Similarities Between Hitler And The Third Reich

Hitler and the Third Reich represented a more hopeful future, and though their goals were more sinister than they may have at first seemed to the naive and struggling German citizens, most accepted the ideas as a tangible sign of progress. Desperate to try something new, Germany was willing to do whatever it took just to prosper once again. The Nazis strived to build upon the widely successful volksgemeinschaft mentality, by making the “people’s community” more racially pure. During this chapter, the author argues that an even closer and more unified sense of German people’s community would come if the “weakest” were weeded out. The Nazis continued to use the trust of the German people that had been gained early on, as well as propaganda in …show more content…
With volksgemeinschaft deeply rooted in all aspects of German lifestyle, the Nazis could stem from it increasingly radical ideas because of the willingness of the German people. Most Germans would go along with many of these radical ideas because it was, in their eyes, part of the necessary steps to the creation of a superior Germany. Hitler and the Nazis conducted this “racial grooming” through new propaganda and anti-Semitic policies including the Aryan bloodline passports, Unworthy Life, and the assault on German Jews. The Nazis blended “racial grooming” into society so well that many of the “inferior” races did not see the swiftness of racial cleansing until it was too late. Nazis went to the next step in protecting the Aryan bloodline by putting policies and legislation in place that would more strictly ensure the superiority of the German race, just as they did by removing “asocials and non-contributors to the volksgemeinschaft” as they started with Nuremberg Laws. The Nazis created an “Aryan Passport” to certify an individual’s blood purity. This would trace the direction of both the maternal and paternal to distinguish if the individual was truly part of the Aryan …show more content…
Thinking about race meant rallying citizens against living their typical, silent, everyday lives (Fritzsche 104). Instead, the goal was to get the German people to see all Aryans as relatives with the same shared sense of a one German people’s community. But other races would not share this sense of community and pride in Germany. Before the breakout of the War, the creation of a superior racial state seemed out of Hitler’s reach in such a short time of a couple of years, but one major attribute to him and the Nazis being able to create such a state anyways is a result of the establishment of the Hitler Youth. From the start, the Hitler Youth was grooming the next generations of German people for leadership and demonstration of a racial elite (Fritzsche 105). Youth could be directed to believe a certain Nazi ideology much easier than adults and the Nazis used that to their advantage. By influencing young German boys and girls, the Nazis were easily able to infuse leadership and nationalistic education programs with anti-Semitic policies. Hitler Youth leaders would ultimately become members of the Einsatzgruppen (SS) and because the importance of preserving the Aryan bloodline had been established from an early age, SS men would quickly take responsibly to do so for