Most Americans associate the Nazi government with horrors like the Holocaust. But very few know much of the history of the rise of that government, when it seemed--at least on the surface--to be reasonable and easy for the general population to ignore.
Of course, much of this was willful ignorance. It's far more uncomfortable to look at this time in history, because if we do, we might recognize something we don't want to admit about ourselves.
But we must! Jump the page.
Economists describe how the business associations and industrial trusts embraced the government.
Having purchased their own freedom from the Nazis, they were content with the loss of everyone else’s.
Then the Nazi party had its "Reichstag Fires" in February, 1933--the cause celebre΄that allowed them to challenge any opponent's patriotism. (History suggests that it was probably the work of a single communist instigator, but truth wasn't all that important.) A year later, Hitler had enough political "capital" to eliminate many of his political rivals in the "Night of the Long Knives." (Side comment: If you haven't seen V for Vendetta you must.) You can find the details in most history books.
What's harder to find are the eerie similiarities in the rhetoric toward women in the 1930s and today. I challenge you to read these quotes and tell me if they were made in 1934 or 2004. (Bracketed comments my own)
Dear...Women and Girls...when we think back on our parents, grandparents and great grandparents, there were many children in the house. It may have been crowded and hard financially, but we were happy, perhaps because there were so many of us in so large a family. But the time came when...a false teaching arose in the last century...The fewer people there are, the more an individual child can inherit from his parents...the terrible teaching of birth control, which [some] preached and the [common people] followed...
Are you selfish, unpatriotic women paying attention yet? Here's the next quote:
[They believe that] only a determination among...women to take up their submissive, motherly roles with a 'military air' and become 'maternal missionaries' will lead the...army to victory...Population is a preoccupation for many...who trade statistics on the falling white birthrate...Every ethnic conflict becomes evidence for their worldview...The motivations aren't always racist, but the subtext of 'race suicide' is often there...out-and-out offensive against birth control...selfish white women...[do not] honor their duty to bear children for the nation.
The first quote: Dr. Groß, "Nationalsozialistische Rassenpolitik. Eine Rede an die deutschen Frauen (Dessau, C. Dünnhaupt, 1934). It was the basis of the start of the Holocaust. The second, a cogent description of the "Quiverfull" movement today, from The Nation.
Some say we are too sensitive to subtle hints of racism in the rhetoric of ultra-conservatives today. What would a Holocaust survivor say?