Reichstag Fire

On page 191, I started to read about the Reichstag fire and the power that Hitler was able to fenagal after it. I am now on page 200 so this is a tidbit of what I have read so far:

That it was a crime, a Communist crime, they proclaimed at once on arrival at the fire. Goering, sweating and puffing and quite beside himself with excitement, was already there ahead of them declaiming to heaven, as Papen later recalled, that “this is a Communist crime against the new government.” To the Gestapo chief, Rudolf Diels, Goering shouted, “This is the beginning of the Communist revolution! We must not wait a minute. We will show no mercy. Every Communist official must be shot, where he is found. Every Communist deputy must this very night be strung up.”



At the same time a half witted Dutch Communist with a passion for arson, Marinus Van Der Lubbe, had made his way into the huge, darkened and to him unfamiliar building and set some small fires of his own. This feeble minded pyromaniac was a godsend for the Nazis. He had been picked up by the S.A. a few days before after having been overheard in a bar boasting that he had attempted to set fire to several buildings and that he was going to try the Reichstag next.



Van der Lubbe, it seems clear, was a dupe of the Nazis. He was encouraged to try to set the Reichstag on fire. But the main job was to be done- without his knowledge, of course-by the storm troopers. Indeed, it was established at the subsequent trial at Leipzig that the Dutch half-wit did not possess the means to set so vast a building on fire so quickly. Two and a half minutes after he entered, the great central hall was fiercely burning. He had only his shirt for tinder. The main fires, according to the testimonies of experts at the trial, had been set with considerable quantities of chemicals and gasoline. It was obvious that one man could not have carried them into the building, nor would it have been possible for him to start so many fires in so many scattered places in so short a time.

Van der Lubbe was found guilty and decapitated.



On the day following the fire, Feb. 28th, Hitler prevailed on President Hindenburg to sign a decree “for the Protection of the People and the State” suspending the seven sections of the constitution which guaranteed individual and civil liberties. Described as a “defensive measure against Communist acts of violence endangering the state,” the decree laid down that:
“Restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press; on the rights of assembly and association; and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications; and warrants for house searches, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.”
In addition, the decree authorized the Reich government to take over complete power in the federal states when necessary and imposed the death sentence for a number of crimes, including “serious disturbances of the peace” by armed persons.

To me, in my opinion, this sounds a lot like what happened on 9-11 and the following days in which the Patriot Act I was passed with intimidation tactics. It is very easy to see, if you believe that this is possable, that if GW Bush (A stout historian) has studied this topic, he could use the same tactics on the American people. The amount of power he has attained since 9-11 is unprecidented in American history and I am sure will not likely bee seen again. Well...Hopefully at least.

Lets hear what you think.

Dan

Middle Class

Here we are on page 185. We are discussing how Hitler came to be granted the vice chancellorship without having a majority of the population behind him.

No class or group or party in Germany could escape its share of responsibility for the abandonment of the democratic Republic and the advent of Adolf Hitler. The cardinal error of the Germans who opposed Nazism was their failure to unite against it. At the crest of their popular strength, in July 1932, the National Socialists had attained but 37 percent of the vote. But the 63 percent of the German people who expressed their opposition to Hitler were much to divided and shortsighted to combine against a common danger which they must have known would overwhelm them unless they united, however temporarily, to stamp it out. The Communists, at the behest of Moscow, were committed to the last to the silly idea of first destroying the Social Democrats, the Socialist trade unions and what middle class democratic forces they were, on the dubious theory that although this would lead to a Nazi regime it would be only temporary and would bring inevitably the collapse of capitalism, after which the Communists would take over and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.

It might be true, as some of the Socialists said, that fortune had not smiled upon them: the Communists, unscrupulous and undemocratic, had split the working class; the depression had further hurt the Social Democrats, weakening the trade unions and losing the party the support of millions of unemployed, who in their desperation turned either to the Communists or the Nazis.

Between the Left and the Right, Germany lacked a politically powerful middle class, which in other countries--in France, in England, in the United States--Had proved to be the backbone of democracy. In the first year of the Republic the middle-class parties, the Democrats, the People's Party, the Center, had polled a total of twelve million votes, only two million less then the two Socialist groups. But thereafter their strength had waned as their supporters gravitated toward Hitler and the Nationalists. In 1919, the Democrats had elected 74 members tot he Reichstag; by 1932 they held just 2 seats. The strength of the Peoples Party fell from 62 seats in 1920 to 11 in 1932. Only the Catholic Center retained its voting strength to the end. In the first republican elections in 1919 the Center had 71 deputies in the Reichstag; in 1932 it had 70. But even more than the Social Democrats, the Center Party since Bismark's time had been largely opportunist, supporting whatever government made concessions to its special interests.

To me this paints a very similar picture to what is happening in our beloved country here. Our middle class is being systematically dissected and destroyed. What used to count as middle class is now upper level poor. In today's society, you either make a ton of money or none at all. Here where I live, if your household doesn't make over 90-100 thousand a year, it is hard times at home. The inflation rate does not match our increase in salaries and therefore the families are falling behind. those who make the money don't care because they have the money to survive.

Also, re-read the part about the parties and the middle class's importance to keep them in check. I see allot of similarities to current political happenings. What about you?

Dan

Presidential Powers

I am reading again!!!

Here we are on page 173. There have been many events relating to the political structure of the German nation recently. There have been 4 elections held in one year, and the Nazi party has gained a majority in the Reichstag by numbers, although not an overall majority. The President is still Hindenburg and the Chancellor is now a man named Papen.

Papen had been blandly unaware of the intrigue which Schleicher was weaving behind his back. At the beginning of the meeting with the President on Dec. 1 he had confidently outlined his plans for the future. He should continue as Chancellor, rule by decree and let the Reichstag go hang for a while until he could "amend the constitution." In effect, Papen wanted "amendments" which would take the country back to the days of the empire and re-establish the rule of the conservative classes. At his Nuremberg trial and in his memoirs he admitted, as indeed he did to the Field Marshall, that his proposals involved "a breach of the present constitution by the President," but he assured Hindenburg that "he might be justified in placing the welfare of the nation above his oath to the constitution," as, he added, Bismark once had done "for the sake of the country."

This is a very interesting piece of history that I think we could be reliving again. President Bush has, at numerous occasions, acted outside of his authority granted by the US Constitution. Now, some may argue that he was doing it for the betterment of our country. To me that is a moot point, because he does not have those powers. The Patriot Act I was written in the days following 9-11 and an electronic copy was sent to Congress for approval. The Congress did not have a hard copy to review before the vote. They had to base a decision on what the White House told them was in the document. Also, they were pressured into a vote in a very short time. It was days, not weeks, that they had to decide, so a hard copy wouldn't work much anyway.

Now we see that the Patriot act is being used for non-terrorist type surveillance. Most recently is the Gov. of NY. He was caught using prostitutes by use of the Patriot act.

The bottom line is that the President of Germany was being tempted to go outside of his bounds for the "betterment of Germany". Luckily for them, at the time, He held to his oath. I fear that Bush has not fared so well with his integrity.

Dan

I am still here.

Just to let the few who are actually reading this blog, I am still here. I had to stop reading for a while due to personal reasons, but plan to start again shortly. Please check back often to see what new info I have found. Thanks.

Dan

Organization and Election Suspension

I am still reading. Slow but steady. I am currently on page 157. Hitler is making the final arrangements in order to weasel his way into power. Germany has been going through tough times and the Nazi party (aka the National Socialists) seemed to have all of the answers for a people in dire straights.

Hitler has already figured out that a rebellion through force to remove the current government from power would never work. The new power that would be instated would fall within a short amount of time due to lack of structure. Because of this, Hitler decided to institute a new direction for the Nazi party.

Page 120
"The Political organization of the Nazi party was divided into two groups: P.O. I, as it was known, designed to attack and undermine the government, and P.O. II to establish a state within a state. Thus the second group had departments of agriculture, justice, national economy, interior and labor-and, with an eye to the future, of race and culture, and of engineering."

"After considerable difficulties the S.A. was reorganized into an armed band of several thousand men to protect Nazi meetings, to break up the meetings of others and to generally terrorize those who opposed Hitler."

"To have a more dependable band Hitler created the S.S.-Schutzstaffel-put their members in black uniforms similar to those worn by the Italian Fascisti and made them swear a special oath of loyalty to him personally. At first the S.S. was nothing more than a bodyguard for the Fuhrer."

Hitler positioned people in charge of these departments that he could trust. Loyal followers from the early days. He understood that in order for him to succeed in taking control of Germany, it must be a seamless transition from the current situation to the ruling of the Nazis'.

On page 153, the book talks about how the Chancellor of Germany was concocting a plan to eliminate any possibility of Hitler coming to power. He was thinking of returning the republic to a dictatorship thereby locking Hitler out of the power seat he so desperately desired.

Page 153
"Bruening (Chancellor) planned to move boldly on the home front too and to bring about by agreement of all the major parties save the Communists a fundamental change in the German constitution. He meant to restore the Hohenzollern monarchy. Even if Hindenburg (President and 84 years old) could be persuaded to run again, he could not be expected at his age to live out another full term of seven years. Should he die in another year of two, the way would still be open to Hitler to be elected President. To forestall that, to assure permanency and stability in the office of head of state, Bruening broached the following plan: The 1932 presidential elections would be called off and Hindenburg's term of office simply extended, as it could be, by a two-thirds vote in the two houses of Parliament, the Reichstag and the Reichstrat. As soon as that was achieved, he would propose that Parliament proclaim a monarchy with the President as regent. On his death, one of the sons of the Crown Prince would be put on the Hohenzollern throne. This act too would take the wind out of the Nazis; in fact Bruening was confident that it would mean their end as a political force."

Now I have been saying for years now, that I can see the current administration trying to suspend the Presidential election in 2008 for many reasons; First of which is, Some kind of new 9-11 or Pearl Harbor. Bringing into question the security of the American nation and declaring Martial Law. Easily done thanks to the Patriot Act I and II and PDD 51, not to mention the Military Commission Act. Second reason I see coming is because of a well timed outbreak of war with a new enemy like Iran. It would be ill advised to change command in the middle of a national crisis like that. We will suspend the elections until the situation is stable enough to focus our attention away from it and back to the elections. Of course which will never happen. Again thanks to the Patriot Act I and II, PDD 51 and the Military Commission Act.

If you look closely at how our Presidential election has been going it is like a skipping record: 1981-Reagan...1985-Reagan...1989-Bush Sr.....1993-Clinton.....1997-Clinton....2001-Bush Jr.......2005-Bush Jr....2009-Clinton?

For twenty years the same people have been running this country. They have appointed everyone sitting in the position of power, from the cabinet members to the Supreme Court Justices to the heads of the CIA, FBI and Federal Reserve Bank (A privately owned and operated bank controlling the currency of the United States of America.). The people are in place, just like Hitlers.......the events are lining up, just like in Germany......all it will take is the command, just like Hitler in Germany.

Thanks for reading this and I hope I made sense of this all. As always, I look forward to reading your comments and view points on this topic. Please post them.

Thanks
Dan

Death of America

I know that my site is dedicated to writing about The Rise And Fall Of The Third Riech, but I was told the other day about a book that is either out now or comming out soon about how history truely repeats itself. I believe it is called "Death of America" or something like that. Look it up. Not only with America and Germany, but with ALL of the great empires of man. Do not fool yourselves into thinking that we are not an empire. We ARE the epidimy of an empire. So was England, France, Germany, Mongolia, Spain, Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Myans...etc. The list goes on and on. Why are the people set on repeating history? And will we ever learn? I am not sure. I know that in todays struggle, they empire has gone to extreme lengths to limit the responses of the masses. I heard a figure that something like 65% of the American population is on some kind of Anti-Depressent medication. Now either the majority of people out there are really screwed up and need these meds in order to function, OR....as we have seen, doctors and drug companies are prescribing drugs at record rates, and the money spent on advertising is astronomical. Could it be that everyone is crazy, or that people are being dupped into taking mind altering drugs for no reason other than to further the bank accounts of the drug executives. I have thought long and hard about this and I have come up with the idea that the Powers That Be have been using these drugs to alter our sence of reality and keep us focused on our crappy jobs in order for us to pay our credit card bills we can't sfford so we are always stressed, therfore need the drugs to calm us down because it is all so futile. Remember how it felt when you where on vacation? Not even thinking about work? It can bee like that more than only on vacation. Stop using credit cards. Stop running yourselves into debt which makes you have to work long hours. Long hours working and little sleep will lead to depression therfore requires anti-depression medications. Buy what you can afford. Save for what you can't. It takes will power and a drive to make your lives better. We can do it and free ourselves of the burdens being placed upon us by the Powers That Be. (Who ever they are for you.)

I know that I haven't posted on my book for a while but I have been real busy. I am trying to push through it, but I want to read the book to understand it, not just read a bunch of words. Please bear with me.

Dan

Inspiration

I hope people are reading these posts, because no one is leaving any comments!!

I am now on page 102. Slow going primarily because of the Thanksgiving holiday. On page 95 we are in the middle of discussing how Bismark inspired and unified the people into the Second Reich. Much has been discussed about the ideals of Bismark up to this point, but the next quotes have to do with the mentality of German politics at the time.

"Despite the democratic facade put up by the establishment of the Reichstag, whose members were elected by universal manhood suffrage, the German Empire was in reality a militarist autocracy ruled by the King of Prussia, who was also Emperor. The Reichstag possessed few powers; it was little more that a debating society where the representatives of the people let off steam or bargained for shoddy benefits for the classes they represented. The throne had the power---by divine right. As late as 1910 Wilhelm II could proclaim that the royal crown had been "granted by Gods Grace alone and not by parliaments, popular assemblies and popular decision...Considering myself an instrument of the Lord," he added, "I go my own way."

"He was not impeded by Parliament. The Chancellor he appointed was responsible to him, not to the Reichstag. The assembly could not overthrow a Chancellor nor keep him in office. That was the prerogative of the monarch."

"The middle classes, grown prosperous by the belated but staggering development of the industrial revolution and dazzled by the success of Bismark's policy of force and war, had traded for material gain any aspirations for political freedom they may have had.* They accepted the Hohenzollern autocracy. They gladly knuckled under to the Junker bureaucracy and they fervently embraced Prussian militarism."

" * In a sense, the German working class made a similar trade. To combat socialism Bismark put through, between 1883 and 1889, a program for social security far beyond anything known in other countries. It included compulsory insurance for workers against old age, sickness, accident and incapacity and though organized by the state, it was financed by employers and employees. It cannot be said that it stopped the rise of the Social Democrats or the trade unions, but it did have a profound influence on the working class in that it gradually made them value security over political freedom and caused them to see the State, however conservative, as a benefactor and a protector. Hitler, as we shall see, took full advantage of this state of mind. In this, as in other matters, he learned much from Bismark. "I studied Bismark's socialist legislation," Hitler remarks in Mein Kampf (p. 155), "in its intention, struggle and success.""

Congress as of today has as little or less influence in what goes on in our countries policy making and implementation than that of the Reichstag. The Bush administration may not have done all of the damage, but they sure have seized the opportunity to reap the benefits. The Bush administration has admitted over live national television that the legislative branch of our government holds no power over the executive branch. Also quoted as saying, "if congress does not pass the bill, we will still implement it and enforce the laws in said bill as if they were laws." Therefore, the throne in this analogy would be the presidential seat.

Also, the Chancellor position would go to the Vice President. Going on the record to state that his position as Vice President and the President of the Senate results in a quasi-hybrid title whereas neither have any jurisdiction over your position.

The middle class here is in a sense, the middle class of the 80's. And the industrial revolution could be equated with the dot com revolution. Those who made their money via the internet and stock market. Notice how the middle class has been slowly drifting away from the working class? They became so focused on making money and retirement that they have not even seen the freedoms being taken from them.

The working class is the same here. And this is probably the most striking quote to date from my read. Social Security. If this is not a total blueprint for the American mindset of today. Never have I seen the impact of our social security system laid out so well, and it is not even about ours....it is Germany's.

Please post comments if you have read this. Like I said before, I welcome comments and really want to continue to post here. It is hard going though, so some support would help. Thanks

Dan