leader, Léon Degrelle, drew support from the public’s abhorrence for political and financial scandals.
With the slogan “100% catholic” REX was able to take advantage of the fact that a number of important leaders of the catholic party were suspected of corruption. In the 1936 elections they won 21 seats.
Rex chooses a broom for its logo and calls upon
the electorate to vote for a 'clean administration'(© JMDR) However these successes were short lived and REX lost votes in the elections of 1937. There were three reasons for this.
1. In 1936 Léon Degrelle reached a working agreement with the VNV. Francophones and Nationalists find this unacceptable and withdraw their support from the party.
2. Paul Van Zeeland, the catholic PM, forms, with all other democratic parties a unified front against the advance of the fascists.
3. Cardinal Van Roey calls all Christians, and there are many within REX, to vote for the coalition of Van Zeeland. This marks the end of REX as a political party.
Election poster calling for votes for Paul Van Zeeland
and against Léon Degrelle (© JMDR)Comparisons in the election results of the VNV and REX:
1932
1936
1937
Rex
0
11,49%
4,40%
V.N.V.
5,60%
7,10%
7,90%
Anti- Semitism is a a basic principal in the philosophy of both these movements. The themes which are constantly appearing in extreme right propaganda often display contradictory opinions: the Jew is accused of being a heartless capitalist who exploits the workers in a shameful manner whilst, at the same time, he is seen as a communist who would bring the smooth running of the society into danger.
The “Joodse complot” (Jewish Scheme) is the basic theme of the anti-Semetism of the Nazis. The Jew is not only a damaging influence between other inferior races – he is the enemy itself ! He is the cause of all the misery of Germany. He is the cause of the war. His objective is to rule the world. He has stimulated the population with a view to reaching these objectives. From 1941, when Great Britain, USSR and later the USA form a united front against Germany the Nazi propaganda machine brings the Jewish Scheme to the forefront. According to the extreme right a Jew is the cause of everything that does not go well in society. The themes tended to appeal to a broad cross section of the electorate from the political left to the political right.
Meeting of the Vlaams Nationaal Verbond, 1934 (© Le Soir)
The Refugees
As from 1938 political and racially persecuted refugees began arriving in Belgium. Most of them were placed in refugee centers e.g. Marneffe, Merksplas, Eksaarde and Halle. Apart from tradesmen most of the men found in these ‘colonies’ were either merchants or intellectuals. It was intended that these refugees should be encouraged to emigrate as soon as possible. They were given lessons and language courses were set up – mainly english. In their free time sport activities were organised, plays were put on and films were shown. On Sunday a ‘group walk’ was organised in the domain. No one was allowed to leave the enclosed area without permission. Those who tried to escape were immediately returned over the international border from whence they came.
Centre for refugees in Merksplas:
people learn to fertilize the soil, 1939 (© SOMA/CEGES)
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