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157-631: The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was originally established in a party conference on 22 May 1926, in order to improve administration of the party structure. From 1933 onwards, after the Nazi seizure of power , the Gaue increasingly replaced the German states as administrative subdivisions in Germany. At the head of each Gau stood a Gauleiter , a position which became increasingly more powerful, especially after

314-650: A fascist party with similar policies and objectives came into power in Italy, the National Fascist Party , under the leadership of the charismatic Benito Mussolini . The Fascists, like the Nazis, promoted a national rebirth of their country, as they opposed communism and liberalism; appealed to the working-class; opposed the Treaty of Versailles ; and advocated the territorial expansion of their country. Hitler

471-594: A foreign race ( Fremdvölkische ). The Nazis sought to strengthen the Germanic people, the " Aryan master race ", through racial purity and eugenics , broad social welfare programs, and a collective subordination of individual rights, which could be sacrificed for the good of the state on behalf of the people. To protect the supposed purity and strength of the Aryan race, the Nazis sought to disenfranchise, segregate, and eventually exterminate Jews , Romani , Slavs ,

628-505: A "racially pure" Aryan. Party members could not be related either directly or indirectly to a so-called "non-Aryan". Even before it had become legally forbidden by the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, the Nazis banned sexual relations and marriages between party members and Jews. Party members found guilty of Rassenschande ("racial defilement") were persecuted heavily. Some members were even sentenced to death. Hitler quickly became

785-472: A Catholic monarch; and Westphalia , along with working-class "Red Berlin", were always the Nazis' weakest areas electorally, even during the Third Reich itself. The areas of strongest Nazi support were in rural Protestant areas such as Schleswig-Holstein , Mecklenburg , Pomerania and East Prussia . Depressed working-class areas such as Thuringia also produced a strong Nazi vote, while the workers of

942-469: A Rutherford booklet that described the chancellor as "of unsound mind, cruel, malicious and ruthless". He said the international campaign to swamp Hitler with telegrams of protest in October 1934 infuriated the chancellor and was a major factor in bringing greater governmental persecution on them. Citing Dietrich Hellmund's description of their "incredible public militancy", he wrote: "Jehovah's Witnesses were

1099-590: A bystander lay dead. Hitler, Ludendorff and a number of others were arrested and were tried for treason in March 1924. Hitler and his associates were given very lenient prison sentences. While Hitler was in prison, he wrote his semi-autobiographical political manifesto Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"). The Nazi Party was banned on 9 November 1923; however, with the support of the nationalist Völkisch-Social Bloc ( Völkisch-Sozialer Block ), it continued to operate under

1256-612: A clear foreign policy (abrogation of the Treaty of Versailles, a Greater Germany , Eastern expansion and exclusion of Jews from citizenship) and among his specific points were: confiscation of war profits , abolition of unearned incomes, the State to share profits of land and land for national needs to be taken away without compensation. In general, the manifesto was antisemitic , anti-capitalist , anti-democratic , anti-Marxist and anti-liberal . To increase its appeal to larger segments of

1413-549: A conflict that gradually escalated in an interaction of action and reaction ... the authorities responsible for the persecution always responded with increasing severity to the continuous stubbornness of the IBSA members". He said that the Nazis were baffled by an opponent that, convinced it was being directed by God's channel, did not back down under intensified persecution, as expected. He wrote: These factors could have contributed to

1570-466: A desire to draw upon both left-wing and right-wing ideals, with "Socialist" and "Workers'" appealing to the left, and "National" and "German" appealing to the right. Nazi , the informal and originally derogatory term for a party member, abbreviates the party's name ( Nationalsozialist [natsi̯oˈnaːlzotsi̯aˌlɪst] ), and was coined in analogy with Sozi (pronounced [ˈzoːtsiː] ), an abbreviation of Sozialdemokrat (member of

1727-527: A development which was formally documented by the merger of the offices of Reichsführer-SS and Chief of the German Police on 17 June 1936, as the position was held by Heinrich Himmler who derived his authority directly from Hitler. The Sicherheitsdienst (SD, formally the "Security Service of the Reichsführer-SS") that had been created in 1931 as an intraparty intelligence became

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1884-469: A document indicating renunciation of their faith, submission to state authority, and support of the German military. Historian Sybil Milton concludes that "their courage and defiance in the face of torture and death punctures the myth of a monolithic Nazi state ruling over docile and submissive subjects." Despite early attempts to demonstrate shared goals with the National Socialist regime,

2041-454: A form of economic socialism , in order to create a popular nationalist-oriented workers' movement that could challenge the rise of communism and internationalist politics . These were all well-known themes popular with various Weimar paramilitary groups such as the Freikorps . Drexler's movement received attention and support from some influential figures. Supporter Dietrich Eckart ,

2198-417: A heated argument with a visitor, Professor Baumann, who questioned the soundness of Gottfried Feder 's arguments against capitalism; Baumann proposed that Bavaria should break away from Prussia and found a new South German nation with Austria . In vehemently attacking the man's arguments, Hitler made an impression on the other party members with his oratorical skills; according to Hitler, the "professor" left

2355-483: A ministerial-level post at any level in Germany. In 1931 the Nazi Party altered its strategy to engage in perpetual campaigning across the country, even outside of election time. During 1931 and into 1932, Germany's political crisis deepened. Hitler ran for president against the incumbent Paul von Hindenburg in March 1932, polling 30% in the first round and 37% in the second against Hindenburg's 49% and 53%. By now

2512-468: A misinformation campaign by other churches. The Declaration also stated, "A careful examination of our books and literature will disclose the fact that the very high ideals held and promulgated by the present national government are set forth in and endorsed and strongly emphasized in our publications, and show that Jehovah God will see to it that these high ideals in due time will be attained by all persons who love righteousness." Some 2.1 million copies of

2669-409: A monopoly on the "truth". Kater wrote: Just as the National Socialist ideology, so were also the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses dominated not by a democratic but an authoritarian policy. Both systems were totalitarian in that they strictly integrated national comrades as well as fellow believers into the respective authoritarian structure and requested them to give up their own personal identity for

2826-555: A month later. In January 1923, France occupied the Ruhr industrial region as a result of Germany's failure to meet its reparations payments. This led to economic chaos, the resignation of Wilhelm Cuno 's government and an attempt by the German Communist Party (KPD) to stage a revolution. The reaction to these events was an upsurge of nationalist sentiment. Nazi Party membership grew sharply to about 20,000, compared to

2983-449: A national comrade. Garbe accepts that both ideologies claimed to represent the "epitome of truth", demanded the person as a whole, tolerated no questioning of ideology and also held a common belief in salvation utopias for certain parts of humankind and the vision of a Thousand-Year Reign . He adds that, pitted against a considerably more powerful organization, the group's efforts were doomed to fail. German writer Falk Pingel argued that

3140-579: A nationalist orientation that formed in the last years of World War I . In 1918, a league called the Freier Arbeiterausschuss für einen guten Frieden (Free Workers' Committee for a good Peace) was created in Bremen , Germany. On 7 March 1918, Anton Drexler , an avid German nationalist, formed a branch of this league in Munich . Drexler was a local locksmith who had been a member of

3297-522: A new political party should be formed, based on the political principles that he endorsed, by combining his branch of the Workers' Committee for a good Peace with the Political Workers' Circle. On 5 January 1919, Drexler created a new political party and proposed it should be named the "German Socialist Workers' Party", but Harrer objected to the term "socialist"; so the term was removed and

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3454-492: A pledge of loyalty to the fatherland. According to Penton, further evidence that the Nazis did not consider Witnesses inherently candidates for destruction in the same way as Jews, Romanis, and homosexuals , is that almost no Jehovah's Witnesses were gassed, and they were often employed domestically by the SS and in other jobs with significantly better conditions, improving their chances of survival. In socialist East Germany , from

3611-615: A process known as denazification . Several top leaders were tried and found guilty of crimes against humanity in the Nuremberg trials , and executed. The use of symbols associated with the party is still outlawed in many European countries, including Germany and Austria. The renaming of the German Worker's Party (DAP) to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) was partially driven by

3768-510: A protest, but had now drawn back from the prospect of actually putting him into power. The Nazis interpreted the result as a warning that they must seize power before their moment passed. Had the other parties united, this could have been prevented, but their shortsightedness made a united front impossible. Papen, his successor Kurt von Schleicher and the nationalist press magnate Alfred Hugenberg spent December and January in political intrigues that eventually persuaded President Hindenburg that it

3925-424: A traitor to the party. In the following days, Hitler spoke to several packed houses and defended himself and Esser to thunderous applause. Hitler's strategy proved successful; at a special party congress on 29 July 1921, he replaced Drexler as party chairman by a vote of 533   to   1. The committee was dissolved, and Hitler was granted nearly absolute powers in the party as its sole leader. He would hold

4082-685: A way out of this impasse. The electoral result was the same, with the Nazis and the Communists winning 50% of the vote between them and more than half the seats, rendering this Reichstag no more workable than its predecessor. However, support for the Nazis had fallen to 33.1%, suggesting that the Nazi surge had passed its peak—possibly because the worst of the Depression had passed, possibly because some middle-class voters had supported Hitler in July as

4239-648: A well-to-do journalist, brought military figure Felix Graf von Bothmer , a prominent supporter of the concept of "national socialism", to address the movement. Later in 1918, Karl Harrer (a journalist and member of the Thule Society ) convinced Drexler and several others to form the Politischer Arbeiter-Zirkel (Political Workers' Circle). The members met periodically for discussions with themes of nationalism and racism directed against Jewish people. In December 1918, Drexler decided that

4396-565: Is a brilliant speaker, we can hold out the prospect of an extremely exciting evening". Over the following months, the party continued to attract new members, while remaining too small to have any real significance in German politics. By the end of the year, party membership was recorded at 2,000, many of whom Hitler and Röhm had brought into the party personally, or for whom Hitler's oratory had been their reason for joining. Hitler's talent as an orator and his ability to draw new members, combined with his characteristic ruthlessness, soon made him

4553-705: The Reichswehr (army) by Captain Mayr , the head of the Education and Propaganda Department (Dept Ib/P) in Bavaria . Hitler was assigned to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate the DAP. While Hitler was initially unimpressed by the meetings and found them disorganised, he enjoyed the discussion that took place. While attending a party meeting on 12 September 1919 at Munich's Sterneckerbräu , Hitler became involved in

4710-601: The Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München . Such was the significance of this particular move in publicity that Karl Harrer resigned from the party in disagreement. It was in this speech that Hitler enunciated the twenty-five points of the German Workers' Party manifesto that had been drawn up by Drexler, Feder and himself. Through these points he gave the organisation a much bolder stratagem with

4867-607: The Reichswehr remained impartial. Nazi power over Germany remained virtual, not absolute. The Nazis embarked on a campaign of Gleichschaltung (coordination) to exert their control over all aspects of German government and society. During June and July 1933, all competing parties were either outlawed or dissolved themselves and subsequently the Law Against the Formation of Parties of 14 July 1933 legally established

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5024-658: The Horst Wessel song and Deutschlandlied at a flag salute roll call , give the Hitler salute, and take part in ceremonies honoring Hitler; those who refused were beaten by teachers, and sometimes by classmates, while many were also expelled. From March 1936, authorities began removing Witness children from their parents, forcing some of them to undergo "corrective training". From early 1935, Gestapo officers began widening their use of "protective detention", usually when judges failed to convict Witnesses on charges of defying

5181-615: The Aryan " master race " ( Herrenvolk ). However, he also accused international capitalism of being a Jewish-dominated movement and denounced capitalists for war profiteering in World War I. Drexler saw the political violence and instability in Germany as the result of the Weimar Republic being out-of-touch with the masses, especially the lower classes. Drexler emphasised the need for a synthesis of völkisch nationalism with

5338-635: The Bolsheviks , resonated with wide sections of the electorate. At the September 1930 Reichstag elections , the Nazis won 18% of the votes and became the second-largest party in the Reichstag after the Social Democrats. Hitler proved to be a highly effective campaigner, pioneering the use of radio and aircraft for this purpose. His dismissal of Strasser and his appointment of Goebbels as

5495-660: The Christadelphian Church refused to bear arms or swear loyalty to the state. Activities of the Bible Students Association were banned in the states of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Bavaria on 10 April 1933 and 13 April 1933, respectively. When Witnesses responded with a nationwide house-to-house booklet distribution campaign, many were arrested, and within a week bans were extended to the states of Saxony and Hessen . Publications were also confiscated in some states. On 24 April, police seized

5652-467: The Golden Party Badge number one. Anton Drexler drafted a letter to Hitler in 1940—which was never sent—that contradicts Hitler's later claim: No one knows better than you yourself, my Führer, that you were never the seventh member of the party, but at best the seventh member of the committee... And a few years ago I had to complain to a party office that your first proper membership card of

5809-507: The Great Depression , when worsening living standards and widespread unemployment drove Germans into political extremism. Central to Nazism were themes of racial segregation expressed in the idea of a "people's community" ( Volksgemeinschaft ). The party aimed to unite "racially desirable" Germans as national comrades while excluding those deemed to be either political dissidents, physically or intellectually inferior, or of

5966-556: The Hitler regime. An estimated 10,000 Witnesses were sent to Nazi concentration camps . It is estimated that between 2,000 and 5,000 died in custody, including 250 who were executed. They were the first Christian denomination banned by the Nazi government and the most extensively and intensively persecuted. Unlike Jews and Romani , who were persecuted on the basis of their race, Jehovah's Witnesses could escape persecution and personal harm by renouncing their religious beliefs by signing

6123-538: The League of Nations and marched them to the polling booths. Some were beaten or forced to walk holding placards declaring their "betrayal" of the fatherland; in one town, a billboard was displayed in the marketplace listing Bible Student "traitors" who had not voted, and mobs also gathered outside Witnesses' homes to throw stones or chant. Similar action was taken at subsequent elections in the one-party state. Nazi authorities denounced Jehovah's Witnesses for their ties to

6280-765: The National Socialist German Workers' Party ( German : Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei   or NSDAP ), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism . Its precursor, the German Workers' Party ( Deutsche Arbeiterpartei ; DAP), existed from 1919 to 1920. The Nazi Party emerged from the extremist German nationalist (" Völkisch nationalist "), racist and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, which fought against communist uprisings in post– World War I Germany. The party

6437-685: The Ruhr and Hamburg largely remained loyal to the Social Democrats , the Communist Party of Germany or the Catholic Centre Party . Nuremberg remained a Nazi Party stronghold, and the first Nuremberg Rally was held there in 1927. These rallies soon became massive displays of Nazi paramilitary power and attracted many recruits. The Nazis' strongest appeal was to the lower middle-classes—farmers, public servants, teachers and small businessmen—who had suffered most from

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6594-535: The United States and derided the apparent revolutionary millennialism of their preaching that a battle of Armageddon would precede the rule of Christ on earth. They linked Jehovah's Witnesses to "international Jewry" by pointing to Witness reliance on certain Old Testament texts. The Nazis had grievances with many of the smaller Protestant groups on these issues, but only Jehovah's Witnesses and

6751-573: The de facto intelligence agency of Nazi Germany. It was put under the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) in 1939, which then coordinated SD, Gestapo and criminal police , therefore functioning as a hybrid organisation of state and party structures. Officially, Nazi Germany lasted only 12 years. The Instrument of Surrender was signed by representatives of the German High Command at Berlin , on 8 May 1945, when

6908-541: The physically and mentally disabled , homosexuals , Jehovah's Witnesses , and political opponents. The persecution reached its climax when the party-controlled German state set in motion the Final Solution – an industrial system of genocide that carried out mass murders of around 6 million Jews and millions of other targeted victims in what has become known as the Holocaust . Adolf Hitler ,

7065-623: The "Night of the Long Knives"), Hitler disempowered the SA's leadership—most of whom belonged to the Strasserist (national revolutionary) faction within the NSDAP—and ordered them killed. He accused them of having conspired to stage a coup d'état , but it is believed that this was only a pretense to justify the suppression of any intraparty opposition. The purge was executed by the SS, assisted by

7222-610: The Berlin main telegraph office arranged with several overseas telegraph offices to destroy all telegrams that had not yet been transmitted. More than 1,000 letters—almost all of them with the same wording and signed "Jehovah's Witnesses"—were also received at the presidential office, and in November, those letters were transferred to the Secret State Police "for further investigation". In late 1934, all state bans against

7379-649: The Bible Student ban. Bible Students deemed to "present an imminent danger to the National Socialist state because of their activities" were from that point not handed to courts for punishment but sent directly to concentration camps for incarceration for several months. However, even those who completed their prison terms were routinely arrested by the Gestapo upon release and taken into protective custody. More brutal methods of punishment began to be applied from 1936, including horsewhipping, prolonged daily beatings,

7536-487: The Bible Student headquarters at Magdeburg , withdrawing five days later after US diplomatic efforts. From mid-May, other states issued decrees outlawing the Bible Students, and by the middle of June they were banned in almost every state. In one state's decree, the rationale for the ban was said to be that Bible Students were "imposing" Watch Tower Society journals on householders, "which contain malicious attacks on

7693-470: The Bible Students" were "completely in agreement with the corresponding goals of the national government". German historian Detlef Garbe described the declaration as part of the group's efforts to adapt at a time of increasing persecution, while Canadian historian Professor James Penton , a former Jehovah's Witness and critic of the denomination, claimed the declaration was a compromising document that proves "that Watch Tower leaders were attempting to pander to

7850-697: The Control Council Law no. 2 Providing for the Termination and Liquidation of the Nazi Organization specified the abolition of 52 other Nazi affiliated and supervised organisations and outlawed their activities. The denazification was carried out in Germany and continued until the onset of the Cold War. Between 1939 and 1945, the Nazi Party led regime, assisted by collaborationist governments and recruits from occupied countries,

8007-450: The DAP advocated the belief that through profit-sharing instead of socialisation Germany should become a unified "people's community" ( Volksgemeinschaft ) rather than a society divided along class and party lines. This ideology was explicitly antisemitic. As early as 1920, the party was raising money by selling a tobacco called Anti-Semit . From the outset, the DAP was opposed to non-nationalist political movements, especially on

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8164-651: The DAP, bearing the signatures of Schüssler and myself, was falsified, with the number 555 being erased and number 7 entered. Although Hitler initially wanted to form his own party, he claimed to have been convinced to join the DAP because it was small and he could eventually become its leader. He consequently encouraged the organisation to become less of a debating society, which it had been previously, and more of an active political party. Normally, enlisted army personnel were not allowed to join political parties. In this case, Hitler had Captain Karl Mayr 's permission to join

8321-499: The DAP. Further, Hitler was allowed to stay in the army and receive his weekly pay of 20 gold marks a week. Unlike many other members of the organisation, this continued employment provided him with enough money to dedicate himself more fully to the DAP. Hitler's first DAP speech was held in the Hofbräukeller on 16 October 1919. He was the second speaker of the evening, and spoke to 111 people. Hitler later declared that this

8478-650: The Gau. Bracht, who was not a powerful figure in the Nazi hierarchy, committed suicide on 9 May 1945. The Auschwitz concentration camp , an extermination camp where more than 1,000,000 people were killed, was located in the Gau Upper Silesia, near Oświęcim . The camp was liberated by the Soviet Army in January 1945. Nazi Party Final solution Parties The Nazi Party , officially

8635-629: The German Labor Front or Nazi Party members. In 1936, the Nazi press urged that Bible Students be removed from all German companies, while self-employed members of the group were denied professional or business licences to carry out their work on the basis that their refusal to join Nazi organizations marked them as "politically unreliable". The state confiscated motor vehicles and bicycles used by Witnesses in their businesses, withdrew driver's licences, withdrew pensions, and evicted Witnesses from their homes. Schoolchildren were required to sing

8792-500: The German government, the usage of "Nazi" diminished in Germany, although Austrian anti-Nazis continued to use the term. The use of " Nazi Germany " and "Nazi regime" was popularised by anti-Nazis and German exiles abroad. Thereafter, the term spread into other languages and eventually was brought back to Germany after World War II. In English, the term is not considered slang and has such derivatives as Nazism and denazification . The Nazi Party grew out of smaller political groups with

8949-507: The Gestapo and Reichswehr units. Aside from Strasserist Nazis, they also murdered anti-Nazi conservative figures like former chancellor von Schleicher. After this, the SA continued to exist but lost much of its importance, while the role of the SS grew significantly. Formerly only a sub-organisation of the SA, it was made into a separate organisation of the NSDAP in July 1934. Upon the death of President Hindenburg on 2 August 1934, Hitler merged

9106-424: The Nazi Party might never have come to power had it not been for the Great Depression and its effects on Germany. By 1930, the German economy was beset with mass unemployment and widespread business failures. The Social Democrats and Communists were bitterly divided and unable to formulate an effective solution: this gave the Nazis their opportunity and Hitler's message, blaming the crisis on the Jewish financiers and

9263-404: The Nazi Party's monopoly. On 1 December 1933, the Law to Secure the Unity of Party and State entered into force, which was the base for a progressive intertwining of party structures and state apparatus. By this law, the SA—actually a party division—was given quasi-governmental authority and their Stabschef became a cabinet minister without portfolio . By virtue of the 30 January 1934 Law on

9420-400: The Nazi goal for the Witnesses, despite the fact that Hitler had declared about them in 1934, "This brood will be exterminated!" The Gestapo and SS applied the usual torture methods, and in the process hundreds of Witnesses died. But a clue as to the Nazi aim of breaking the Witness resolve is found in a remarkable document offered repeatedly to Witness prisoners—a renunciation of their faith and

9577-425: The Nazi regime towards Jehovah's Witnesses. Garbe believes the Gestapo considered members of the denomination to be "incorrigible" elements who had to be ruthlessly eliminated. The 1934 telegram protest had prompted an "hysterical" Hitler to vow that "this brood will be exterminated in Germany", and he repeated the threat in August 1942. Watch Tower Society writer Wolfram Slupina claims the Nazis "attempted to consign

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9734-405: The Nazi regime. Jehovah's Witnesses could, however, escape persecution and personal harm by renouncing their religious beliefs. From 1935, Gestapo officers offered members a document to sign indicating renunciation of their faith, submission to state authority, and support of the German military. By signing the document, individuals vowed to refrain from any association with members of the IBSA for

9891-428: The Nazi regime. Initially, Witness indifference to the Nazi state manifested itself in the refusal to raise their arms in the Nazi salute , join the German Labor Front (DAF), participate in Nazi welfare collections, perform air raid duties, or participate in Nazi rallies and parades . Nazi Party SA stormtroopers raided the homes of Witnesses who failed to vote in a November 1933 plebiscite over German withdrawal from

10048-474: The Nazis" —an allegation the Watch Tower Society rejected in a 1998 magazine article. The distribution of the declaration prompted a new wave of persecution against German Witnesses. On 28 June, thirty stormtroopers occupied the branch office for a second time, closing the factory, sealing the printing presses, and hoisting a swastika over the building. In late August, authorities used 25 trucks to transport about 70 tonnes of Watch Tower literature and Bibles to

10205-434: The Reconstruction of the Reich , the Länder (states) lost their sovereignty and were demoted to administrative divisions of the Reich government. Effectively, they lost most of their power to the Gaue that were originally just regional divisions of the party, but took over most competencies of the state administration in their respective sectors. During the Röhm Purge of 30 June to 2 July 1934 (also known as

10362-433: The SA had 400,000 members and its running street battles with the SPD and Communist paramilitaries (who also fought each other) reduced some German cities to combat zones. Paradoxically, although the Nazis were among the main instigators of this disorder, part of Hitler's appeal to a frightened and demoralised middle class was his promise to restore law and order. Overt antisemitism was played down in official Nazi rhetoric, but

10519-514: The SA retained some autonomy. Being composed largely of unemployed workers, many SA men took the Nazis' socialist rhetoric seriously. At this time, the Hitler salute (borrowed from the Italian fascists ) and the greeting "Heil Hitler!" were adopted throughout the party. The Nazis contested elections to the national parliament (the Reichstag ) and to the state legislature (the Landtage ) from 1924, although at first with little success. The " National Socialist Freedom Movement " polled 3% of

10676-452: The SS, receiving beatings, whippings and public humiliation and given the dirtiest and most laborious work details for refusing to salute, stand at attention or sing Nazi songs. They were subjected to high-pressure jets of ice-cold water from fire hydrants and subjected to arbitrary acts of torture, including pushing a fully laden wheelbarrow with their necks while crawling on hands and knees. Others were forced to stand still for an entire day in

10833-413: The United States–based International Bible Students , who began missionary work in Europe in the 1890s. A German branch office of the Watch Tower Society opened in Elberfeld in 1902. By 1933, almost 20,000 Witnesses were counted as active door-to-door preachers, and their annual Memorial service was attracting almost 25,000 people. In Dresden , there were more Bible Students than in New York, where

10990-451: The Watch Tower Society was headquartered. Members of the movement, who were known as Ernste Bibelforscher , or Earnest Bible Students, had attracted opposition since the end of World War I , with accusations that they were Bolsheviks , communists and covertly Jewish . From 1920, the German Evangelical Church called for a ban on Watch Tower Society publications, which were engaging in increasing amounts of antichurch polemic. Through

11147-667: The Watch Tower Society's anti-Catholic polemic. Several German Witnesses who attended the convention were arrested by waiting police as they returned to their homes, and between August and September the Gestapo arrested more than 1000 members. The society responded with a pamphlet campaign on 12 December, dropping up to 200,000 copies of the Lucerne resolution in mailboxes and also leaving them at phone booths, park benches and parked cars. Those arrested in subsequent police raids were sentenced to up to two years in prison. The number of arrests increased; in Dresden alone, as many as 1500 Witnesses had been arrested by mid-1937. Another letterbox campaign

11304-674: The Weimar Republic government. Hitler was appointed as Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933. The Reichstag fire on 27 February 1933 gave Hitler a pretext for suppressing his political opponents. The following day he persuaded the Reich's President Paul von Hindenburg to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree , which suspended most civil liberties . The NSDAP won the parliamentary election on 5 March 1933 with 44% of votes, but failed to win an absolute majority. After

11461-505: The Witnesses to oblivion by systematically exterminating them". But Penton has argued there is abundant evidence that the Nazis had no intention to eradicate Witnesses. Since they were viewed as ordinary German citizens, the Nazis hoped to break their resistance and compel them to renounce their faith and declare loyalty to the Third Reich. Quoting Jehovah's Witness Jolene Chu, Penton wrote: Capitulation, not annihilation seems to have been

11618-792: The Witnesses were replaced with a prohibition at the Reich level. State governments were instructed in July 1935 to confiscate all Watch Tower Society publications, including Bibles, and in December, nine Watch Tower leaders were sentenced to up to 2½ years in jail for defying bans. Yet throughout 1933 and 1934 some courts continued to acquit Witnesses after legal and constitutional challenges. When Germany reintroduced universal military service in 1935, Jehovah's Witnesses generally refused to enroll. As conscientious objectors , they refused to bear arms for any political power. The Nazis prosecuted Jehovah's Witnesses for failing to report for conscription and arrested those who did missionary work for undermining

11775-467: The approximate 6,000 at the beginning of 1923. By November 1923, Hitler had decided that the time was right for an attempt to seize power in Munich, in the hope that the Reichswehr (the post-war German military) would mutiny against the Berlin government and join his revolt. In this, he was influenced by former General Erich Ludendorff , who had become a supporter—though not a member—of the Nazis. On

11932-461: The beginning of 1934, the branch chief he had temporarily replaced, Paul Balzereit, had issued a similar instruction.) He said the organization's later decision to abandon caution and direct members to intensify their preaching efforts was a "reckless" behavior that caused Witnesses and their families more suffering than was necessary. Hitler, Penton argued, had become highly popular with the German populace by 1936, yet Witnesses persisted in distributing

12089-422: The central concentration camp for women, though as the total number of prisoners increased rapidly, the proportion of Witnesses generally fell to about 3 percent. About 2000 Witnesses were eventually sent to Nazi concentration camps , where they were identified by purple triangles ; as many as 1200 died in custody, including 250 who were executed. Garbe claims members of the group were special objects of hatred by

12246-481: The charge of IBSA membership. Death penalties were applied frequently after 1943. From 1935, the authorities began sending hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses to concentration camps, where they were imprisoned with Communists, Socialists, other political prisoners and union members. In May 1938, they accounted for 12 percent of all prisoners at Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar ; by May 1939, they represented 40 percent of all prisoners at Schloss Lichentenburg ,

12403-440: The city's outskirts and publicly burned them. Preaching activities and meetings in private homes continued, though the threat of Gestapo raids caused many believers to withdraw association and activity in some places ceased. When authorities discovered banned literature was being smuggled into Germany from abroad, Bavarian police ordered the confiscation of mail of all known Bible Students and expressed irritation that their activity

12560-507: The compulsory Hitler salute. From August 1934, they could also lose their jobs for refusing to take an official oath swearing loyalty and obedience to Hitler. Teachers were required to sign a statement confirming they were not members of the International Bible Students Association and were fired if they refused. Jehovah's Witnesses were dismissed in the private sector as well, often at the insistence of

12717-493: The concentration camps, hold meetings, and smuggle in their religious literature. Conditions for Witnesses improved in 1942, when they were increasingly given work details that required little supervision, such as farming, gardening, transportation and unloading goods, while others worked in civilian clothing in a health resort, as housekeepers for Nazi officials, or were given construction and craft tasks at military buildings. In July 1944, Himmler ordered Ernst Kaltenbrunner ,

12874-636: The declaration, reproduced as a four-page pamphlet, were distributed publicly throughout Germany, with a copy also sent to Hitler, accompanied by a seven-page cover letter assuring the Chancellor that the International Bible Students Association (IBSA) "was not in opposition to the national government of the German Reich", but that, to the contrary, "the entirely religious, nonpolitical objectives and efforts of

13031-667: The discredited Social Democrats and the Zentrum, whose leader, Heinrich Brüning , headed a weak minority government. The inability of the democratic parties to form a united front, the self-imposed isolation of the Communists and the continued decline of the economy, all played into Hitler's hands. He now came to be seen as de facto leader of the opposition and donations poured into the Nazi Party's coffers. Some major business figures, such as Fritz Thyssen , were Nazi supporters and gave generously and some Wall Street figures were allegedly involved, but many other businessmen were suspicious of

13188-453: The dominant figure. However, while Hitler and Eckart were on a fundraising trip to Berlin in June 1921, a mutiny broke out within the party in Munich. Members of its executive committee wanted to merge with the rival German Socialist Party (DSP). Upon returning to Munich on 11 July, Hitler angrily tendered his resignation. The committee members realised that his resignation would mean the end of

13345-403: The economic and political situation had stabilised and the extremist upsurge of 1923 had faded, so there was no prospect of further revolutionary adventures. Instead, Hitler intended to alter the party's strategy to achieving power through what he called the "path of legality". The Nazi Party of 1925 was divided into the "Leadership Corps" ( Korps der politischen Leiter ) appointed by Hitler and

13502-420: The election, hundreds of thousands of new members joined the party for opportunistic reasons, most of them civil servants and white-collar workers. They were nicknamed the "casualties of March" (German: Märzgefallenen ) or "March violets" (German: Märzveilchen ). To protect the party from too many non-ideological turncoats who were viewed by the so-called "old fighters" (alte Kämpfer) with some mistrust,

13659-504: The extreme nationalist tendencies of the Nazis and preferred to support the traditional conservative parties instead. In 1930, as the price for joining a coalition government of the Land (state) of Thuringia , the Nazi Party received the state ministries of the Interior and Education. On 23 January 1930, Wilhelm Frick was appointed to these ministries, becoming the first Nazi to hold

13816-622: The fact that ... efforts to break their resolve were intensified and even more brutal. From this point of view, the IBSA members contributed to a certain extent to the severity of the NS actions, but this certainly does not mean that they intentionally provoked these measures. Penton noted that in August 1933, then branch overseer Martin Harbeck directed members that they should cease distributing literature and holding meetings without police permission. (At

13973-563: The first German state where the decree was used against the Bible Students, with a police order issued on November 18 to prohibit and confiscate all Bible Student publications throughout the state. A second decree in 1932 widened the ban in other German states. By the end of 1932, more than 2,300 charges against Bible Students were pending. Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933, and from that point forward, persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses intensified. Witnesses, being politically neutral, refused to swear loyalty to

14130-557: The formation of a majority government impossible. The result was weak ministries governing by decree. Under Comintern directives, the Communists maintained their policy of treating the Social Democrats as the main enemy, calling them " social fascists ", thereby splintering opposition to the Nazis. Later, both the Social Democrats and the Communists accused each other of having facilitated Hitler's rise to power by their unwillingness to compromise. Chancellor Franz von Papen called another Reichstag election in November, hoping to find

14287-752: The general membership ( Parteimitglieder ). The party and the SA were kept separate and the legal aspect of the party's work was emphasised. In a sign of this, the party began to admit women. The SA and the SS members (the latter founded in 1925 as Hitler's bodyguard, and known originally as the Schutzkommando ) had to all be regular party members. In the 1920s the Nazi Party expanded beyond its Bavarian base. At this time, it began surveying voters in order to determine what they were dissatisfied with in Germany, allowing Nazi propaganda to be altered accordingly. Catholic Bavaria maintained its right-wing nostalgia for

14444-425: The group came under increasing public and governmental persecution from 1933, with many expelled from jobs and schools, deprived of income, and suffering beatings and imprisonment. Historians are divided over whether the Nazis intended to exterminate them, but several authors have claimed the Witnesses' outspoken condemnation of the Nazis contributed to their level of suffering. Jehovah's Witnesses were an outgrowth of

14601-483: The hall acknowledging unequivocal defeat. Drexler encouraged him to join the DAP. On the orders of his army superiors, Hitler applied to join the party and within a week was accepted as party member 555 (the party began counting membership at 500 to give the impression they were a much larger party). Among the party's earlier members were Ernst Röhm of the Army's District Command VII; Dietrich Eckart, who has been called

14758-511: The head of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), to begin sending Jehovah's Witnesses to the occupied east. Himmler viewed the Jehovah's Witnesses as frugal, hard-working, honest and fanatic in their pacifism , and that these traits were extremely desirable for the suppressed nations in the east. Jehovah's Witnesses were one of a range of religious denominations against whom authorities took action from 1933, declaring that they "contributed to

14915-642: The heat or cold, or were confined in groups in small closets in an attempt to suffocate them. From March to December 1938, Jehovah's Witnesses in Buchenwald were not allowed to send or receive letters or to purchase food. Many approached starvation and were forced to eat leaves from trees and bushes. Many were forced to engage in a "drill" that included rolling, creeping, hopping, and running for 75 minutes while camp guards kicked and beat them, while others, forced to work in stone quarries, were refused medical attention when sick. Jehovah's Witnesses would preach inside

15072-581: The highest military court of the Wehrmacht , charged with demoralization of the armed forces, and 112 were executed, usually by beheading . Garbe estimates about 250 German and Austrian Jehovah's Witnesses were executed during World War II as a result of military court decisions. In November 1939, another regulation was issued providing for the jailing of anyone who supported or belonged to an "anti-military association" or displayed an "anti-military attitude", which allowed authorities to impose prison sentences on

15229-476: The ideological fragmentation of the German people", preventing the forming of a united German community. Historians, including Canadian Michael H. Kater, Christine Elizabeth King from England and Austrian Wolfgang Neugebauer, have suggested the extraordinary animosity between National Socialism and Bible Student teachings was rooted in the similarity in structure of both ideologies, which were based on authoritarianism and totalitarianism and which each believed had

15386-509: The inflation of the 1920s, so who feared Bolshevism more than anything else. The small business class was receptive to Hitler's antisemitism, since it blamed Jewish big business for its economic problems. University students, disappointed at being too young to have served in the War of 1914–1918 and attracted by the Nazis' radical rhetoric, also became a strong Nazi constituency. By 1929, the party had 130,000 members. The party's nominal Deputy Leader

15543-479: The lead of adults, classmates shunned or beat the children of Witnesses. Approximately 800 children of Jehovah's Witnesses were taken away from their families . Witness children typically expressed defiance to the Nazi regime's attempts to make them go against their beliefs. They were often expelled from public schools due to their refusal to say " Heil Hitler ". Some children were sent to reeducation centers, while others were adopted by families in good standing with

15700-712: The left, including the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). Members of the DAP saw themselves as fighting against " Bolshevism " and anyone considered a part of or aiding so-called " international Jewry ". The DAP was also deeply opposed to the Treaty of Versailles . The DAP did not attempt to make itself public and meetings were kept in relative secrecy, with public speakers discussing what they thought of Germany's present state of affairs , or writing to like-minded societies in Northern Germany . The DAP

15857-591: The major Christian churches and their institutions". Prussia , Germany's biggest state, imposed a ban on 24 June, explaining that the Bible Students were attracting and harboring subversive former members of the Communist and Marxist parties. Its decree added that the Bible Students: ...are obviously involved in agitation against political and religious institutions in word and written form. By declaring both institutions as agencies of Satan, they undermine

16014-415: The militarist Fatherland Party during World War I and was bitterly opposed to the armistice of November 1918 and the revolutionary upheavals that followed. Drexler followed the views of militant nationalists of the day, such as opposing the Treaty of Versailles , having antisemitic , anti-monarchist and anti-Marxist views, as well as believing in the superiority of Germans whom they claimed to be part of

16171-471: The morale of the nation. John Conway, a British historian, stated that they were "against any form of collaboration with the Nazis and against service in the army." Children of Jehovah's Witnesses also suffered under the Nazi regime. In classrooms, teachers ridiculed children who refused to give the Heil Hitler salute or sing patriotic songs. Principals found reasons to expel them from school. Following

16328-476: The most stridently outspoken conscientious objectors in the country, and the Nazis had no intention of putting up with them ... No movement can constantly heap insults on all other religions, the business community and national governments in the way that the Bible Student-Jehovah's Witnesses did from 1918 onward without provoking a reaction." Scholars are divided over the ultimate intention of

16485-585: The movement, and although most ended in acquittals some "severe sentences" were also handed down. In 1930, calls for state intervention against the Bible Students increased, and on 28 March 1931, Reich President Paul von Hindenburg issued the Decree for the Resistance of Political Acts of Violence , which provided for action to be taken in cases in which religious organizations, institutions or customs were "abused or maliciously disparaged". Bavaria became

16642-522: The name "German Party" ( Deutsche Partei or DP) from 1924 to 1925. The Nazis failed to remain unified in the DP, as in the north, the right-wing Volkish nationalist supporters of the Nazis moved to the new German Völkisch Freedom Party , leaving the north's left-wing Nazi members, such as Joseph Goebbels retaining support for the party. Pardoned by the Bavarian Supreme Court, Hitler

16799-472: The night of 8 November, the Nazis used a patriotic rally in a Munich beer hall to launch an attempted putsch ("coup d'état"). This so-called Beer Hall Putsch attempt failed almost at once when the local Reichswehr commanders refused to support it. On the morning of 9 November, the Nazis staged a march of about 2,000 supporters through Munich in an attempt to rally support. The two groups exchanged fire, after which 15 putschists, four police officers, and

16956-646: The objectives of the system. While the National Socialists accepted the "Führer State", the "Earnest Bible Students" submitted to the " Theocracy ", in which not the Führer, but Jehovah, was the dictatorial ruler. Since both groups claimed exclusiveness, this inevitably had to result in conflict. A Bible Student who had devoted himself to Jehovah was in no way able to carry out the duties that the National Socialist State demanded of him as

17113-704: The offices of party leader, head of state and chief of government in one, taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler by passage of the Law Concerning the Head of State of the German Reich . The Chancellery of the Führer , officially an organisation of the Nazi Party, took over the functions of the Office of the President (a government agency), blurring the distinction between structures of party and state even further. The SS increasingly exerted police functions,

17270-587: The outbreak of the Second World War , with little interference from above. Local Gauleiters often held government positions as well as party ones and were in charge of, among other things, propaganda and surveillance and, from September 1944 onward, the Volkssturm and the defense of the Gau. The position of Gauleiter in Upper Silesia was held by Fritz Bracht throughout the short history of

17427-446: The outbreak of war in August 1939, more serious punishments were applied. A decree was enacted that greatly increased penal regulations during periods of war and states of emergency and included in the decree was an offense of "demoralization of the armed forces"; any refusal to perform military service or public inducement to this effect would be punishable by death. Between August 1939 and September 1940, 152 Bible Students appeared before

17584-646: The party issued a freeze on admissions that remained in force from May 1933 to 1937. On 23 March, the parliament passed the Enabling Act of 1933 , which gave the cabinet the right to enact laws without the consent of parliament. In effect, this gave Hitler dictatorial powers. Now possessing virtually absolute power, the Nazis established totalitarian control as they abolished labour unions and other political parties and imprisoned their political opponents, first at wilde Lager , improvised camps, then in concentration camps . Nazi Germany had been established, yet

17741-583: The party treasurer Franz Xaver Schwarz and business manager Max Amann . The party had a capable propaganda head in Gregor Strasser , who was promoted to national organizational leader in January 1928. These men gave the party efficient recruitment and organizational structures. The party also owed its growth to the gradual fading away of competitor nationalist groups, such as the German National People's Party (DNVP). As Hitler became

17898-441: The party was named the German Workers' Party ( Deutsche Arbeiterpartei , DAP). To ease concerns among potential middle-class supporters, Drexler made clear that unlike Marxists the party supported the middle-class and that its socialist policy was meant to give social welfare to German citizens deemed part of the Aryan race. They became one of many völkisch movements that existed in Germany. Like other völkisch groups,

18055-546: The party were always German nationalist expansionism and antisemitism . These two goals were fused in his mind by his belief that Germany's external enemies—Britain, France and the Soviet Union—were controlled by the Jews and that Germany's future wars of national expansion would necessarily entail a war of annihilation against them. For Hitler and his principal lieutenants, national and racial issues were always dominant. This

18212-562: The party's leader since 1921, was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933, and quickly seized power afterwards. Hitler established a totalitarian regime known as the Third Reich and became dictator with absolute power . Following the military defeat of Germany in World War II , the party was declared illegal. The Allies attempted to purge German society of Nazi elements in

18369-492: The party's most active orator, appearing in public as a speaker 31 times within the first year after his self-discovery. Crowds began to flock to hear his speeches. Hitler always spoke about the same subjects: the Treaty of Versailles and the Jewish question . This deliberate technique and effective publicising of the party contributed significantly to his early success, about which a contemporary poster wrote: "Since Herr Hitler

18526-505: The party's propaganda chief were major factors. While Strasser had used his position to promote his own leftish version of national socialism, Goebbels was completely loyal to Hitler, and worked only to improve Hitler's image. The 1930 elections changed the German political landscape by weakening the traditional nationalist parties, the DNVP and the DVP, leaving the Nazis as the chief alternative to

18683-423: The party. Hitler announced he would rejoin on condition that he would replace Drexler as party chairman, and that the party headquarters would remain in Munich. The committee agreed, and he rejoined the party on 26 July as member 3,680. Hitler continued to face some opposition within the NSDAP, as his opponents had Hermann Esser expelled from the party and they printed 3,000 copies of a pamphlet attacking Hitler as

18840-407: The physically and mentally disabled. The National Socialist Programme was a formulation of the policies of the party. It contained 25 points and is therefore also known as the "25-point plan" or "25-point programme". It was the official party programme, with minor changes, from its proclamation as such by Hitler in 1920, when the party was still the German Workers' Party, until its dissolution. At

18997-509: The population, on the same day as Hitler's Hofbräuhaus speech on 24 February 1920, the DAP changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei ("National Socialist German Workers' Party", or Nazi Party). The name was intended to draw upon both left-wing and right-wing ideals, with "Socialist" and "Workers'" appealing to the left, and "National" and "German" appealing to

19154-497: The post for the remainder of his life. Hitler soon acquired the title Führer ("leader") and after a series of sharp internal conflicts it was accepted that the party would be governed by the Führerprinzip ("leader principle"). Under this principle, the party was a highly centralised entity that functioned strictly from the top down, with Hitler at the apex. Hitler saw the party as a revolutionary organisation, whose aim

19311-549: The present state and its cultural and moral structures. On 25 June 1933, about 7000 Witnesses assembled at the Wilmersdorfer Tennishallen in Berlin, where a 3800-word " Declaration of Facts " was issued. The document, written by Watch Tower Society president Joseph Franklin Rutherford , asserted the group's political neutrality, appealed for the right to publicly preach, and claimed it was the victim of

19468-657: The purposes of studying the Bible, The Watchtower or other Bible Student publications, refrain from participating in any Bible Student activities and also to report to authorities any observations that members were continuing the organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses. Garbe says a "relatively high number" of people signed the statement before the war, but "extremely low numbers" of Bible Student prisoners did so in concentration camps in later years. From 1933, Witnesses working in post offices, railway stations or other civil service jobs began to be dismissed for refusing to give

19625-431: The recognised head of the German nationalists, other groups declined or were absorbed. In the late 1920s, seeing the party's lack of breakthrough into the mainstream, Goebbels proposed that instead of focusing all of their propaganda in major cities where there was competition from other political movements, they should instead begin holding rallies in rural areas where they would be more effective. Despite these strengths,

19782-434: The remainder of the 1920s, opposition mounted from a combination of church and Völkisch movement agitation and pamphlet campaigns. Nazis began to harass Bible Students, with SA members also disrupting meetings. In 1922, German Bible Students were arrested on charges of illegal peddling as they publicly distributed Watch Tower Society literature. Between 1927 and 1930, almost 5,000 charges were brought against members of

19939-400: The right. The word "Socialist" was added by the party's executive committee (at the suggestion of Rudolf Jung ), over Hitler's initial objections, in order to help appeal to left-wing workers. In 1920, the Nazi Party officially announced that only persons of "pure Aryan descent [ rein arischer Abkunft ]" could become party members and if the person had a spouse, the spouse also had to be

20096-435: The rise of the party, these terms had been used as colloquial and derogatory words for a backward peasant , or an awkward and clumsy person. It derived from Ignaz, a shortened version of Ignatius , which was a common name in the Nazis' home region of Bavaria . Opponents seized on this, and the long-existing Sozi , to attach a dismissive nickname to the National Socialists. In 1933, when Adolf Hitler assumed power in

20253-530: The rival Social Democratic Party of Germany ). Members of the party referred to themselves as Nationalsozialisten (National Socialists), but some did occasionally embrace the colloquial Nazi (so Leopold von Mildenstein in his article series Ein Nazi fährt nach Palästina published in Der Angriff in 1934). The term Parteigenosse (party member) was commonly used among Nazis, with its corresponding feminine form Parteigenossin . Before

20410-415: The source of controversy between the Bible Students and the Nazi party was their determination to continue their religious activities despite restrictions and Garbe, noting that the increasing repression by authorities simply provoked the group's determination to go underground and maintain their activity, concludes that "the extraordinary severity with which Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted resulted from

20567-413: The spiritual father of National Socialism; then- University of Munich student Rudolf Hess ; Freikorps soldier Hans Frank ; and Alfred Rosenberg , often credited as the philosopher of the movement. All were later prominent in the Nazi regime. Hitler later claimed to be the seventh party member. He was, in fact, the seventh executive member of the party's central committee and he would later wear

20724-476: The theme "Fear Them Not", Rutherford reversed the instruction. He urged the 1,000 German Witnesses present to resume completely their preaching activity, starting with a collective witnessing effort on 7 October. The convention also passed a resolution of protest, a copy of which was sent to Hitler with the warning: "Refrain from further persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses; otherwise God will destroy you and your national party." On 8 October, an international campaign

20881-719: The top of the Nazi Party was the party chairman (" Der Führer "), who held absolute power and full command over the party. All other party offices were subordinate to his position and had to depend on his instructions. In 1934, Hitler founded a separate body for the chairman, Chancellery of the Führer , with its own sub-units. Persecution of Jehovah%27s Witnesses in Nazi Germany Jehovah's Witnesses suffered religious persecution in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945 after refusing to perform military service , join Nazi organizations, or give allegiance to

21038-491: The torture of family members and the threat of shooting. Some Witnesses were placed in mental institutions and subjected to psychiatric treatment; sterilization was ordered for some deemed to be "stubborn" in their refusal to denounce their faith. Following an assembly in Lucerne , Switzerland, in early September 1936, up to 3000 copies of a resolution of protest were sent to government, public and clerical leaders, stepping up

21195-407: The very foundation of life in the people's community. In their numerous publications ... they deliberately and maliciously misrepresent Bible accounts for the purpose of ridiculing State and church institutions. One of the characteristics of their struggle is a fanatical manipulation of their followers ... It is therefore obvious that the above-mentioned association tends to be in complete opposition to

21352-480: The vote in the December 1924 Reichstag elections and this fell to 2.6% in 1928 . State elections produced similar results. Despite these poor results and despite Germany's relative political stability and prosperity during the later 1920s, the Nazi Party continued to grow. This was partly because Hitler, who had no administrative ability, left the party organisation to the head of the secretariat, Philipp Bouhler ,

21509-769: The war ended in Europe. The party was formally abolished on 10 October 1945 by the Allied Control Council , followed by the process of denazification along with trials of major war criminals before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Nuremberg. Part of the Potsdam Agreement called for the destruction of the Nazi Party alongside the requirement for the reconstruction of the German political life. In addition,

21666-539: The world. He threatened that Jehovah God would also punish Hitler and destroy him at Armageddon. The society's German branch president Paul Balzereit directed members that they should continue to distribute The Watchtower , but that meetings be kept to about three to five people in size and public preaching be discontinued. But in September 1934, at an international convention of 3,500 Witnesses in Basel , Switzerland, under

21823-520: Was Gauleiter of Franconia , where he published his antisemitic newspaper Der Stürmer . Beneath the Gauleiter were lower-level officials, the Kreisleiter ("county leaders"), Zellenleiter ("cell leaders") and Blockleiter ("block leaders"). This was a strictly hierarchical structure in which orders flowed from the top and unquestioning loyalty was given to superiors. Only

21980-572: Was Rudolf Hess , but he had no real power in the party. By the early 1930s, the senior leaders of the party after Hitler were Heinrich Himmler , Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring . Beneath the Leadership Corps were the party's regional leaders, the Gauleiters , each of whom commanded the party in his Gau ("region"). Goebbels began his ascent through the party hierarchy as Gauleiter of Berlin-Brandenburg in 1926. Streicher

22137-579: Was a backlash against socialist and liberal politics in Bavaria as Germany's economic problems deepened and the weakness of the Weimar regime became apparent. The party recruited former World War I soldiers, to whom Hitler as a decorated frontline veteran could particularly appeal, as well as small businessmen and disaffected former members of rival parties. Nazi rallies were often held in beer halls, where downtrodden men could get free beer. The Hitler Youth

22294-407: Was a comparatively small group with fewer than 60 members. Nevertheless, it attracted the attention of the German authorities, who were suspicious of any organisation that appeared to have subversive tendencies. In July 1919, while stationed in Munich , army Gefreiter Adolf Hitler was appointed a Verbindungsmann (intelligence agent) of an Aufklärungskommando (reconnaissance unit) of

22451-580: Was carried out in June 1937, a year in which the Watch Tower Society announced German Witnesses had distributed more than 450,000 books and booklets in 12 months. Compulsory military service for all men between 18 and 45 years of age was introduced by Hitler in March 1935. No exemptions were provided for religious or conscientious reasons, and Witnesses who refused to serve or take the oath of allegiance to Hitler were sent to prison or concentration camp, generally for terms of one or two years. At

22608-401: Was created to draw workers away from communism and into völkisch nationalism. Initially, Nazi political strategy focused on anti– big business , anti- bourgeois , and anti-capitalist rhetoric; it was later downplayed to gain the support of business leaders. By the 1930s, the party's main focus shifted to antisemitic and anti-Marxist themes. The party had little popular support until

22765-576: Was formed for the children of party members. The party also formed groups in other parts of Germany. Julius Streicher in Nuremberg was an early recruit and became editor of the racist magazine Der Stürmer . In December 1920, the Nazi Party had acquired a newspaper, the Völkischer Beobachter , of which its leading ideologist Alfred Rosenberg became editor. Others to join the party around this time were Heinrich Himmler and World War I flying ace Hermann Göring . On 31 October 1922,

22922-441: Was increasing rather than ceasing. By early 1934, Rutherford had concluded that an improvement in conditions within Germany was unlikely. On 9 February 1934, the Watch Tower Society president sent a strongly worded letter to Hitler, asking the chancellor to allow the Witnesses to assemble and worship without hindrance, warning that if he failed to do so by 24 March, the organization would publicise their "unjust treatment" throughout

23079-503: Was inspired by Mussolini and the Fascists, beginning to adopt elements of their program for the Nazi Party and himself. The Italian Fascists also used a straight-armed Roman salute and wore black-shirted uniforms; Hitler would later borrow their use of the straight-armed salute as a Nazi salute . When the Fascists took control of Italy through their coup d'état called the " March on Rome ", Hitler began planning his own coup less than

23236-564: Was launched to flood the Reich chancellory with telegrams and letters of protest. Five hundred protest telegrams were sent to the chancellory that day. During the next two days, large numbers arrived from around the world, most of them from the United States, Britain, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Foreign post offices were told to stop transmitting the telegrams because the recipient refused to accept them, and on 10 October,

23393-582: Was never far from the surface. Germans voted for Hitler primarily because of his promises to revive the economy (by unspecified means), to restore German greatness and overturn the Treaty of Versailles and to save Germany from communism. On 24 April 1932, the Free State of Prussia elections to the Landtag resulted in 36% of the votes and 162 seats for the NSDAP. On 20 July 1932, the Prussian government

23550-479: Was not exclusively for any class and indicated that it favoured neither the left nor the right, but preserved "pure" elements from both "camps" by stating: "From the camp of bourgeois tradition, it takes national resolve, and from the materialism of the Marxist dogma, living, creative Socialism". The votes that the Nazis received in the 1932 elections established the Nazi Party as the largest parliamentary faction of

23707-545: Was ousted by a coup, the Preussenschlag ; a few days later at the July 1932 Reichstag election the Nazis made another leap forward, polling 37% and becoming the largest party in parliament by a wide margin. Furthermore, the Nazis and the Communists between them won 52% of the vote and a majority of seats. Since both parties opposed the established political system and neither would join or support any ministry, this made

23864-537: Was released from prison on 20 December 1924, against the state prosecutor's objections. On 16 February 1925, Hitler convinced the Bavarian authorities to lift the ban on the NSDAP and the party was formally refounded on 26 February 1925, with Hitler as its undisputed leader. It was at this time Hitler began referring to himself as " der Führer ". The new Nazi Party was no longer a paramilitary organisation and disavowed any intention of taking power by force. In any case,

24021-418: Was responsible for the deaths of at least eleven million people, including 5.5 to 6 million Jews (representing two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe), and between 200,000 and 1,500,000 Romani people . The estimated total number includes the killing of nearly two million non-Jewish Poles , over three million Soviet prisoners of war , communists , and other political opponents, homosexuals,

24178-493: Was safe to appoint Hitler as Reich Chancellor, at the head of a cabinet including only a minority of Nazi ministers—which he did on 30 January 1933. In Mein Kampf , Hitler directly attacked both left-wing and right-wing politics in Germany. However, a majority of scholars identify Nazism in practice as being a far-right form of politics. When asked in an interview in 1934 whether the Nazis were "bourgeois right-wing" as alleged by their opponents, Hitler responded that Nazism

24335-509: Was symbolised by the adoption as the party emblem of the swastika . In German nationalist circles, the swastika was considered a symbol of an " Aryan race " and it symbolised the replacement of the Christian Cross with allegiance to a National Socialist State. The Nazi Party grew significantly during 1921 and 1922, partly through Hitler's oratorical skills, partly through the SA's appeal to unemployed young men, and partly because there

24492-403: Was the overthrow of the Weimar Republic , which he saw as controlled by the socialists, Jews and the " November criminals ", a term invented to describe alleged elements of society who had 'betrayed the German soldiers' in 1918. The SA ("storm troopers", also known as "Brownshirts") were founded as a party militia in 1921 and began violent attacks on other parties. For Hitler, the twin goals of

24649-428: Was when he realised he could really "make a good speech". At first, Hitler spoke only to relatively small groups, but his considerable oratory and propaganda skills were appreciated by the party leadership. With the support of Anton Drexler, Hitler became chief of propaganda for the party in early 1920. Hitler began to make the party more public, and organised its biggest meeting yet of 2,000 people on 24 February 1920 in

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