Power

The beginning of this week’s reading was so surprising I had to go back and read to make sure I hadn’t skipped any chapters. We all know the stereotype of what the Nazis are infamous for in the course of power in history. I couldn’t understand how the citizens of Northeim could possibly give in to the Nazi ideology. Then it all just came together in a sick, twisted, sense. The goal of the NSDAP was simple: power. With such a tangible, understandable goal, they would do what it will to achieve it before revealing their true colors.

Flexible ideology catering to certain audiences, extravagant shows, vigor and energy that promise action, the Hitler Youth as alarmingly reminiscent of the boy scouts of America--these all attracted followers while the abstract anti-semitism was played down. Nobody in Northeim had clear ideas of what would happen after the Nazis came to power other than solutions on a national level.

When the Nazis came to power, it was chillingly unexpected yet inevitable. Everything was orchestrated in psychological effect by “The Terror System”: “...if Northeimers came to believe implicitly that they might expect no mercy from their new Nazi rulers...the initial investment of terror would multiply itself through rumor and social reinforcement until opposition would be looked upon as wholly futile.” The fear came from rumors spread by Northeimers giving each other advice to be careful. Small outbursts of violence and brawls during their campaign foreshadowed the violence demonstrated in power, which the townspeople had become so accustomed to and expected that it only led to apathy.

I was most frustrated by the SPD, who were the only ones strong enough to fight the new regime, but waited for an order that never came. As the Nazis began to track them down, one by one, Deppe and Haase spread the word to dissolve the Reichbanner: “We told them that every man would have to follow his own conscience now...when we no longer had the strength to protect them, we could no longer ask them to remain loyal.” Go underground then! You don’t need these crazy demonstrations and en masse meetings like the Nazis when everything was open and democratic. This oppressive party is ridiculous--why don’t you have the sense of injustice and anger to form underground meetings and resist like in those Hollywood movies? A Leftist movement uniting Communists and Socialists could have overthrown the Third Reich.