The memoir Defying Hitler by Sebastian Heffner illustrates a personal view of what it was like to go through the time of the rise of Nazism. Not only does it represent the struggles of the German and Jewish population, Haffner lets you experience what happened on a day-today-basis during that time period. The Nazis were able to obtain power because they destroyed the balance between generations, empowered and persuaded the inexperienced young and acted upon the opportunities offered by economic turmoil.
Before the Nazis came into power, Germany was in economic turmoil. For instance, due to World War I, the stock market crash of 1929, and the Great Depression, Germany became defenseless as it was built upon foreign capital. As German workers …show more content…
He had a way with words and he sure knew how to use them. In the beginning of chapter 10, Haffner talks about how an ‘entire generation of Germans had a spiritual organ removed: the organ that gives men steadfastness and balance, but also a certain inertia and stolidity” (pg.52). The author uses the phrase “spiritual organ” to indicate the intense pride German’s felt in relation to the country. The German’s hated the War Guilt Clause because it made them take full responsibility for World War I. They also didn’t appreciate the Treaty of Versailles at all. 400 of the 420 clauses offered by the Treaty of Versailles were directed related to the punishment of Germany. “The interesting thing about the Nazis’ intention to train the Germans to be persecutors of the Jews throughout the world, and if possible exterminate them, an intention they made no secret of, is not the justification they gave” (pg.143). He made the young Germans believe that all Jews were bad news and that they were the enemy. In fact, he makes Judaism a race and not a religion. Haffner even says that the “psychological developments, reactions, and changes that took place simultaneously in the mass of the German population, which made Hitler’s Third Reich possible and today form its unseen basis”
Before the Nazis came into power, Germany was in economic turmoil. For instance, due to World War I, the stock market crash of 1929, and the Great Depression, Germany became defenseless as it was built upon foreign capital. As German workers …show more content…
He had a way with words and he sure knew how to use them. In the beginning of chapter 10, Haffner talks about how an ‘entire generation of Germans had a spiritual organ removed: the organ that gives men steadfastness and balance, but also a certain inertia and stolidity” (pg.52). The author uses the phrase “spiritual organ” to indicate the intense pride German’s felt in relation to the country. The German’s hated the War Guilt Clause because it made them take full responsibility for World War I. They also didn’t appreciate the Treaty of Versailles at all. 400 of the 420 clauses offered by the Treaty of Versailles were directed related to the punishment of Germany. “The interesting thing about the Nazis’ intention to train the Germans to be persecutors of the Jews throughout the world, and if possible exterminate them, an intention they made no secret of, is not the justification they gave” (pg.143). He made the young Germans believe that all Jews were bad news and that they were the enemy. In fact, he makes Judaism a race and not a religion. Haffner even says that the “psychological developments, reactions, and changes that took place simultaneously in the mass of the German population, which made Hitler’s Third Reich possible and today form its unseen basis”