Arts

Early Members of the Nazi Party:

Vignettes of Ordinary Men Who Became Involved
In the Time of Struggle in The Nazi Party

Photo: The Martyrs of the Beer Hall Putsch (November 9, 1923) were transferred to
places of honor in the royal square in Munich on November 9, 1935. Once the Nazis had come into power in 1933, the early members who had served
the party loyally were treated as heroes in the Third Reich.

The following vignettes are drawn from Theodore Abel’s study, Why Hitler Came Into Power, originally published in 1938. Abel, an American sociologist, studied early members of the Nazi Party. Abel studied those members that did not become national figures in the Third Reich; rather, his study focused on the rank-in-file members who worked for the party during its Time of Struggle and continued to support the party after Hitler became Chancellor. He was curious about their socio-economic background, educational level, ideological commitments, antisemitic attitudes, occupations, feelings about Hitler and feelings about the Volk.

The following vignettes come from essays written for a contest in 1934 by early members of the Nazi Party. The contest rules specified that participants give accurate and “detailed descriptions of their family life, education, economic conditions, membership in associations, participation in the Hitler movement, and important experiences, thoughts, and feelings about events and ideas in the post-war world.”

Why Hitler Came Into Power contains six autobiographical essays submitted for the contest. In all over 700 essays were submitted, but Abel decided to reproduce six essays in total because of their rich description and detail.

Story of a Worker

Photo:German Workers inside their domain.
Image donated by Corbis-Bettmann.

[The author was born around 1900. His father was a factory worker at the Friedrich-Alfred foundry in Rheinhausen, and his mother was a German housewife devoted to the Fatherland. The author attended school where students were required to give absolute obedience to the teachers. At age nine, the author developed blood poisoning from a leg injury while playing and missed two years of school. When he returned to school in 1914, he was still injured. He closely followed the progress of World War I, and in the immediate aftermath, the author became fascinated with Communism and was willing to take part in the workers’ revolution. Becoming versed in Marxism, the author would not agree with his father who felt Hitler offered a better solution for the German worker. During the workers’ strikes of 1923, the author continued to study and support Marxism although he became disillusioned with the continual defeats of the workers’ movement.

In 1924, he attended meetings of the Volkisch-soziale Bock (the party that succeded the National Socialists after the abortive coup of November 1923.]

. . . At the first meeting, comprised of about fifteen people, a Herr Fuchs spoke about the treason of Marxism. I listened in silence and digested everything he said. Inwardly, however, I was completely disturbed. When I compared the speakers words with what had happened, I was forced again and again to conclude that what I heard was the truth. Two weeks later I went to another meeting. A Dr. Goebbels of Elberfeld spoke on the theme: “ What does Adolf Hitler want?” The attendance was not much larger. I followed every work of the speaker. I felt as though he were addressing me personally. My heart grew light, something in my breast arose. I felt as if bit by bit something within me were being rebuilt. Dr. Goebbels did not complete his theme that evening. He promised to come back in two weeks and finish his lecture. I passed those fourteen days as if in delirium. I could hardly wait for the day of the meeting. I was there punctually, and at the close of the meeting I silently went home. I plunged into the little existing literature on the subject. I read Hitler’s speaks, studied the program of the National Socialist party, and gradually I was politically reborn. . . .

. . . I became a National Socialist. No voice protested against it; my heart was not full of fear at the thought of National Socialism; there was only a joyous acknowledgment, a bright enthusiasm, a pure faith in Adolf Hitler and Germany

Now I proceeded to active cooperation. . . .

A few months later Adolf Hitler addressed a closed meeting at the Association Hall of Essen. Membership cards were examined with exacting care by several police officials before we were permitted to enter the hall. It is impossible to describe the experience of seeing and hearing the Leader for the first time. One thing is certain: from that day on I had no other purpose than to fight for him until the victory was won.

. . .From the end of 1926 on I was an active speaker for the movement. I shall confine myself to describing a few incidents that occurred during this time.

I was assigned to speak in a small industrial community on the lower Rhine. The leader of the local group informed me on my arrival that a converted Communist wished to speak before me. I consented to this, but asked first whether the S.A. had sufficient protection for the hall. The unsuspecting leader said that up to that time nothing had happened and probably nothing would happen. My experiences in the field, however, had taught me differently. A glance at the audience sitting about in the inn showed me immediately that there were many Communists present and that their intention was to break up the meeting. A second glance into the hall where the S.A. were showed me that they were in absolutely no position to resist the intended attack. I demanded that the leader ask for reinforcements, which he did by telephone. We could no longer postpone the meeting, and I was confident that I would be able to keep it going until the reinforcements came. The meeting began; I had the floor. The converted Communist was to speak after me, when there was stronger protection. Interruption after interruption followed. To keep the meeting going, I had to answer every interruption. It was a matter of thinking with lightning rapidity and answering just as fast. First, one had to give a serious reply, next make the heckler appear ridiculous, according to what he looked like and the extent to which his own comrades took him seriously. This demanded terrific concentration. You must appreciate that this meeting took place during an election campaign when my appearance on the speaker’s platform was required evening after evening. Every night one slept in a different bed. In the morning one took the first train to one’s next assignment. Directly one’s work was done, one entrained for the next meeting.

Some years later I managed by close stinting to buy myself a light motorcycle. I needed the motorcycle to be able to keep up my numerous appearances throughout the large province. The Rheinhausen Communists were well acquainted with the license number, model; and sound of this motorcycle. I had found out that they were planning an attack on me. As I was wearily on my way home, between twelve and one at night, I had to focus all my attention on avoiding these fellows. Stopping suddenly, I would light up the entire region with my searchlight; more than once I had to disappear at full speed. Often I could not go home for weeks because the whole neighborhood was besieged by Communists. Sometimes, too, I was pleasantly surprised when S.A. in mufti blocked the streets and received me with cheers.

It would be impossible in this brief autobiography to describe all we sufferend in the battle for the elevation of our German Fatherland. Icy cold, fiercest heat, wind and storms, raise and hail—nothing would prevent us from continuing on our way. We bore many a comrade to his grave, shot or stabbed to death by the Communist mobs. Many a comrade, we accompanied to prison and called for at the prison later. Faith was the one thng that always led us on, faith in Germany, faith in the purity of our nation and faith in our leader. Holy was our battle and holy our victory. We know that we must build up again what has been destroyed in Germany during all those years, and we must use the same energy and stubbornness, which we drew during the tireless battle. Some day the world will recognize that the Reich we established with blood and sacrifice is destined to bring peace and blessing to the world.

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The Story of an AntiSemite

Photo:Young National Socialist members march holding death banner.
Image donated by Corbis-Bettmann.

[The author was born in Dittersbach, Kreis Luben in Lower Silesia, in 1890. He was the fifth son of gardeners and his parents worked hard, often moving their family. The author attended public schools and became increasingly conscious of differences between the rich and poor. As a youth, he went to the city to work in a paper factory and then tried many different urban jobs, finally ending up as a servant for wealthy aristocratic families. In 1911, he joined the German Army and served through World War I, intensely proud of his nation. After the war, he was disillusioned by the chaos and began attending right-wing political groups, where he heard attacks on the Jews as the cause of all Germany’s troubles. His hatred of Jews intensified over the 1920s—he studied works of antisemitic authors and discussed his right-wing politics in meetings. In 1926, attended his first National Socialist meeting and became immediately impressed by the message.

In 1931, he was finally accepted as a member of the National Socialist Party. Becoming ill shortly after this, he read Mein Kampf and began to consider Hitler’s autobiography as a bible for the party. In the 1930s he became more intent than ever to dedicate his life to Nazism and participated in the election campaigns. Finally, in 1932, he began speaking on behalf of the party.]

The year 1932 saw us rushing from one election campaign to another. Every campaign brought us a new victory. Through battle to victory and to comradeship—that we can truly say of this year. Class arrogance had been completely eliminated among us in the Party. The inward contentment for which I had struggled through the yeas became a reality for me in 1932. On the other hand, how did things look among then people outside our ranks? Class arrogance and hatred became even greater; still, in spite of all, the adherents of the bourgeois parties imagined that they were nationalists. People still thought that an emphasis on nationalism sufficed. They spoke of people and meant the others; they approved of the state, meaning themselves. They claimed leadership for themselves and demanded that the others follow. They worried about their own good and that of their own children, but thought nothing of the good of their followers. They were indignant that the others were men without a country, but did not stop to think that the leadership they claimed signified a duty toward their following. They held every man who possessed money and a good suit to be a worthy citizen. They judged according to certificates and examinations passed; they did not regard character. Thus it came about that every shrewd Jew who mangled the German language became a citizen. The honest, reliable, German workman stood aside and froze in a state of this type. Even today, class arrogance is the worst enemy of all enlightenment. Later on, therefore, as a leader responsible on a small scale, I preached the practical mode of life to my party comrades as the basis of our philosophy, and attempted to live up to it. Then in November 1932, when we apparently suffered a defeat in the election, the real fighters did not waver. We knew that our hour must come. Our fanatical belief in victory would have to weaken our opponents in time.

The assumption of power came as a surprise. The joy bursting out of hearts glowing with passion must have been gleaming in people’s eyes. How often before had we been asked, with a lack of comprehension: “Well, what do you get out of all the work, the sacrifices and worries about the Party?” Now we could answer: “We have helped to win the Third Reich. We have washed away the shame of 1918 and we have marched to victory through the Brandenburg Arch. Some day we shall go down in history as the first champions and prophets of a new, better age.”

To be sure, if some believed that the goal had been reached, they found they had been reached, they found they had been deceived. The work continued the next day and will go on to the end of our lives. Our Leader, Adolf Hitler, would not have had to shoulder so great a responsibility if creating order had been his whole aim. The state of the future will assert itself through the new philosophy in every sphere of life. The personality that is to support and lead the state must be steadily shaped and developed; unfortunately, only a minority of the present generation can be considered for this. But one thing we already know today: the battle carried on by international Judaism with the help of degenerate people in Germany will lead to the ruin of its perpetrators. The Jew Rathernau once said: “The history of the world would have lost its meaning if the German army had returned victorious from the battlefield.” But we say: “The history of the world would have lost its meaning if Judaism, with its corroding spirit, the embodiment of all evil, were to win the victory over the true and the good encompassed in Adolf Hitler’s idea.”

My belief is that our Leader, Adolf Hitler, was given by fate to the German nation as our savior, bringing light into darkness.

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The Story of a Soldier

Photo: World War 1 German officer on horseback. Photograph used by kind permission of Mrs J Smillie. All rights reserved.

[The author of this autobiography was born in 1886 in Pankow. His father was a mason, and his mother was a laundress. His father was deeply engrossed in the Socialist movement. As a young man, the author aspired to travel and get away from his hometown environment and his apprenticeship as a mason. Since travel was impossible, he became a soldier. He served in World War I and felt the bitter disappointment that German generals had surrendered. After the war he served as an assistant city clerk in his hometown and got married. As the years of the Weimar Republic went on, the author grew increasingly disappointed—economic hardships, political chaos, an humiliated Fatherland contributed to his despair. Eventually, he was drawn to the National Socialists but to join the party would mean risking his government position. In the early 1930s, the author managed to lead a dual life: service to the SS and functions for the Party on the one hand, and, on the other hand, fulfilling his clerical duties for the Weimar Republic. He persisted in this risky life because he totally believed it was his duty to serve the National Socialists. In 1934, as the author reviewed his history with the Nazis, he reflected:]

It is superfluous to describe the sacrifices I made. They were nothing unusual. These sacrifices were made in the spirit of Gemeinschaft. But let me point out one thing without appearing presumptuous. My wife led a heroic life at my side. Yet I never saw her tremble; on the contrary, if weariness and disappointment overcame me, she stood beside me and pointed to Hitler to remind me that my worries were slight in comparison with that man’s. It happened sometimes that when I awoke in the morning, comrades had been in our home for hours while my wife bandaged them. They had begged that I should not be awakened. And there was excitement when police appeared after midnight, or when a comrade who had stolen into the house scratched at the door softly to call for me. It a horrible task for my wife to care for her broken husband, who could not stand the slightest noise; because of the smallness of our apartment, she had to ask our boy to say his evening prayer in the toilet. It is martyrdom for a wife when her joy in her life companion’s recovery of strength is lessened by the knowledge that the man goes his own secret ways again as soon as he is on his feet. Just as I remind you of my wife, let me recall the wives of all my comrades. All that will be forgotten some time, but our task would not have been accomplished had our wives not been so strong. Their heroism was that of those who have suffered.

On January 30, 1933, I remained at home, and reviewed my entire life. I thought how easily the masses cry “Hosanna” and how quickly they are on hand with their “crucify!” That gave me a duty that was a signpost for me. Honors and dignities do not matter. All that counts is that as soldiers of the front we keep our promise to Germany. We will have a piece of work to do. If we have been permitted to help Adolf Hitler erect the Third Reich, we have an obligation to help to preserve it. And as I learned to interpret the growing effect from the cause given, we saw June 30, 1934, coming. Again destiny has compressed the consciousness of life in one final formula: The Leader is calling, gun in hand! And everything else falls away.

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The Story of a Middle-Class Youth

Photo:Drum corps of Nazi youth organization during the tenth Nazi Party Congress.
Image donated by Corbis-Bettmann.

[The author was born in 1909 in Barmen on the Mosel River. At the age of 9, he was blinded for a short time until an operation restored his sight. He and his mother followed news of World War I, and after the war, he heard that Jews had created all the problems for Germany. He attended schools until 1932, but was constantly drawn to support of the Nazi Party which his brother had joined. Repeatedly, the author had disagreements with his father, who insisted he stay out of politics and tend to his schoolwork. By 1932, the author increasingly followed local elections and attended meetings with Nazi speakers. He was delighted in January 1933 when it was announced that Hitler was Chancellor. The middle-class boy, who had grown up in a middle-class environment with private education, was now totally drawn to the Nazi Party and its Führer who promised to restore the greatness of Germany.]

I was in Trier again at the elections in March 1933. The Communists had not been entirely suppressed there. All night long we were ready for emergency alarms. The Reichstag election turned out in favor of the Führer. I was a volunteer in Trier for a few months. In June I took a long journey to East Prussia and spent about two months there before returning home.

This was an important trip for me, as I realized that under the new leadership National Socialism would actually achieve all that had been promised. The Führer had always promised to do all things possible to bring freedom and food to the German people. At the end of the first half year of National Socialist rule East Prussia was no longer suffering from unemployment. Everywhere the employment situation was relieved. The peasants clung to the Führer with reverence and love, and even in the larger cities the working class raised its hand in respect to him.

Everywhere in Germany there was a rebirth of life and courage and renewed hope. I returned home in October. There, too, much had changed. New interest and activity animated everything. In November all Germany was for the Führer, and he won by a unanimous vote of “Yes.” The people understood him. I went to see my brother in the middle of November. During my journey I learned a lesson: always remain natural and do not lose the way of your comrades!

I know now that our people can find the true way only through the unity of all: we will find strength in our Führer, who arouses in us the slumbering ideals of Germanic freedom and heroism.

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The Story of a Bank Clerk

Photo: A German money draft received by the Americans Exchange National Bank on Liberty Street and Broadway, NYC, is shown. Its value in German marks is 259,200 or about $72,000 in American money. 1920s.
Image donated by Corbis-Bettmann.

[The author was born in 1907 in the town of Tilsit in the far northeastern sector of Germany. Tilsit was a prospering commercial center until the end of World War I when the Treaty of Versailles stripped Tilsit away from Germany. The 1920s were hard times for people in Tilsit, and the author had to leave the town to find employment in commerce and eventually in banking. It was only towards the late 1920s that he was able to return to Tilsit and find a position in banking. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, the author gained a position as a vice president of a bank.

The author considered himself a member of the Old Guard of the Nazi Party. He had joined as a member early in the 1920s and believed that his ideas about Jews and the fatherland closely matched those of Adolf Hitler. As a member of the Old Guard, he was intimately involved in rebuilding the party after 1925; he spoke throughout the northeast and helped build a base of support in one town after another. He made personal sacrifices and often used his own funds to support travel and lodging in towns he visited. Even when the struggle seemed discouraging, he continued to believe in the National Socialist cause and take pride in his sacrifice for the movement and its leader. As he explains in the excerpt below, his continuous support of Nazism gave him pride and courage:]

. . . The old guard was only hardened by tribulations. Party comrades who had been deprived of a livelihood fought all the harder for our goals, and those who fell by the wayside served as warnings to us never to rest in our battle. This courageous and heroic attitude certainly carried along many party comrades in the struggle. No prohibition of brown shirts and emblems long prevailed. Bit by bit the hostile fortresses were conquered; fellow countryman after fellow countryman was won over. In 1931 I left Rastenburg knowing that I had created a vital local group there. Besides the sub-groups of the Kobler Youth, there existed a local group of 125 party comrades. Two new local groups had been formed in the neighborhood, truly a satisfying result.

. . .I am particularly proud of having won over to our idea all my colleagues in my place of business, although they were constantly changing—all, that is, except for one who lives outside our district and who has since become a National Socialist. The designation of the bank as “Nazi fortress” during the years of battle will be the happiest reminder of my activities for our Leader and his idea.

What will come know? Is the revolution over? These questions are often asked in the press by reporters who simply cannot understand the unrivalled success of the Party and its supporters. Outwardly, the revolution is finished. Germany is National Socialist. All important positions are filled by National Socialists, but some of the people have remained the same as before. In economic life and in the organizations the strength of the National Socialist revival makes itself felt. Only the younger generation, however, will surrender to the idea completely. It is the task of the old guard, after the governmental basis has been created, to deepen and intensify the spirit of Adolf Hitler and the idea of national life. We must keep in mind the dead comrades who were not permitted to experience National Socialist Germany. Let us think of what they called out to us so often: “Forward over graves!”

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The Story of a Farmer

Photo: Farmer uses rotary tiller made by Siemens-Schuckert-Werke of Berlin, Germany, 1923. From Scientific American
December, 1923.

[The author was born in 1909 in Tilsit, the northeastern part of eastern Prussia. He was the son of a farmer and was appalled during the war when Russians ransacked the family farm. He was even more appalled as a student to learn of the German surrender and the Treaty of Versailles. He hated the Weimar government and its bourgeois leaders; he also hated that Germans lost lands after World War I and his town Tilsit was among the losses. In school during the 1920s, the author joined a youth group devoted to the fatherland and heard of the National Socialists and their Beer Hall Putsch. As his family and other farming families struggled in the 1920s, the author placed blame on the Jews for the high rates of interest on loans. As the author saw it, all of Germany’s problems, especially the problems for farmers, stemmed from the presence of Jews. These ideas were reinforced by veterans from World War I who spoke to his youth organization. In 1931, the author left school and decided to go out into the world.]

On November 1 [1931] I returned home to my parents. That same month I was determined to take an active part in the work of the Party. I wanted to help, to fight, and to suffer for the idea of our leader; I wanted to found a local group of the Party. I consulted the district leader, who advised me to organize a group in my home district. Filled with courage and confident of victory, I began my recruiting. I went from house to house, from farm to farm. What disappointment! Men who had always talked of themselves as if they were extremely ardent nationalists refused their aid. A few farmer’s sons and young field laborers joined me. These first members were still our best. They grasped National Socialism not with their mind but with their emotions. They had not learned National Socialism from books. Their blood, their natural instincts drove them to the movement. Like myself, they sought the road to the people and, like myself, found it by ridding themselves of class consciousness and seeing only the fellow-countryman in every German. We gave something to the simple man: we strengthened his soul. . . .

[In early 1932 the author’s family suffered a tragedy in the loss of a prizewinning horse. The author buried his grief in greater work for the party. Through the economic hardships and political chaos of 1932, the Nazis in Tilsit steadily gained support and the author felt proud to be part of this accomplishment.]

In July the Leader came to Tilsit. I saw him for the first time. About 40,000 people from near and far had gathered to greet him. I wore the brown shirt for the first time. Those hours will never be forgotten. The Leader spoke. For the first time I head his voice. His words were straight to the heart. From now on my life and efforts were dedicated to the Leader. I wanted to be a true follower. The Leader spoke of the threatened ruin of the nation and of the resurrection under the Third Reich. What matter personal interests, and social status? How insignificant had all parties become to my eyes. How despicable was Communism, whose champions attempted to interrupt this meeting and had to be driven away by force. . . .

While our Leader was preparing for the decisive blow in the state of Lippe, I employed my time in enlarging and strengthening the local group. Then came January 30 [1933]. The gates of power were opened; we entered with iron discipline. We might have avenged ourselves bitterly, but we disdained to do so. Our love of our nation was so great that petty plans for revenge had no room. Day and night we sacrificed ourselves for the reconstruction of the nation. Our quick tempo drew along the diffident ones. Then came the longed for hour when the web of lies of miserable seducers of the people was torn apart. The workman in the office or behind the plow, the one behind the anvil and in the mines, the government employee, the farmer, the artisan—all had their faith in Germany restored. We, however, swore faith and obedience to our Leader, an oath which I shall keep to death.

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