I really like history. When I was in high school I may not have said the same thing, but as I have grown older history and the lessons we can learn from it have become really interesting to me. I recently watched a show on the History Channel called “The Rise of the Third Reich.” It is important we as a people understand what the world and political system was like in Germany which allowed Hitler's Reich to rise to power.

Politics are complicated, that is one thing everyone can agree on. There are always people taking sides with arguments, normally pretty compelling arguments, on how they can solve a problem. Time Magazine’s man of the year once said ”the task of politics is not to represent just one faction. Rather the task of politics must be to overcome these divisions for a greater good.” That statement resonates with a lot of people, in a hope to overcome the endless struggle between political parties.

The quote noted above given by Time Magazine’s man of the year was actually given by Adolf Hitler! How does a man go from being Time Magazine’s man of the year to one of the most evil leaders in the history of the world? Maybe the detour in those roads is not as drastic or easy to see as we think.

Adolf Hitler started his raise to power in the wake of WWI and during the great depression that hit the world in the years leading up to WWII. Germany was hit as hard by the depression as any where else in the world. Hitler only ran for public office once. He ran for president of Germany and received 11 million votes. He lost. Within one year of losing he would be elected chancellor of Germany.

Nazi’s never captured more then 37% of a popular vote in Germany, yet they were the largest political party in Germany. Hitler gave the quote above in a speech to 20 million people after he was installed as chancellor. The speech roused so much emotion in people the Nazi party had such a huge level of membership requests it had to suspend admissions. This moment in history teaches us that words and popularity of a person or group don’t always reflect intensions for a greater good.

When Hitler gave his speech he did not control Germany, but in two weeks he would.  On February 28th, 1933 someone set fire to Germany’s parliament. To this day no one knows who started the fire. This was Hitler’s opportunity. He quickly blamed the communists ,even though there was no proof. He sold the people on a common enemy and within weeks the freedom of press, expression and public assembly were suspended. Within days thousands of communists were arrested. With the communists in jail there was no one left to stop the Nazi party. The party then voted to consolidate all power in Hitler. He had been chancellor for 52 days! Germany had more changes coming.

In 1934 Leni Reifenstahl would make the movie “Triumph of the Will” which chronicles the Nazi party’s yearly gathering in Nuremberg and Hitler as the one great leader of Germany. This rally was attended by 700,000 supporters The film was acclaimed and won awards around the world.

Meanwhile in Germany you could not speak against Hitler or the Nazi party or you would be arrested. If you were a Jew you were boycotted and eventually your  citizenship as a German was removed. It was mandatory for all youth to belong to the Hitler youth program.  If you had any type of genetic imperfection you were forcibly sterilized. Those deemed pure were encouraged to have lots of babies. Hitler was going to need them. Young girls while at Hitler youth camps where encouraged to get pregnant by the boys. Thousands came home pregnant.

One mom, who dared tell her daughter not to get pregnant, was to be turned in by her daughter and arrested. If you think a good parent can get their child to overcome or resist social pressure if they are a “good parent”, try telling this mom. While nothing can replace a parent, history has many examples of how parents need the support of the society around them.

The people in Germany gave way to the mentality that “It is better to howl with the wolves than be eaten by them.” Years later the entire world and millions of sons, daughters, moms and fathers would pay the price of removing the Nazis, or die waiting for that moment of freedom to arrive. 

It is imperative we know our history. In the words of George Santayana’s Reason for Common Sense, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”