Beautiful Egypt 106 – «Defeating Nazism (2-1)» – May 10, 2015

   Man is the most distinguished of creatures. He was created to fill earth with prosperity and establish civilizations, basing everything on love, mercy, justice, and equality. Thus, humanity went on carrying the flambeau of lofty principles throughout. Yet, man strayed from his original goal, which brought about all the crises of history.

Nazism, with all its cruelty, is an example of man’s straying from his goal.

   Germany’s defeat in World War I, the signing the Treaty of Versailles which included Germany’s acceptance of the responsibility for the war and reparation of the harmed parties gave rise to the need for a party that unites Germans and works to regain their lost dignity. That party was also to plan the realization of the dream of establishing a great empire in Western Europe. Thus Anton Drexler, Karl Harrer, Dietrich Eckart, and Gottfried Feder established the German Workers’ Party on January 5, 1919 in Munich. The party’s goals were:

–          Unifying laborers.

–          Saving the country from economic recession.

–          Restoring the sense of belonging to the German people.

   On September, 1919, the party assembled to discuss a controversial issue: for one of the attendees suggested that Bavaria be separated from Prussia and Austria. Adolf Hitler was attending the meeting; so he rose and spoke, after which Drexler offered him a booklet entitled, “My Political Awakening”. Then Hitler was accepted as member of the party which name was changed in 1920 to National Socialist German Workers’ Party, as per his suggestion. In 1921, Hitler presided the party and started working to realize his dream on the basis of the mastery of the Aryan race.

   In 1929, the majority of the Reichstag belonged to the Nazi. The Nazis started getting ready for the war through uniting the people via:

Propaganda

   According to Louis Soulmates, a teacher at Hamburg, “Many people look to him as a savior from the unbearable suffering.” Uttered in 1932, these words presented the German reality to Hitler. Nazis used impressive words and photos which later became slogans that moved simple people’s hearts like “Great Germany”. Thus, they made their leader a powerful candidate in the German presidential elections in 1932. Hitler expressed this ideology in his “My Struggle” where he wrote, “Propaganda attempts to impress the people, being based on their stance. Its starting point is an idea that makes the people accept it…”

   German propaganda was based on the awareness of the political turmoil Germany went through during the previous government’s reign. In effect, the party was keen on emphasizing its authority and supporting the concept of the people’s solidarity with the party so as to urge Hitler to leading the country. The party presented him as a faithful soldier who fought in World War I. Then Providence sent him to liberate Germany and annihilate the shame that alighted upon her after the War. Additionally, the party spread the ideology that Hitler was resisting the corrupt, paralytic regime, and ridding the country from chaos.

   Hitler’s charisma boosted these ideas. Thus, he won great public endorsement, especially after having promised to unite Germany and restore millions of unemployed people to their jobs. Thus, the people’s loyalty and veneration of Hitler became a dominant phenomenon in Germany from 1933 to 1945. On the other hand, his opponents were sent to prison!

   Hitler became Germany’s Councilor in 1933, then president in 1934. Propaganda, however, did not stop: for he was keen on implanting Nazi ideology (restoring order and applying justice) within people’s minds using all forms of art, writing, education, and journalism. In fact, the Reich (empire), under Hitler (for Germany then was called the Third Reich or Nazi Germany), established a cultural operation room. It was composed of Reich movies, Reich music, Reich theater, Reich fine arts, Reich broadcasting corporation, in order to reset the German culture!

   Also, Hitler started dispatching messages to the East in order to promote political loyalty amongst the Germans who lived in the regions that Germany lost during World War I, in an attempt to emotionally stir them to struggle for Germany.

Youth

   Nazis realized the crucial role of youth in making their imperialist goals a success, which is why they strove to attract them to the party. This was achieved through their emphasis that the party is a strong, optimistic youthful movement. In effect, millions of youth joined the party through schools and organizations of which “Hitler Youth” (HJ) was one. It was a pseudo-military organization (1922-1945). Its members amounted to almost 4.5 million youth in 1936.

   In 1938, Hitler made it a point that training youth should start at the age of ten for both sexes. It should last for four years, after which they would move to HJ where they remain for four more years. Even if they did not become completely Nazi, they would be sent to service to be trained for six or seven more months. The story continues… so do stories in Beautiful Egypt.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Culture Center