Here is a video that I found on youtube with Hitler giving a speech. There are English subtitles of course.
I've always heard in my history classes and what not that Hitler was a great speaker and that is one of the main reasons he has come into power but after watching this videos and a few other I have come to realize that he has a more powerful and commanding voice, and not necessarily a good speaker. I have no knowledge of the German language yet it seems to me that he is not necessarily articulate or that the content of his speeches are amazing but he is very forceful and commands an audience very well. I personally think a good speaker must include great content and not just how it is presented. This could be just the translation, but Hitler's speeches seem to lack much complexity. Well, once again, solely my biased opinion.
When watching this video I think it is ironic that he points out that his party is not seen as German and that it seems like Hitler completely forgot he is not German born at all and that he claims to be German.
Also reading much of the comments of the Hitler youtube videos it made me more aware that people are knowledgeable about Hitler and much of his history and made me quite compelled to learn more about him and this topic.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Auschwitz
Auschwitz is a home to the Nazi’s largest concentration camp. It was initially was established by Germans in 1940, in the suburbs of Oswiecim, a Polish city that was annexed to the Third Reich by the Nazis. Oswiecim’s name was later changed to Auschwitz. Initially set up because the mass arrests of the Poles and local prisons were overflowing. At its peak in the summer of 1944, Auschwitz covered about 40 sq. km. in the core area, and more than 40 branch camps dispersed within a radius of several hundred kilometers.
Living conditions at the camp were horrible to say the least. Initially Auschwitz Concentration Camp opened in former Polish army barracks in June 1940. Twenty brick buildings were adapted, of which 6 were two-story and 14 were single-story. At the end of 1940, prisoners began adding second stories to the single-story blocks. The following spring, they started erecting 8 new blocks. This work reached completion in the first half of 1942. The result was a complex of 28 two-story blocks, the overwhelming majority of which were used to house prisoners. As a rule, there were two large rooms upstairs and a number of smaller rooms downstairs. The blocks were designed to hold about 700 prisoners each after the second stories were added, but in practice they housed up to 1,200. For the first several months of the camp there were no beds but instead straw stuffed mattresses. The amenities throughout the camp were very primitive and initially the prisoners drew water from wells and relieved themselves in an outdoor latrine. Eventually the barracks were revamped with indoor toilets and urinals and such, yet it is not to say that their lives improved. The barracks were over capacity and conditions were horrid. With regards to food they received 3 meager meals a day usually consisting of a morning half a liter of “coffee,” or rather boiled water with a grain-based coffee substitute added, or “tea”—a herbal brew. These beverages were usually unsweetened. The noon meal consisted of about a liter of soup, the main ingredients of which were potatoes, rutabaga, and small amounts of groats, rye flour, and Avo food extract. The soup was unappetizing, and newly arrived prisoners were often unable to eat it, or could do so only in disgust. Supper consisted of about 300 grams of black bread, served with about 25 grams of sausage, or margarine, or a tablespoon of marmalade or cheese. With their lack of nutritious food they were expected to go out and perform laborious tasks within and outside the camp.
By the end of the Second World War there were approximately 1.1 million Jews killed at Auschwitz and about 200,000 others including Poles, Gypsies, and Soviet POWs were also murdered. It is apparent that punishments throughout the camp were harsh and to indicate here is a picture of a punishment report.
The punishment was for picking an apple and it that warranted five nights of standing in the cell. Punishments were completely arbitrary and the most common offense was seeking more food. The harshest punishment of course was death which did not necessarily have to do anything to receive and many were condemned death by simply arriving to the camp. They types of exterminations practiced were shooting, gassing, hanging, and starvation.
Throughout my research it becomes more and more appalling what has happened to many innocent people simply because of their religion and/or beliefs.
Sources:
http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/h/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
http://www.answers.com/topic/auschwitz
Living conditions at the camp were horrible to say the least. Initially Auschwitz Concentration Camp opened in former Polish army barracks in June 1940. Twenty brick buildings were adapted, of which 6 were two-story and 14 were single-story. At the end of 1940, prisoners began adding second stories to the single-story blocks. The following spring, they started erecting 8 new blocks. This work reached completion in the first half of 1942. The result was a complex of 28 two-story blocks, the overwhelming majority of which were used to house prisoners. As a rule, there were two large rooms upstairs and a number of smaller rooms downstairs. The blocks were designed to hold about 700 prisoners each after the second stories were added, but in practice they housed up to 1,200. For the first several months of the camp there were no beds but instead straw stuffed mattresses. The amenities throughout the camp were very primitive and initially the prisoners drew water from wells and relieved themselves in an outdoor latrine. Eventually the barracks were revamped with indoor toilets and urinals and such, yet it is not to say that their lives improved. The barracks were over capacity and conditions were horrid. With regards to food they received 3 meager meals a day usually consisting of a morning half a liter of “coffee,” or rather boiled water with a grain-based coffee substitute added, or “tea”—a herbal brew. These beverages were usually unsweetened. The noon meal consisted of about a liter of soup, the main ingredients of which were potatoes, rutabaga, and small amounts of groats, rye flour, and Avo food extract. The soup was unappetizing, and newly arrived prisoners were often unable to eat it, or could do so only in disgust. Supper consisted of about 300 grams of black bread, served with about 25 grams of sausage, or margarine, or a tablespoon of marmalade or cheese. With their lack of nutritious food they were expected to go out and perform laborious tasks within and outside the camp.
By the end of the Second World War there were approximately 1.1 million Jews killed at Auschwitz and about 200,000 others including Poles, Gypsies, and Soviet POWs were also murdered. It is apparent that punishments throughout the camp were harsh and to indicate here is a picture of a punishment report.
The punishment was for picking an apple and it that warranted five nights of standing in the cell. Punishments were completely arbitrary and the most common offense was seeking more food. The harshest punishment of course was death which did not necessarily have to do anything to receive and many were condemned death by simply arriving to the camp. They types of exterminations practiced were shooting, gassing, hanging, and starvation.
Throughout my research it becomes more and more appalling what has happened to many innocent people simply because of their religion and/or beliefs.
Sources:
http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/h/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
http://www.answers.com/topic/auschwitz
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A brief background on Hitler and his rise to power
Adolf Hitler is an obvious association with the Nazi Party. It is interesting to note that Hitler was not even German born and was originally from Austria, yet by 1921 Hitler was the leader for Germany’s Nazi Party.
Hitler initially wanted to be an artist and applied and was rejected by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. Hitler eventually moved to Munich which also served a purpose of avoiding Austria’s military service. Hitler “volunteered for war service in 1914 and joined a Bavarian regiment. Twice wounded, Hitler resented Germany's defeat, and explained it by reference to treachery. The traitors were the men of the left and the democrats who accepted the Versailles Treaty, forced on Germany by the Allies” (http://www.answers.com/hitler%27s%20bio).
With the Nazi Party in 1923 Hitler attempted a coup later known as the “Beer Hall Putsch” and was unsuccessful and was jailed. When in jail he wrote Mein Kampf which essentially was on German nationalism, and superiority as well as hatred of the Jews, Marxists and what Hitler felt was a need for a totalitarian state. Following the coup the Nazis were initially banned and with careful maneuver Hitler took a large role in getting the party un-banned. Initially the Nazi party did not have a great deal of success in the Reichstag (German parliament); only 2.6% in 1928 but rose rapidly and by 1933, they reached 43.9%. They were the largest party in the Reichstag. Political support came with the belief that Hitler and the Nazis helped create a prosperous Germany which was especially impressive following World War I and the harsh reparations Germany received.
Hitler was then appointed as Chancellor and sworn in January 1933. While Chancellor Hitler was able to control the Reichstag and prevented opponents to gain a majority and even went as far to persuade the President at the time to dissolve parliament and the building was set on fire that following February. Hitler blamed the fire on communists and went and suppressed communist parties. Because of suppression to political opposition political parties other than the Nazis were dissolved and the Nazis were declared to be the only legal party in Germany by July.
Paul von Hindenburg, the President prior to Hitler died the summer of 1934 and Hitler was able to become head of state without any presidential election because Hitler’s cabinet passed a law where it would transfer power. Hitler became the head of state and which included the duty of the commander of armed forces.
I feel it is important to understand Hitler’s background and though we might never understand his motives completely it gives us some understanding.
Sources: Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_hitler
Answers.com @ http://www.answers.com/hitler%27s%20bio
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Nazi Party Beginnings
The National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), commonly known as the Nazi Party succeed the German Workers’ Party. The original German Workers’ Party was founded by Anton Drexler (the picture above is him) in 1919. Drexler was encouraged to found the party by his mentor whose wish for the party was both in touch with the masses and nationalist whom he felt was unlike the middle class parties of the time. The initial membership for the DAP (the German abbreviation for the party name, Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) was only about forty people and was mostly composed of Drexler’s colleagues. Later that same year Adolf Hitler at the time a corporal for the German army went to spy on the DAP and while he was there he got into an argument with a guest and following the incident Drexler, impressed with Hitler’s oratory skills, he invited him to join the party. Hitler would go on to accept the party invitation and would quickly rise through the party ranks to become a leading figure for the party. The name would soon be changed to what now known as the Nazi party in 1920. The Nazi party would go on to stress the failure of democracy and capitalism and that Germany needed to be racially pure which did not include the Jewish, Roma, homosexuals, disabled and those who simply did not agree with the Nazi ideology.
Following my research I was surprised by the somewhat humble start of the Nazi party, yet the fact that Drexler would notice Hitler’s oratory skills which would later propel him and his goal of the Final Solution. It will be interesting to see the development of the Nazi party up until the present and I look forward to finding out more information and then sharing it with you.
Sources:
Answers.com @ http://www.answers.com/topic/nazi-party-2, accessed 4-15-09
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Hello!
Hello! My name is Maria and I am currently taking a class called Crimes Against Humanity and an assignment that I am currently in the process of doing is an academic blog on the of Nazism. The Nazis commited grave crimes against humanity specifically the Jews, but they are still around today and I have no knowledge of their current ideology and it would be interesting to learn about it. I will try to look at as many aspects of this topic as possible including present day Nazism and its effects. Nazism from my understanding has not stopped after Hitler and World War II and it definitely poses interesting concerns and questions in my mind. I am open to any constructive criticism and input because I am still learning about blogging and about Nazism as well. I hope to hear from anyone with an interest!
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