Five Brothers and a War

Hitler’s Rise to Power

After Hitler’s almost comical attempt to seize power in the city of München in 1923, named the “Beer Hall Putsch”, and Hitler’s subsequent and resultant prison term (during which he wrote his manifesto, “Mein Kampf”) , he decided that the only way to gain power was through the election process. However, this would follow a path that was as much through violence and intimidation as it was through democracy. Hitler used his skills in oratory to gain the initial attention of his adopted Bavaria, in southern Germany. Along with the muscle provided by the SA, he continued on a campaign of speeches and violence. The election in 1928 saw the Nazi Party get about 1% of the overall vote. Ultimately, both the Nazi Party and the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (KDP) (“Communist Party of Germany”) were in combat with each other, and simultaneously with each other against the Weimar Republic. Both were committed to the destruction of the Weimar Republic, and its perceived weakness, particularly on the issue of the Treaty of Versailles. Against the background of the new economic crisis (with the collapse of the stock market in 1929, and the resultant worldwide economic depression, “The Great Depression”, a fertile breeding ground for Nazism was being created. On the morning of January 14, 1930, prominent Nazi Party member and SA Commander Horst Wessel got into an argument with his landlady. It is unclear whether the argument dealt with the rent or Wessel’s activity as a pimp, but in any event, it had profound consequences, because the landlady was a member of the KDP. She went to one of her Rotfront (Red Front) friends who shot Wessel. During the next weeks, as Wessel was dying, the Nazi Party heavily promoted the song Wessel had penned months earlier, seizing on the public sentiment and the extraordinarily catchy tune. When Wessel died, the song was played at his funeral, and was subsequently adopted as the Nazi anthem. It remained so until the end of World War II in 1945. It was called Horst-Wessel-Lied (“The Horst Wessel Song”). The meaning of the song was as clear as the melody was inspiring and uplifting. Note that aside from the theme calling for brotherhood and action, the song refers to the time of bondage ending soon, with freedom and bread awaiting. The hope of the cross, in this case the Hackenkreuz, (“hack cross”—the German word for “swastika”), also features prominently. So too did the Rotfront .

nazi germany

Five Brothers and a War

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