WWII | General Nazism |
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If many books have been written about Hitler, many have been written also about the nazi movement and the people in nazi Germany. We have read some of them and don't want to make a summary of everything that has been said a million times, but we would like to add a few facts we have considered specially interesting. (BTW, The state of Bavaria owns Hitler's former home in the Alps and all rights to Mein Kampf...wow.... You can check here some interesting facts about nazism, and also some jokes of the time or some songs and poems. 20-30% of the German population didn't meet the Nazi criteria of racial hygiene. In 1935 abortion was made legal for the racially inferior, but it meant imprisonment for pure blood Germans. Sterilization for the handicapped and mentally ill began in 1933. Half million people were sterilized by 1945. People complained about the murder of the mentally ill and it was stopped, showing Hitler cared what people thought about his policies. Loans the equivalent of approx. 1 year salary were given to married couples. If the couple had 4 children, they didn't have to pay back the loan. Awards were also given for children: 4-6 children : Mother's cross (bronze) 6-8: Silver cross 9 or > : Gold cross. Lebensborn Project: Women were encouraged to have children even if they were not married. The preferred sperm donors for those children were member of the SS. When these women were pregnant, they were sent to special houses where they were taken care of and they had to leave the children behind to be raised by the Nazi organization, as the future SS and nazi members. The motto was: Not every woman can be a wife, but every woman can be a mother. (of course, racial tests had to be passed to be admitted into the program). 30% of SS leaders were university graduates, compared to 3% of the population as a whole. Punishment rules in the concentration camps:
After Rudolph Hoess was promoted to Berlin, his replacement in Auschwitz, Kommandant Arthur Liebehenschel, ordered the indiscriminate beatings of prisoners stopped. He created a swimming-pool for Kapos and prisoners that worked well. Prisoners rations improved. No member of the SS was to be married without Himmler's approval. SS men had their blood type tattooed on their arms, in case a blood transfusion was necessary in an emergency. Other SS men with the same blood type were easily identified. An order was given for people to put out swastikas for each victory. If there was a gap, the block supervisor appeared and called the culprit to account. There was a 2 hour grace to buy flags. Anyone who didn't put up the flags was taken away. Berliners had a sense of humor during the war. The head of the Berlin Air Protection Service advised people to go to bed early and get at least a couple of hours sleep before the raids started, so that no matter how heavy a raid was they would be ready for work. Berliners joked that people could be divided in 3 groups in the shelters. Those who greeted the others with good morning how followed the advice. Those who said good evening had not yet sleep. Those who said Heil Hitler had always been sleep. When the trains were carrying 'enemies of the state' to the camps, the operation was run with extreme efficiency. The trains were in schedule. If the order was for 1000 people in a train, there would be 1000, not 1001 and not 999. Check out some jokes of the time: On the first of January, there will be a new law on putting fibers in clothes. It's not going to work. Some of the fiber comes from the spider webs in the brain of Hitler. Some from the webs of lies woven by Goebbels. Some from the medal ribbon on Goering's chest. That leaves just the bad threads worn by the German people. On his deathbed, a wounded soldier asked to see for one last time the people for whom he had laid down his life. The nurses brought the picture of the Fuehrer and put it on his right. They put one of Goering on his left. Then the soldier said: now I can die like Jesus, between two criminals. The perfect German? Blond as Hitler, slim as Goering and tall as Goebbels. An SS man says to a Jew in a concentration camp, "you will die today, but I'll give you one last chance. I have a glass eye. If you can tell which one, I'll spare you" "it's the left one, Sir" replied the Jew. "how did you guess?" the Jew replies "it looked more human". Stalingrad: valiant German soldier captured a 2 room flat with kitchen, toilet and bathroom , and, despite fierce counter attacks by Soviet bandits, managed to retain two thirds of it. A water main bursts in the Air Ministry basement. Goering calls his secretary: "Bring me my Admirals uniform immediately!" One night, Emmy Goering sees her husband performing a strange dance with his baton. She asks him what he is doing and he replies: "I'm promoting my underpants to overpants." two Jews talking after Kristallnacht: Check out also some songs and poems: Jesus and Hitler. As Jesus freed men from sin and hell, so Hitler freed the German people from destruction. Jesus and Hitler were persecuted, but while Jesus was crucified Hitler was raised to the chancellorship...Jesus strove for Heaven, Hitler for the German earth. Adolf Hitler, you are our great leader. Thy name makes the enemy tremble. Thy Third Reich comes, thy will alone is law upon earth. Let us hear daily thy voice and order us by thy leadership, for we will obey to the end even with our lives. We praise thee! Heil Hitler. Fuehrer, my Fuehrer, sent to me from God, protect and maintain me throughout my life. Thou who hast saved Germany from deepest need, I thank thee today for my daily bread. Remain at my side and never leave me, Fuehrer, my Fuehrer, my faith, my light. Heil my Fuehrer. Silent night, holly night in the presence of the blood flag which represents our Fuehrer, I swear to devote all my energies, all my strength to the savior of our country, Adolf Hitler. I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God. One Volk, One Reich, One Fuehrer. I consecrate my life to Adolf Hitler; I am ready to sacrifice my life for Hitler; I am ready to die for Hitler, my savior, the Fuehrer. (Hitler's youth) I swear by God this sacred oath, that I will render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Fuehrer of the German Reich and people, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and will be ready as a brave soldier to risk my life at any time for this oath. Benign blue eyes and iron-sword hand Hitler's poem to his mother: When your mother has grown old holidays in the nazi calendar: Jan 30 - takeover of power no evil priest can prevent us from feeling that we are the children of Hitler The flags held high! The ranks stand firm together! we love our Fuehrer |