For some reason, people tend to measure Nazi Germany by what happened after the concentration camps were built and Germany marched on Poland.
Most people are not aware of how little time it took Hitler to control Germany.
He became chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933,
Feb. 1933:
Just 30 days later: the REICHSTAG (GERMAN PARLIAMENT) BUILDING was destroyed by fire.
Hitler called it a terrorist attack, in modern terms. ( It is recognized today as a false flag operation)
He used the incident to assume extraordinary powers in Germany.
Hitler convinced the German president, Paul von Hindenburg, to declare a state of emergency.
Constitutionally protected personal freedoms were suspended.
This meant NO freedom of press, speech, and assembly. Individuals lost the right to privacy, which meant that officials could read people's mail, listen in on telephone conversations, and search private homes without a warrant. ( sound familiar??)
March 5, 1933
Germany held its parliamentary election, and the Nazi party itself was defeated, tho they did get 45% of the vote.
But Hitler was still Chancellor.
He introduced a bill, called the "Enabling Act," that gave his government the power to decree laws without submitting them to a vote in the German parliament for the next 4 years.
( Think in terms of Executive Orders.)
Trade unions are shut down.
He creates the SA, called Storm troopers, to enforce laws and intimidate citizens, ( ICE, anyone?)
The SS became, after 1934, the private army of the Nazi party.
July 14, 1933
All political parties are dissolved except for the Nazi Party.
Non-Nazis are pressured to join the Nazi party, many citizens do, because they cannot get jobs otherwise.
Political opponents and others who refused to obey laws and policies of the Nazi regime, are arrested and some killed.
by now most Germans are all too aware of his control and the dangers of confronting it, because the SS will arrest them.
In August of 1934, the President of Germany dies. Hitler then takes control of the Government, the entire country.
It essentially took him only 6 months to kill democracy in Germany.
https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007671
and more detail here:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler/Rise-to-power
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