33/52 - Hard questions

“Would it be OK if we put some of your Hitler books in the second bedroom instead of here in the living room?”

This was one of the first conversations Mary Glenn and I had about interior decorating, shortly after I had carefully lined up some books on our new cinderblock bookshelves in our first apartment.

Now in MG’s defense, this was before social media came up with the idea of organizing books by color. Yes, it was THAT long ago. In fact, it was before cellphones, the internet, GPS, email, and PCs, if that helps establish the timeframe.

 At that time, I was still fully immersed in the outdated idea that books should be organized by topic. So, the net effect of so many Hitler books topically organized in one place could admittedly be a bit daunting to visitors. Especially in the living room. And especially since we didn’t actually have any furniture in the second bedroom. Any visitors would likely be sitting (and sleeping) on our first furniture purchase (from Woodies? Or was it Hechts? Probably doesn’t matter, I think they’re both gone), a fold-out Castro Convertible (no relation to Fidel) and staring straight at said Hitler bookshelf for most of their visit.

Now in my defense, before I’m branded as some sort of fascist whackjob, this was not a random interest. I was a History major, largely focused in 18th and 19th century stuff. My interest in Germany between the wars actually predates college, and I suppose goes back to a movie that some brave English teacher (Mrs. Kalb? Mr. Mazza?) showed us in class. They’d probably be fired in modern-day Florida, but this was “edge of the 1960s” New Jersey. It was one of those rare moments of high school that made an indelible impression. I thought back to some of these public school teachers as I listened to the stories from former students of a certain Minnesota social studies teacher over the past few nights.

The movie they showed us was Night and Fog (Nacht und Nebel), a 1956 French documentary by Alain Resnais. It’s still available on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGN4_s0tHaM). It’s a horrible watch, but do it. Especially all you GenZs with only a vague sense of what the Greatest Generation was all about.

This pre-occupation with 1930s and 40s Germany -- and more specifically, the question of how on earth this could happen in a civilized society -- has waxed and waned in intensity over the years. But it has been particularly intense since 2016. After reading more books about Germany than a reasonable person would, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that we’ve taken more than a few pages out of the 1930s German script. These books and podcasts (just a few) have been comforting in making me realize that I’m not the only one who is worried: 

• Benjamin Carter Hett -- The Death of Democracy: Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic and The Nazi Menace: Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Road to War.

• Erik Larson -- In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin and The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz.

• Anne Applebaum -- Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World and Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism.

• Timothy Snyder -- On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.

• Heather Cox Richardson -- Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America (based on her daily email posts).

• And the exceptionally well-documented Hitler: The Early Years podcast.

 Yes, it’s a lot.

[A caveat at this point. This post is in some ways a therapy session for me, and I appreciate the patience of those reading it, especially those who will disagree with the political conclusions that follow. But it is cheaper than actual therapy.]

I suppose all of this is to try to answer two questions that as a former history major have always tormented me, one political and the other personal: 

• Political -- Why do people willingly – even eagerly – turn over their rights to autocrats?

• Personal -- Why do seemingly “normal” people commit unspeakable acts? Under what circumstances would I be willing to turn a blind eye to those acts?

 Political: Why do people willingly – even eagerly – turn over their rights to autocrats?

Oversimplifying, there were two key inflection points in the rise of fascism in Germany. Both of these were magnified by the search for villains who could be blamed for the Treaty of Versailles ending World War 1. These two points were the hyperinflation of 1923; and 2) massive unemployment in the early 1930s triggered by the Great Depression.

Hyperinflation of 1923:

• In September 1923, prices were doubling approximately every 3.7 days. By the end of the month, 1 US dollar was worth about 242 million marks.

• In October 1923, prices were doubling approximately every 49 hours. By the end of the month, 1 US dollar was worth about 42 billion marks.

• In November 1923, prices were doubling approximately every 15 hours. By the end of the month, 1 US dollar was worth about 4.2 trillion marks.

The impact on average people was catastrophic. As someone who has now moved into the phase of life when I begin tapping into a lifetime of savings, I can’t imagine what it would mean to have a lifetime of savings disappear in three months. Hitler’s first stab at power -- the Munich Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923 -- was just one data point in a sea of political polarization on both the left and the right triggered by the Treaty and hyperinflation. The failure to hold him accountable – he got only a 5 year sentence (serving one year) for what normally would be a capital offense – set the stage for everything that would follow. Hitler learned an important lesson while in prison – he could never seize power by sheer military force. Rather, the path to power lay in creating chaos and by manipulating the democratic system to destroy itself.

Great Depression unemployment in Germany:

• 1929: 8.9%

• 1930: 15.3%

• 1931: 23.3%

• 1932: 30.1%

Just about the time that the Weimar Republic was beginning to get its sea legs and the Nazis were becoming more marginal by the day, the crash of financial markets changed everything. The only way the Germans were able to pay the reparations triggered by the Treaty Versailles was through loans from US banks, loans that dried up with the Crash. The Nazis then used the economic pain triggered by the Great Depression – coupled with a continual  campaign of violence and chaos – to create electoral leverage, which they used to end democracy.

• In 1928, the Nazi Party won only 2.6% of the vote and 12 seats in the Reichstag.

• In September 1930, the Nazi Party won only 18.3% of the vote and 107 out of 577 seats in the Reichstag.

• In July 1932, the Nazi Party won only 37.3% of the vote and 230 out of 608 seats in the Reichstag.

• In November 1932, the Nazi Party won only 33.1% of the vote and 196 out of 584 seats in the Reichstag.

All through the early 1930s, Hitler used every occasion he could to trigger repeated parliamentary crises and to weaken confidence in every institution possible — except him. Eventually he got what he wanted in January 1933, the Chancellorship. Conservatives at the time tried to ride Hitler’s coattails, assuming they could always “control” him. Franz Von Papen notoriously predicted, “In two months’ time we will have squeezed Hitler into a corner until he squeaks.”

Not quite. In March 1933 Hitler orchestrated yet another parliamentary election (the last one). Even though he cracked down on opposition parties prior to the election, the Nazi Party still won only 43.9% of the vote and 288 out of 647 seats in the Reichstag.

But it was enough. Later in March, he orchestrated passage of the Enabling Act, which gave the German Chancellor the power to create and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or the involvement of 85-year-old President Paul von Hindenburg. This granting of dictatorial powers allowed the Chancellor to bypass the government's system of checks and balances, setting the stage for all that followed.

Two months is all it took. Two months. Dictatorial power was not seized by military coup; it was voluntarily surrendered. After nearly every possible guardrail had been corrupted along the way.

I know there are those that do not think this scenario is relevant to the US. And yes, I know that 1930s Germany is different than 2024 America. But for me, the parallels between January 1933 and November 2024 in the potential descent to autocracy are too scary to ignore.

Personal -- Why do seemingly “normal” people commit unspeakable acts? Under what circumstances would I be willing to turn a blind eye to those acts?

As a kid, I remember seeing reruns of a show hosted by Walter Cronkite called “You Are There,” in which he reenacted historical events. Shows included "The Landing of the Hindenburg", "The Salem Witchcraft Trials", "The Gettysburg Address", "The Fall of Troy", and "The Scuttling of the Graf Spee.” The show viewed historical events not in hindsight, but rather from the middle of the events themselves, covered as if they were occurring in real time. Later, a short-lived show called “Time Tunnel” did the same thing, with the twist of a heavy overlay of the Butterfly Effect. I loved both, and I suppose in part this love was part of what led to becoming a history major.

But a consequence of this immersive view of history is that I have a tendency to imagine what I would do if placed in the middle of historical events, especially if I was unaware of exactly how they would turn out. I’ve thought about this question over and over in the context of 1930s and 40s Germany. I’ve done this from the perspectives of both the innocent and the guilty – and I must confess the answers to them often make me squirm.

We all would like to think we would have made the “right” and heroic choice.

With the benefit of knowing the outcome, we often implicitly ask victims, “Why on earth didn’t you get out? Why didn’t you leave?” But it’s not as easy as that. If things went to hell in this country and we descended into autocracy, would I leave? I’ve hypothetically considered utilizing the “my grandparents are from Italy/Ireland” option and getting a passport from either as a back-up plan. But would we leave? If it meant leaving family behind? If it meant leaving everything and starting over with next to nothing? I am amazed at the courage and luck of those who chose to leave Germany in the 1930s. But I think after all my books, I empathize most deeply with those who just couldn’t go and stayed behind. 

I’ve been equally perplexed by how we view the guilty with the benefit of hindsight. It’s easy to look at the Nazi leaders and see nothing but evil incarnate. And we should. But after lots of the aforementioned books, the ordinariness of so many of those most involved in the actual deeds makes me dizzy. These were the kinds of people we meet every day. Every day. So many returned to prewar identities with barely a nod to the horrors they committed. 

And even if we can confidently say, “I would NEVER have done such things”– what about the millions who were silent? I would like to think, “Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but I would have spoken up.” How about if the implication of speaking up was to be arrested, tortured, or killed? A lot of us would still be convinced that we would have spoken up. But suppose the implication was that your spouse or family would be arrested, tortured, or killed? What then? 

I guess pondering these dreadful kinds of questions is why I’ve read all those books.

And perhaps why politics and this election are so important to me.

Because it is a lot easier to be heroic in a democracy than in an autocracy.