Summary Of Dan Van Der Vat's The Good Nazi

As the citizens of Germany endorsed Hitler’s new cutting-edge ideas, they gained enthusiasm and determination to regain their power. Germany came to the conclusion that war was the only solution to their problem when Hitler wrote, “No nation can remove this hand from its throat except by the sword” (Document A). These words reveal that Hitler’s thoughts and opinions affected those around him. By saying this, he suggested that he understood what Germany wanted and knew that they wouldn’t get it unless they followed his methods. People who read what Hitler wrote were hugely impacted by it, so much so that they began to think with their emotions instead of their heads.

In The Nazi Seizure of Power by William Sheridan Allen, the author portrays the power gaining and support building strategies, used by the Nazi party, by focusing on the small German village of Northeim. This gives the reader a more focused example to see how small towns/villages were locally affected. Allen 's thesis is that the Nazi party was able to take control over small towns and villages like Northeim because they were able to reach out to the lower and middle class. These classes took up the majority of the German population at the time, so, the Nazi party sought out what they wanted from government officials and then used that to persuade these lower/middle classes to vote for them.

“Seventy-five years ago, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, and a 12-year reign of terror across Europe began. Could History repeat itself?” (Smith, 15). In the article, Hitler Comes to Power, by Patricia Smith, European Jews were punished because they were blamed for most of Germany's problems. After Germany lost World War 1, the citizens of Germany were desperate for help. So, they turned to Hitler hoping he could help improve their lives. Hitler coming to power was one of Europe's most horrible accidents of all time. His punishments for the Jews were unright, unnecessary, and prejudice. Hitler's actions affected the Jews and scared them for life... How would you react to a leader like Hitler? If your freedom was taken, what would you do?

Upon appointment as Minister after Fritz Todt’s suspicious death, Speer proved immensely successful, in which his organisational skills were proven, increasing the efficiency and production of the German war machine despite the constant British bombings of factories and communications. Between 1942 and 1943, arms production grew by 30%, with labour productivity increasing by 160%. (Wagenführ, R, 1954). Historian Alan Bullock admires Speers improvements to the war effort, claiming that “Without Speer, Hitler would have lacked the power to stage his fight to the finish.” (A.Bullock, 1962). Contradicting Speers success as Armaments Minister however is Dutch historian Dan Van Der Vat, who questions Speers claims, “As if he did not have enough to do, Speer somehow managed … at the end of January 1945 to draw up a Rechenschaftsbericht … this enormous report ran to 10 000 words.” (Dan Van Der Vat, 1997). Van Der Vat therefore raises the important issue of how much one can trust a source written by one on their own success in power, with little to no contradicting evidence. Consideration however must be given to Van Der Vat’s argument, as he did grow up under Nazi occupied Holland, and thus an obvious bias is pited against any leader of the Nazi Party. Nevertheless, there was an actual increase in production under the guidance of Speer, in which his organisational genius was proven and the war was extended by a further two years, thus having a positive effect upon the Nazi Regime in regards to the war

The tone helps to display Albert Speer’s feelings towards the party all throughout the biography. Later after the war Speer stated, “He had accepted Hitler’s commands and must share the responsibility for their consequences” (304). Here Speer wants to show that although he was only following orders, he shows remorse and deserves punishment. The

Speer was one of three boys in his wealthy family upper class family. The Speer’s were protected by their wealth from the more severe effects of WW1 and economic chaos of hyperinflation. Alberts Speer’s family life was not a warm and happy experience because his parents had neither time nor love for him. His father was cold and distant while his mother was more concerned with the activities of her social whirl than the concerns of her middle son. He was bullied by his brothers and only seemed to receive affection from his French Jewish governess. Speer seemed strangely indifferent to politics in his youth. His father had been a liberal for many years. He keenly kept up with political developments but did not allow the discussion of politics in the home.

Albert Speer’s role in the Third Reich is arguably one of the most controversial topics between historians in modern times and a continuous source of debate since the Nuremberg Trials in 1945 due to the conflicting historical interpretations about him. Despite attaining a positive image from early historians during the Nuremberg trials where historical interpretations depict him as an “apolitical technocrat” and ignorant to the ideology of Nazism during his career. However, since the trials, as more evidence are revealed, relentless debates of Speer’s involvement with Nazism have brought into question the accuracy of the interpretation of him as the - “Good Nazi” and has presented him as a man who willingly and knowingly colluded with the

1) Germany before the Fuhrer. Germany’s defeat at the end of World War I left the nation socially, politically, and economically shattered. The reparation agreements inflicted upon Germany without its’ consent at the end of the war meant that the nation was in complete financial ruin. In the wake of Germany’s defeat, public decent climaxed on the 9th November 1918 during the revolution that took place on Berlin’s Postdamer Platz. This revolution transpired as a result of the public’s culminating discontent towards the imperial monarchy, and lasted up until August 1919, which saw the establishment of the Weimar Republic. In attempts to guide Germany out of economic

Peter Fritzche’s book, Germans into Nazis, contends that, “Germans became Nazis because they wanted to become Nazis and because the Nazis spoke so well to their interests and inclinations…however, voters did not back Hitler mainly because they share his hatred of the Jews…but because they departed from established political traditions in that they were identified at once with a distinctly popular form of ethnic nationalism and with the basic social reforms most Germans counted on to ensure national well-being.” (8-9) His argument rests on the notion that the Nazis had a vision for Germany that incorporated Germans into a national community, throwing off the restraints of a tired government, and propelled them towards a future that would

Oskar Schindler’s identity drastically changes from the beginning to the end of the movie. At first, Schindler was a greedy, selfish, and rich man, who was a member of the Nazi party and profited from the war. He also was a womanizer who constantly cheated on his wife. He only cared about making money and he only hired Jewish workers because they were cheaper. He saved his workers initially because he did not want to pay to train other workers and protected them since he believed that their welfare impacted his business. He saw Jewish people differently than other Germans, he saw them as workers, and he inadvertently developed a reputation for kindness. He did not do this at first to be a

These actions of subverting the authority of science and academia is where the Holocaust revisionists come into the picture. Many of the most prominent revisionists derive their authority from their title as historians. Perhaps the most famous of these people is David Irving. David Irving was a renowned historian in his knowledge of Nazi Germany. He published multiple books that were incredibly detailed looks into World War II. Of his works, he is well known for Hitler’s War, The Destruction of Dresden, Churchill’s War, and Goebbels: Mastermind of the Third Reich. Throughout all of these books, Irving used his position as a historian to uncover lost documents and gain credibility for outlandish Holocaust revisionist theories.

Shortly after the end of WWII, British Intelligence officer Hugh Trevor-Roper was given the task to establish the facts of Hitler's end, and thereby to prevent the growth of a myth. His report, later published as “The Last Days of Hitler”, draws on Allied intelligence's interrogations of survivors who spent time in the bunker during the last ten days of Hitler's life. Trevor-Roper organizes his book chronologically, but it's more a series of character sketches than a strict time line of events. We see a raving, physically broken, nearly insane Hitler contemplating both his heroic death and the complete and

The Totalitarian Aspects of Nazi Germany The government of Nazi Germany was a fascist, totalitarian state. They ruled in Germany ever since Hitler became chancellor in 1933, to 1945. Totalitarianism was a form of government in which the state involves itself in all facts of society, including the daily life of its citizens. It penetrates and controls all aspects of public and private life, through the state's use of propaganda, terror and technology.

Guida Diehl was the founder and leader of the Newland Movement, which pre-dated the Nazi Party by at least six years. She came from a nationalist and anti-Semitic family, and only joined the Nazi Party in August 1930. Following the advice of Adolf Stocker, who hated Jews and supported the emancipation of unmarried women, she attended social-work school and later worked as a teacher of social work in Frankfurt. Diehl constantly preached a spiritualist, quasi-Christian, and nationalist message, that went against the postwar values of Americanism, materialism, and mammonism, which threatened to overpower Volk, God, and fatherland.

Hitler’s rise to power was the result of many factors, but Hitler’s ability to take advantage of Germany’s poor leadership and economical and political conditions was the most significant factor. His ability to manipulate the media and the German public whilst taking advantage of Germany’s poor leadership resulted in both the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler and the nazi party. During the early 1920s, Germany was struggling with economic instability and political uncertainty. Germany, after being defeated in the Great War, was forced to sign the unforgiving treaty of Versailles, which the Weimar Republic was held responsible for. This brought forward feelings of fear, anger and