"Tiger at the Gate"

If you had been in Germany in the Autumn of 1930, it’s not easy (if you’re a newcomer) to be sure about what you see. Is the countryside out there dull, drab, poverty stricken or simply peaceful? Does these flats house a contented working class or a revolutionary proletariat? Are these factories typical of German industry or the exception? Are these middle-class Germans as confident and well-off as they look?

Like many countries today, Germany shows several faces at once--nowhere more clearly than here in Berlin, the capitol where anything goes if you’ve got the money.

By day, you can see the big difference between the "have’s" and the "have nots" in this time of Depression. Here in Berlin, as throughout Germany, after the general election on the 14th of September (1930), the people awoke to the startling news of the election results. Adolf Hitler and his party, The Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), have made a spectacular breakthrough at the polls. They have come from nowhere to command a total of 107 seats in the new Reichstag--not 106, as the party’s official newspaper first put it. They were now the second largest party.

They had polled nearly six and one-half million votes. But who is Adolf Hitler? Who are the Nazis, and how have they been able to achieve these remarkable election results?

Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi party, now mixes with rich industrialists and claims that millions stand behind him. This is an extraordinary turn in the career of a former army corporal once jailed for high treason.

It all began just after the Great War had ended. Germany had been defeated and had lost two million dead, fighting on two fronts. At home, tens of thousands have died of cold and starvation as the allies blockaded the country. The supplies, arms, and munitions to the army had, however, made vast fortunes for a few, like the industrialist crooks.

As the war ended, Berlin was in revolution, and there were riots in many cities, especially in central Germany and in Bavaria, as the new Weimar republic was set up under Ebert as President. The middle classes and the ruling parties of social democrats were frightened by the workers’ and soldiers’ councils which were being set up, as in Russia. They feared a Soviet Revolution.

The army crushed the Berlin revolt; it was called "Bloody Week." To the south, in the city of Munich, something strange happened. In Munich, without fighting or bloodshed, a council of revolutionary committees ruled the city as an independent socialist republic for six months. Then, it was crushed by troops from north Germany. They used terror to destroy support for the Socialists. They feared they might be in the pay of Russia.

With everyone looking for reds under the bed, several shadowy organizations came out of hiding. One of them was founded by Karl Drexler, a toolmaker. It was called the German Workers’ Party. In spite of its name, it was an extreme right-wing group. Drexler blamed the Jews for defeating the war, for the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, and for the economic chaos.

This typical cartoon shows a German Jew inviting death to leave ruined Soviet Russia for Germany saying, "Enter death. Our people in Germany have made everything ready." Of course these were lies, and few people even bothered to listen to what Drexler was saying. But Adolf Hitler, a corporal in the Bavarian Army and a propaganda official, did listen. He thought that this anti-Jewish attitude, called anti-Semitism, could become a powerful political weapon.

When food is short and times are hard, people are desperate. They look for someone to blame. He encouraged them to blame the Jews. Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party in September 1919 and became its propaganda specialist. He was so good at public speaking that more and more people came to the party meetings. Hitler quickly took over as leader.

In 1920, he added "National Socialist" to the party’s name to give it nationwide appeal, and the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, the NSDAP, got the nickname Nazi Party. Next year, he was formally elected as Führer, leader of the movement. Soon the party’s aims were being backed up by his storm troopers. There were clashes with the supporters of other extremist political parties, especially with the Communists.

Life for many was very hard after the war. By 1923, the value of money had fallen so fast that it was worth more when sold by weight as scrap paper. Every day there were long lines of people looking for work. At such a time, many were ready to listen to anyone who said "he had all the answers."

By the summer of 1923, Hitler had built the Nazis into a powerful organization with some 55,000 members. They started their own newspaper, the Völkischer Beobachter, with money given by wealthy supporters. More importantly, Hitler was secretly being supported by the Bavarian Government. We’ve obtained a letter written by Dr. Pöhner, Police President of Munich. It shows he was shielding the Nazis.

He writes to two leading right-wing politicians "that Hitler is an extraordinarily skillful and powerful promoter of our common cause. He is a most powerful organizer and is known as the best speaker of the National Socialist Party in the whole of Bavaria. I’m sure he will be of the utmost service."

A secret report from the Home Office in Berlin shows that the Nazi Party received large contributions from the Bavarian Confederation of Industry because the Nazi promised to smash the trade union movement.

Our evidence also suggests that the Bavarian Government was involved in a military plot to march north to Berlin to overthrow the government. This plan fell through, but Hitler and his storm troopers with General Ludendorff, instead, tried to take over Munich on the night of November 9, 1923. It was a fiasco--14 were killed.

Ludendorff and Hitler were arrested and tried for high treason. The trial was a political concession. Hitler was given the minimum possible sentence of five years on the understanding that he would be out on probation after about six months. He was imprisoned in Landsberg Castle.

In December 1924, Hitler was released from prison after nine months, and he set about re-building the party, which during his time in prison had split into a number of squabbling groups. His chief lieutenants were Julius Streicher, who hated Jews, Rudolph Hess, his private secretary, and Dr. Goebbels, a propaganda expert.

The storm troopers were re-organized into battalions, thousands strong to guard Nazi meetings, break up other meetings, and terrorize Hitler’s opponents.

By now, the workers were better off, and the middle classes were also doing well. American money under the Dawes Plan helped to restore the German economy. The coalition government got renewed support. Nothing went right for the Nazi. There was little public interest now in their wild propaganda.

In May, 1928, the Nazis made little impact on the national election. But there had been a change. Before 1928, most Nazi supporters lived in the small towns and cities of southern Germany. Now, for the first time, the Nazis had gained much of their support from northern Germany and from mainly country areas. Why did this change take place? Could the Nazis take advantage of this small success? Under what condition might Nazism spread to the towns where the Socialists, the Communists, or the government parties were powerful. Why, only two years later, had the Nazis become a major force?

To understand why the Nazis had been so successful in the countryside, we traveled north to Schleswig Holstein, an area of fenland. Most of the people are peasant farmers, fiercely independent men and women whose small holdings are rarely more than five hectares. Here, as in the rest of northern Germany, 1927 was a year of poor harvests but an outbreak of foot and mouth disease and a sudden collapse in the market for agricultural products, soon threatened peasants with ruin.

Many couldn’t pay their debts. They were driven off their farms and their land and cattle were sold. By 1928, the region was getting violent. There were pickets, mass demonstrations, and arson attacks. The Nazis saw their chance. Meetings were arranged in every hamlet and village. They blamed the farmer’s troubles on the Jews and the Democratic System.

Posters like this urged German farmers:

It worked. In local elections, in 1929, some villages supported the Nazis 100%.

Then in America, the great financial crash stopped the flow of money to help German trade. Unemployment rose from under 10% two years prior to nearly 23% today and only 63% of the population were in full-time work. As in the early 20s, economic difficulties have increased the appeal of the extremist party. The working class has moved toward support for the Communist at the expense of the Socialist. The middle classes seem to be deserting the German Nationalists for the Nazis.

Our investigation suggests that in these troubled times, it was the disillusioned middle class voters, the small traders, the artisans, the farmers, who see the Nazis offering real hope for the future. And above all, its people below the age of 35 who come out into the squares to listen to what the Hitler movement has got to say. The question is what will Hitler do now? Will he join a government? For the Nazis are now the second largest party. Will other groups work with him? As a Nationalist and a Socialist it seems he could go either way. Will he choose left or right? Will he control his wilder followings?

The past year has provided some pointers to the future. Until now, most people have dismissed Nazis as hooligans--whether right or left wing hasn’t always been clear. But now it seems that the conservatives are worried about their loss of support to the Nazis. They are trying to build bridges to Hitler and his party in spite of their dislike of their revolutionary speeches and the Nazi storm troopers.

Here’s part of a letter dated the 8th of April 1930 by a right-wing politician: "He claims even big land owners are behind the movement today and a great number of the sons of our leading industrialists, for instance Vöglers, are active in its ranks."

In August 1927, the Director of one of Germany’s largest mining companies, joined the Nazi Party and gave 100,000 Reichsmarks to the party. How much is Hitler getting from these people? He always claims "millions stand behind me." Does he really mean millions of Reichsmarks? But it’s not just a question of money. Other industrialists and conservative politicians have done a great to make the Nazis respectable to the voters. Alfred Hugenberg, for instance, is the leader of the German Nationalist Party and Kirdorf is the ex-managing director of Krupps Steel. Hugenberg controls over 500 newspapers and owns Germany’s new film industry. Yet, despite the fact that he’s the leader of a rival Nationalist Party, Hugenberg is using his media empire to build up the image of Hitler and his party. Many Germans have first seen Hitler and his brown-shirted storm troopers on the newsreels of Hugenberg’s Universal Film corporation. Suddenly Hitler has become news.

There is no doubt that these right-wing politicians and industrialists are hoping to use the Nazis as a defense against the growing power of the Communist. There is a constant fear that, through the Communists, Russia might get control over what happens here in Germany.

In his early career, before the attack that failed in Munich, Hitler was clearly content simply to beat the drum for other Nationalist leaders. But Hitler is now the leader of the largest right-wing party in Germany. His storm troopers seem a powerful force. The other parties seem uncertain. Will Hitler be content to go on in a secondary role? Will he seek power for himself? Some see him as the savior of Germany and will go on voting for him. Others see him as a terrible danger, a tiger at the gate, and are asking his new supporters, "Can you ride the tiger?"

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