How did Hitler rise to power? - Alex Gendler and Anthony Hazard

Translator: Sune Vilsted Østergaard Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

How did Adolf Hitler,

Hvordan kom Adolf Hitler,

a tyrant who orchestrated one of the largest genocides in human history,

en tyran, der stod bag et af verdenshistoriens største folkemord,

rise to power in a democratic country?

til magten i et demokratisk land?

The story begins at the end of World War I.

Historien begynder i slutningen af 1. verdenskrig.

With the successful Allied advance in 1918,

Med de allieredes succesfulde fremmarch i 1918,

Germany realized the war was unwinnable

gik det op for tyskerne, at de ikke kunne vinde krigen

and signed an armistice ending the fighting.

og skrev under på en våbenhvile, der afsluttede kampene.

As its imperial government collapsed,

Mens den imperiale regering kollapsede

civil unrest and worker strikes spread across the nation.

spredtes uroligheder og strejker i hele landet.

Fearing a Communist revolution,

Af frygt for en kommunistisk revolution

major parties joined to suppress the uprisings,

slog større partier sig sammen for at undertrykke opstandene,

establishing the parliamentary Weimar Republic.

og etablerede den parlamentariske Weimar-republik.

One of the new government's first tasks

En af den nye regerings første opgaver

was implementing the peace treaty imposed by the Allies.

var at implementere den fredstraktat, der var dem pålagt af de allierede.

In addition to losing over a tenth of its territory and dismantling its army,

Foruden at miste over en tiendedel af deres territorium og demilitarisere,

Germany had to accept full responsibility for the war and pay reparations,

så skulle Tyskland acceptere ansvaret for krigen og betale krigsskadeerstatninger,

debilitating its already weakened economy.

hvilket svækkede deres allerede svage økonomi.

All this was seen as a humiliation by many nationalists and veterans.

Alt dette blev set som en ydmygelse af mange nationalister og veteraner.

They wrongly believed the war could have been won

De mente fejlagtigt, at krigen kunne være blevet vundet,

if the army hadn't been betrayed by politicians and protesters.

hvis ikke hæren havde været blevet forrådt af politikere og modstandere.

For Hitler, these views became obsession,

For HItler blev disse synspunkter en besættelse,

and his bigotry and paranoid delusions led him to pin the blame on Jews.

og hans bigotteri og paranoide illusioner førte ham til at skylde skylden på jøder.

His words found resonance in a society with many anti-Semitic people.

Hans ord fandt genlyd i et samfund med mange antisemitiske mennesker.

By this time, hundreds of thousands of Jews

På dette tidspunkt havde hundredtusindvis af jøder

had integrated into German society,

integreret sig i det tyske samfund,

but many Germans continued to perceive them as outsiders.

men mange tyskere fortsatte med at se dem som fremmede.

After World War I, Jewish success led to ungrounded accusations

Efter 1. verdenskrig førte jødisk succes til falske anklager

of subversion and war profiteering.

om samfundsomvæltning og krigsspekulation.

It can not be stressed enough that these conspiracy theories

Det kan ikke blive understreget nok, at disse konspirationsteorier

were born out of fear,

blev født af frygt,

anger,

vrede

and bigotry,

og bigotteri,

not fact.

ikke fakta.

Nonetheless, Hitler found success with them.

Alligevel fandt Hitler succes blandt dem.

When he joined a small nationalist political party,

Da han blev del af et lille nationalistisk politisk parti

his manipulative public speaking launched him into its leadership

førte hans manipulerende offentlige taler ham til toppen af partiet,

and drew increasingly larger crowds.

og tiltrak stadig større folkemængder.

Combining anti-Semitism with populist resentment,

Ved at kombinere antisemitisme med populistisk fortørnelse,

the Nazis denounced both Communism and Capitalism

fordømte nazisterne både kommunisme og kapitalisme

as international Jewish conspiracies to destroy Germany.

som internationale jødiske sammensværgelser, der skulle ødelægge Tyskland.

The Nazi party was not initially popular.

Til at starte med var nazistpartiet ikke populært.

After they made an unsuccessful attempt at overthrowing the government,

Efter de udførte et fejlslagen kup mod regeringen

the party was banned,

blev partiet bandlyst,

and Hitler jailed for treason.

og Hitler blev fængslet for forræderi.

But upon his release about a year later,

Men efter hans løsladelse omkring et år senere

he immediately began to rebuild the movement.

begyndte han med det samme at gendanne bevægelsen.

And then, in 1929, the Great Depression happened.

Og så i 1929 ramte Den Store Depression.

It led to American banks withdrawing their loans from Germany,

Det medførte at amerikanske banker trak deres lån tilbage fra Tyskland,

and the already struggling German economy collapsed overnight.

og den allerede svage tyske økonomi brød sammen natten over.

Hitler took advantage of the people's anger,

Hitler udnyttede folkets vrede

offering them convenient scapegoats

og gav dem belejlige syndebukke,

and a promise to restore Germany's former greatness.

og lovede at genskabe Tysklands tidligere storhedstid.

Mainstream parties proved unable to handle the crisis

De almindelige partier viste sig at være ude af stand til at håndtere krisen,

while left-wing opposition was too fragmented by internal squabbles.

mens venstrepartier var for splittet af interne skænderier.

And so some of the frustrated public flocked to the Nazis,

Og derfor flokkedes nogle af de frustrerede borgere til nazisterne

increasing their parliamentary votes from under 3% to over 18% in just two years.

og forøgede deres parlamentariske stemmer fra under 3% til over 18% på kun 2 år.

In 1932, Hitler ran for president,

I 1932 stillede Hitler op som præsident,

losing the election to decorated war hero General von Hindenburg.

men tabte til en dekoreret krigshelt, General von Hindenburg.

But with 36% of the vote, Hitler had demonstrated the extent of his support.

Men med 36% af stemmerne havde Hitler demonstreret omfanget af støtten til ham.

The following year, advisors and business leaders

I det følgende år overtalte rådgivere og forretningsledere

convinced Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as Chancellor,

Hindenburg til at udpege Hitler som kansler

hoping to channel his popularity for their own goals.

i håbet om at bruge hans popularitet til deres egne formål.

Though the Chancellor was only the administrative head of parliament,

Selvom at kansleren kun var den administrative leder af parlamentet

Hitler steadily expanded the power of his position.

udvidede Hitler gradvist sin positions magt,

While his supporters formed paramilitary groups

mens hans støtter dannede paramilitære grupper

and fought protestors in streets.

og bekæmpede demonstranter i gaderne,

Hitler raised fears of a Communist uprising

skabte Hitler frygt for et kommunistisk oprør,

and argued that only he could restore law and order.

og hævdede at kun han kunne skabe lov og orden igen.

Then in 1933,

I 1933

a young worker was convicted of setting fire to the parliament building.

blev en ung arbejder dømt for at sætte ild til den parlamentariske bygning.

Hitler used the event to convince the government

Hitler brugte anledningen til at overbevise regeringen

to grant him emergency powers.

om at bevilge ham nødbeføjelser.

Within a matter of months, freedom of the press was abolished,

Indenfor et par måneder blev pressefrihed afskaffet,

other parties were disbanded,

andre partier blev opløst

and anti-Jewish laws were passed.

og anti-jødiske love blev indført.

Many of Hitler's early radical supporters were arrested and executed,

Mange af Hitlers tidligere radikale støtter blev arresteret og henrettet

along with potential rivals,

sammen med mulige rivaler.

and when President Hindenburg died in August 1934,

Og da rigspræsident Hindenburg døde i august, 1934,

it was clear there would be no new election.

stod det klart at der ikke ville blive et nyt valg.

Disturbingly, many of Hitler's early measures didn't require mass repression.

Foruroligende nok, så benyttede Hitler ikke masseundertrykkelse til at starte med.

His speeches exploited people's fear and ire

Hans taler udnyttede folks frygt og vrede

to drive their support behind him and the Nazi party.

til at bakke op omkring ham og nazistpartiet.

Meanwhile, businessmen and intellectuals,

Forretningsfolk og intellektuelle,

wanting to be on the right side of public opinion,

som ønskede at tilslutte sig den offentlige mening,

endorsed Hitler.

støttede Hitler.

They assured themselves and each other

De forsikrede dem selv og hinanden om,

that his more extreme rhetoric was only for show.

at hans mere ekstreme retorik var ren proforma.

Decades later, Hitler's rise remains a warning

Årtier senere forbliver Hitlers vej til magten en advarsel

of how fragile democratic institutions can be in the face of angry crowds

om hvor skrøbeligt demokratiske institutioner kan være i mødet med vrede folkemængder

and a leader willing to feed their anger and exploit their fears.

og en leder, der er villig til, at fodre deres vrede og udnytte deres frygt.