To read the first post in my series, click here.
To read the reasoning behind why I started this series, click here.
Not interested in politics or history? Here's an old post about a Guy Pearce dream I once had.
I'm back on The Holocaust Explained website.
I'm going to read about how the Nazis rose to power.
The rise happened between 1924-1933.
It was a slow-burn kind of storyline.
While Adolf Hitler had his very long prison stay of eight months, a guy named Alfred Rosenberg took over as leader.
Rosenberg sounds like a Jewish name.
But German names often do sound Jewish.
He could have been Jewish, though.
Just asked Lord Wiki....
As far as I can see, Rosenberg was not Jewish.
Hitler decided that taking power with force was not the way to go...since the violent coup failed. He decided to go the election route.
In 1926, he organized something called The Bamburg Conference....
I find this statement interesting: Whilst some small differences remained, Hitler was largely successful in reuniting the socialist and nationalist sides of the party.
Is that socialist as in socialism?
I remember hearing there's a difference between socialism and socialist. But what is it exactly?
Another thing I'm wondering is if nationalism is always bad. Does it always have racist overtones?
Googled.
So I think socialist would be the same as Communist. It would be wanting the government to own and control a lot of stuff.
I can see why there would be disagreement over whether the Nazis were left or right. Because I think it's really confusing to define what is left and right.
Where does wanting to share resources intersect with being authoritarian about it?
Higher taxes, economically speaking, is more authoritarian. Because the government is having control over what people are doing with their money.
But we could have a country where taxes are high, so there might be less economic freedom. But there may be other freedoms such as where to work, who to marry, freedom from forced childbirth and forced parenting, freedom to take breaks from work and go on vacation, freedom to spend time with one's family, freedom to drive on safe roads and bridges, freedom to drink safe water, etc.
Anyway...before I fall down another rabbit hole.
I guess what I need to be asking and researching is: What did the Nazis mean by socialism? What did they want?
And do MAGA folks have a valid reason for believing that Democrats are after the same thing?
I'm consulting the Britannica Website for an answer.
One of the things they say is, Over the following years the brothers Otto and Gregor Strasser did much to grow the party by tying Hitler’s racist nationalism to socialist rhetoric that appealed to the suffering lower middle classes.
That makes sense. If someone really wants power and wants to push their agenda, they might agree to other agendas in order to get support.
It makes me wonder about Trump. I think his overall goal is power and attention. Beyond that, does he have a true agenda?
Yeah. I think he's racist.
But I think he's become extra-racist, because that earned him support and admiration from racist groups.
Britannica says that by the late 1920's, Hitler started seeking support from anti-socialist industrialists.
The Otto of the Strasser brothers realized the party was losing it's socialism, so he broke away and started a new club—the Black Front. It was anti-capitalist.
The Gregor of the Strasser Brothers stayed with the Nazis and was the leader of the left-wing.
So I guess the Nazis had a left and right wing side. Sort of. It seems that didn't last long.
Britannica says, In April 1933 communists, socialists, democrats, and Jews were purged from the German civil service, and trade unions were outlawed the following month.
Thinking about it...this makes sense if you think about the poem.
It doesn't say:
First they came for the Socialists
and that sure was weird since they themselves were Socialists.
A few months later, Hitler banned all political parties.
Oh...
Are you wondering what happened to Gregor Strasser?
Well...Hitler had him murdered on the same night he had Von Kahr murdered. This was called the Night of The Long Knives.
* * *
Thinking of a couple of things:
A) I am REALLY getting into this. I'm finding it fascinating. I can imagine this might go on for like 50 posts.
B) Although I had a special interest in Judaism and the Holocaust when I was a young adult, I don't think I ever had much interest in the rise of Nazism. I think I was more interested in the ghettos and concentration camps.
I probably did read books that talked about how it all began, but I probably skimmed or rushed through it.
So, I think a lot of this is genuinely new to me.
* * *
I just went to Conservapedia, expecting they'd disagree with Britannica about the Nazi party not being socialist.
But they say: Despite being called National Socialist, its propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels indicated that the philosophy of the Nazi Party is composed of the German Left, specifically that they despite "bourgeoise nationalism." In addition, Hitler condemned the Soviet Union and Communism, and after rising to power, outlawed Germany's Communist Party and imprisoned and executed Communists, as he saw the Communists as a rival to the Nazis for control of the far-Left.
Very interesting.
Or at least I'm interested.
What do THEY mean by far-Left. And what did the Nazis mean by it?
Well...maybe it's people who are anti-bourgeoise. Which would fit into the French Revolution origins of the right-left divide.
Wow.
You know when they demand politicians define the word "Woman", maybe someone should respond with, I'll try that after YOU define what is left and what is right.
I looked at another page of Conservapedia and they push the idea that Nazism is a left-wing thing and not a right-wing one.
One of the pieces of evidence they give: On a similar note, thanks largely to the Frankfurt School (in particular Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse) redefining fascism and Nazism as being right wing and manipulating the American Jewish Committee into assuming that the Nazis were such, the Nazis were also falsely assumed to be sexually rigid and puritanical relating to sexual relationships, when in reality, they were bohemians and sexual deviants/perverts.
Also, Hitler was a vegetarian.
Vegetarians are more likely to eat Avocado toast.
Avocado toast is definitely a left-wing thing.
So left-wing people are more similar to Nazis than right-wing people.
Be careful of them.
Seriously, though. Again...what aspects of modern left-wing and modern right-wing are inherent? And what have just been adopted and could have easily been adopted by the other side.
For example. Guns.
Freedom to have whatever gun and carry it wherever the hell you want. That's right-wing.
But could it just as easily have been a left-wing thing?
I think so.
How about LGBTQ rights? Could there be a universe in which the right-wing people are the ones that support LGBTQ rights?
I don't mean a universe where everything is the opposite...where left is right and right is left.
But how about a universe in which MAGA pushes for gay marriage and inclusive pronouns?
Why is it right-wing people that like to hunt?
Why are left-wing people more often vegetarian?
Why are right-wing people more nationalistic and wanting to gloss over the racist parts of a country's history?
* * *
Was thinking of the Republican party.
I'm not sure what it means for them to be right-wing, since I'm still confused what exactly is right vs left.
But I'd probably define the Republican mindset as Social Darwinism mixed with Christian ideology and Bible quotes.
* * *
I'm going to get myself back to The Holocaust Explained Website.
Hitler and his Nazi party divided Germany into regions. This may be important but for now, it's not so interesting to me.
A little more interesting to me: They started special Nazi groups for different groups of people. The website gives the example of children, doctors, and lawyers. A lot of us have heard of the Hitler Youth. I have not heard of the Hitler Lawyer group, though.
The purpose of these clubs was to gain power through popular support...because of the whole election thing.
It's not a bad idea.
Instead of Biden asking for more and more money and sending people door to door, he could have different clubs.
Like Biden's Disney fan club.
Biden's Yoga club.
Biden's book club.
Biden's sing-a-long group.
* * *
Now it's time for the SS and SA.
I've heard of the SS but not the SA.
The SA were more often known as brownshirts...because of the color of their uniform.
The Holocaust Explained says the SA were violent and disorderly. They didn't have the best reputation. They fit well with violent-coup Hitler but less well with I'm-a-cool-guy-vote-for-me Hitler.
A guy named Franz von Saloman was given the task of reforming them.
The SS were a division of the SA. They started off as Hitler's private bodyguards. Heinrich Himmler was the leader of the SS. It went from 300 members to 35,000.
The SS were given the job of defending the Aryan race and other Nazi ideology.
I'm going to stop for now...it's time for feeding the cats and then we humans shall be feeding ourselves.
* * *
I feel the need to say I've heard of Himmler.
It's like history name-dropping.
Although people who are much better at history than me could probably say, if asked, that he was the leader of the SS. If someone asked me, I'd probably only be able to say that he was a Nazi.
* * *
Now I'm on the propaganda section.
The Holocaust Explained says something about Bread and Work posters, but they don't explain what that is.
Is it saying bread will come with work? Similar theme to the sign at Auschwitz?
OR...
Because the website talks about the Nazis exploiting people's fears, was it pushing the idea that bread was scarce?
Like....the GOP pushing the message that rising gas prices are more important than any other issue out there.
Here's a poster from a different Holocaust website. This one's from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C (USHSMM)
You know....I'm probably going to scroll down on the London website in a few minutes and see that they do actually go into more detail about the bread posters.
Anyway.....
What the posters were about is pushing the idea that Nazis weren't fighting for territory. They were fighting for THE CHILDREN...for the children's bread.
What does that remind me of?
The DeSantis supporters in Florida who claim to not be fucking homophobic/transphobic assholes and instead say they're trying to protect THE CHILDREN.
It also makes me think of Putin telling the Russians that he's invading Ukraine to kill Nazis.
The Holocaust Explained brings up another guy I know as being a Nazi but wouldn't have remembered his role.
Joseph Goebbels. He was the prince of propaganda.
I can't say I'm against propaganda...when it's for a GOOD cause or even a benign cause.
Oh. Never mind.
I started thinking maybe it always has a negative connotation.
The dictionary on Google says: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
Well...actually. I missed the word "especially".
Maybe there are exceptions?
Lord Wiki says that in some cultures it always has a negative approach but in other cultures, it's more neutral.
I'm seeing that The Holocaust Explained leaves the subject of propaganda pretty quickly. Though they might have more in a separate section.
I want to explore the subject more, so I'm going to look at other websites.
Well...this post, though, is getting overly long. So I think I'll post and start a new one.
The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts
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