The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-08-22
BY GUY V. MILLER

BY GUY V. MILLER
A stein Of Bavarian beer started
Adolf Hitler on the path to fame
and power in Germany.
So far as is known. it was the
first time beer ever played an i'm
portant part in the history of any
nation. Heretofore, such roles had
been left to more potent and cost
lier liquors.
The pages Of history are filled
with incidents, where a general i'm
Dibed too freely on the night before
a decisive battle and thereby lost
the battle and the war, as well. And
there are numerous stories of how
mobs, inflamed by wine, began reVc-
lutions which changed their coun-
try's history.
But beer never before had been
blamed or credited for possessing
such power
Past Is Dead
Today, Hitler probably does not
even recall that eventful glass of
beer AS he sits in his Berlin head
quarters, awaiting his chance to take
over the chancellorship of Germany,
the Fascist chieftain keeps his
thoughts glued to the present and
the future.
To him the past is dead, it offers
no Ideas of inspiration. Besides,
Herr Hitler has some unpleasant
memories stored in his busy brain
about his boyhood days in Lambach,
his native Austrian village, and his
early life in Vienna.
For some unexplained reason, he
doesn't like to recall those days too
closely
And yet, to know the Adolf Hitler
of today dynamic leader of Ger
manys largest political party, one
first must study the Hitler Of the
past.
Formed Ideals Early
For it was in his early years,
before the winds of political fortune
picked him up and carried him to
success, that Hitler formed the
ideals and prejudices that persist to
this day.
While a laborer in Vienna he de-
veloped his deep-rooted hatred for
Jews, which today is a major prin-
ciple Of the National Socialists, or
Fascists.
And it was in Lambach that Hit
Ter. son of an Austrian customs Of
fetal and a Bohemian mother, first
acquired his ideas about keeping
Germany's blood free from the
imaginary faint of other races.
Today those same ideas likewise
have been incorporated into the
program of Fascism.
But that glass of beer played the
greatest role in Hitler's life. Had
he not drank it, he probably never
would have joined the German La
Dor party as member No. 7.
UnequaIIed as Orator
The party later was to change its
name to the National Socialist
party, under the guiding hand of
Hitler.
And had there been no member
No. in the German Labor party
it is extremely doubtful if Fascism
ever would have reached the heights
it occupies today.
For Herr Hitler has no equal in
Germany today as political orator
and without his fiery speeches to
sway usually stolid Germans, the
party probably would have met an
early death.
But Adolf Hitler drank that glass
of beer and the world knows the
rest of the story.
The beer drinking incident oc-
Cured in 1919 at Munich, the city
to which Hitler had returned after
his fighting days were over.
JoSlesS and penniless, he had be-
come one OF several thousand eX-
soldiers, who wandered through the
streets of the Bavarian capital.
listening idly to the political
speeches of street corner orators.
Beer Inspires Him.
But, on the eventful day that was
to start Hitler on his meteoric ca
reer, he had squandered a few pen
MES of his meager savings on a
glass of beer
To man who had been without
food all day. the beer had a magic
effect. With a warm glow in his
stomach and his mind clouded by
pleasant haze, he had strolled into
a corner saloon where a political
meeting of the German Labor party
was to be held
AS he entered the meeting hall.
Hitler noticed large table on the
platform around which six men were
seated.
Although he did not know it.
they were the party, its entire men,
bership. Scattered about the room
we're two dozen people, forming the
audience.
The speaker was an ex-Munich
journalist, who spoke vaguely of his
party's platform, which he guaran-
teed as certain cure for Germany's
woes. Among its planks was one
urging the union of Germany and
Austria.
Opposes Union of Counties
That mention of union stirred
Hitler to action. He knew Austria
well. To him. it was a country peo-
pied by alien races. whose blood
would soil that of pure Germany.
Leaping to his feet, he excitedly
contradicted the speaker, shouting
in shrill voice with many gestures.
The audience. almost lulled to sleep
by the low, deep-throated voice of
the previous speaker, sat up and
looked interested.
No, Hitler told them. union was
not for Germany. Austria. he said
with appropriate grimaces, had too
many Jews and SlavS.
What II most of the people were
German? If they wanted to be
Teuton in fact as well as name. let
them move to Germany, as he had.
Speech Wins Approval
The audience was impressed and
roared Its approval. 1t was Adolf
Hitler's drst political speech. one
which he might have never made