The History and Rise of Nazism

Following defeat suffered at the end of WW I the Weimar Republic, 1919-1933, dealt with tre- mendous internal struggles. Reactions to the Treaty of Versailles and to the reparation payments were mixed. In general there was opposition to the terms of the Treaty from the political left and from the extreme right. Attempts to stabilize the republic and reestablish Germany's international position failed. The stock market crash of 1929 fueled the rise to power of the National Socialists - Nazis, bringing the Republic to an end. Under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi perpetrators, Germany entered an era of utter darkness which involved not only Germany, but most of Europe and, because of the conflict that emerged, the rest of the world as well.

The Third Reich was to have lasted a millennium. But after millions of innocent people had perish- ed it came to a destructive end after only twelve years. The years 1933 through 1939 brought about the Nazi revolution and the establishment of a totalitarian police state under Adolf Hitler. This culminated in the persecution and near extermination of the Jewish people of Europe when six million perished in Hitler's extermination centers. I would do an injustice to the Sinti and Roma people, the mentally retarded, the homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and clergy and priests belonging to other religious denominations who also perished by the hundreds of thousands in brutal Nazi concentration camps, if these were ignored. In addition to these, untold numbers of prisoners of war, predominantly Russian POWs, were slaughtered in what is generally referred to as the Holocaust.

In the early forming years of Nazi Germany, the nation went through a rigorous rearmament pro- gram which was against the terms of the treaty of Versailles. Rearmament brought conquest and conquest brought expansion in most of western and eastern Europe.

Germany aligned itself with Italy and Japan so creating the Axis alliance. World War II started in full force when the Nazis, under false pretense, invaded Poland and subdued her. In reality, the conquests for Europe had begun. Ultimate defeat at the hands of the Allied forces in 1945 marked the end of an evil empire which supposedly should have lasted a thousand years.