Evening star., 1945-05-02

L
Lonely and fretful, he walked the
d. streets of. Vienna, envying the
wealthy and successful, particularly
the Jews. In significant passage
in "Mein Kampf" he tells of his first
keen awareness of the race he late,
was to destroy by the millions. See
ing a man who, to him. was par
tlcularly repugnant, and REALIZING
that he was a Jew, Hitler asked
himself:
Can this man be a Jew and also
a German?"
With the outbreak of the World
War, Hitler entered the army, rose
to the rank of corporal, Was deco
rated for bravery and was gaSsed
twice and wounded by shrapnel. He
was in military hospital when the
war ended.
AS the future Fuehrer relates in
his book, he went into blind rage
when he read the terms of the Ver-
sailles treaty, and resolved to
dedicate his life to freeing Germany
from the burdens imposed by it.
Morbid and resentful, he sought
the company of other malcontents
in Munich cafes-that Munich
which later was to become the site
of the Brown House and the nursery
of Naziism. Gradually he evolved
the theory of a totalitarian state
ruled by Aryans.
Seeds of Third Reich.
He and a group of companions
began to hold meetings at which he
eXpounded his ideas. In these were
nurtured the seeds OF the future
Third Reich.
In 1920 he issued a formal party
program of Is fundamental points
Two years of organization followed
and he launched the historic beer
cellar 'putsch.' His Brown Shirts"
started march on Berlin with the
battle cry the national revolution
has started!" But he. had mis-
judged his strength; detachments
of regular troops fired on his COL
umns outside the city limits. In the
midst of the melee he fed in an
automobile.
He was arrested at Ufhng, tried
on charges of sedition and sem
fenced to five years Imprisonment
in Landsberg Fortress on April l,
1924. In cell No 7, which was later
to become national shrine, he
wrote his autobiography, "Mein
Kampf." He was paroled in De-
cember, 1925.
Outlawed Party Reborn.
When he emerged from prison he
found his party outlawed, a laugh
ing stock. He picked up the loose
ends and 1000 men answered his
call to reconstitute the party. Men,
bership increased steadily in the
next few years. In 1929 it captured
u seats in the Reichstag. In AL
gust, 1929, he held rally at Nurn-
berg, enthused his followers, and
in subsequent elections gained 107
seats, second only to the Socialists,
who had 143.
He tried for the chancellorship
on the strength of the 1880 elec-
ton but President Hindenburg in
stead summoned Heinrich Bruening,
leader of the Catholic party. Hit
Ter scorned a proffered cabinet post;
already it was "all or nothing" He
announced his intention of estab-
fishing Third Reich. ~" Sweeping
gains were made in the next elec-
tions; Hindenburg offered him the
chancellorship, but surrounded it
with conditions and he declined.
Germany went to the polls Ave
times in one year and finally, on
January 30, 1888, Hitler became
Chancellor and formed his cabinet.
A Reichstag election was called
for March 5, 1888, but an incen-
diary fire destroyed the assembly
hall in Reichstag building on Feb
ruary 27. He blamed the Com
munists. The next day all consti-
tutional guarantees of free speech
and freedom of the press were sus-
pended. The election gave Hitler
288 seats; the Nazi juggernaut was
on its way.
First Boycott Of Jews.
The first organized boycott of
Jews was started, to be followed
later by drastic measures; Socialist
labor unions were outlawed; con-
centration camps received thou
sands of enemies of the state;
newspapers were reduced to gov
ernment voices. On January /,
1884, law to cleanse the race of
Inherited disease was promulgated.
A compulsory labor service was set
up and state autonomy was wiped
out. Free Masonry was trans
formed into the National Christian
Order of Frederick the Great. First
troubles with Protestant and Cath
ollc churches started
The world was startled on June 80
1884 by the ruthless blood purge"
of prominent members of the Nazi
party, who were called traitors of
the Reich. - The exact list of those
executed ranged from the official
list of II to estimates of several hun
dred. Hitler personally arrested
Capt. Ernst Roehm, close associate
dating from beer putsch days.
Roehm, and many right-hand men
were shot forthwith. Gen. Kurt Won
Schleicher, immediate predecessor of
Hitler in the chancellorship and his
wife were killed resisting arrest"
Hitler assembled the Reichstag and
told the members: Il was the Ger
man peoples supreme judge" A
month after the purge Hitler was
named constitutional successor to
Hindenburg, who had died. He an
nounced that henceforth he was
Der Fuehrer Qeader).
On October IA, 1898, Germany
withdrew from the disarmament
conference at Geneva; a week later
he resigned from the League of Ma
tions. In January, 1884, he signed a
10-year amity agreement with Po-
land-which country he was later
to invade and start another Euro
pean war.
Saar PIebiscite.
In January. 1885, the Saar voted,
in a plebiscite under the auspices
of the League of Nations, to return
to Germany. In March 1885, he