In 1990 I was at an international communications conference in Berlin hosted
by Deutsche Bundespost Telekom.
On the weekend I took a long autumn walk from my hotel down the
Tiergartenstrasse past the park, and up to the Unter Den Linden, and from
there to the Brandenburg Gate. The famous 'Checkpoint Charlie' was no
longer standing, but you could see where it had been.
I had wanted to see the Pergamon Museum in what had been East Berlin on
'Museum Island' in the Spree River, to see the famous Pergamon Altar, and the
Ishtar Gate and Processional Way. I also visited the Alte
Nationalgalarie.
Some of the other buildings were old and in a state of disrepair. I
rememeber how many still carried bullet holes and signs of the war, even
after so many years.
But on the way there, between the Brandenburg Tor and the Staatsoper Haus, I
happened to spot a memorial at Bebelplatz. And in the middle of the square
was a metal plaque.
"In Der Mitte dieses Platzes verbrannten am 10. Mai
1933 Nationalsozialistische Studenten die Werke Hunderter freier
Schriftsteller, Publizisten, Philosophen und Wissenschaftler."
In the middle of this square on 10 May 1933 National Socialist students
burned the works of hundreds of freelance writers, publicists, philosophers
and scientists.
In the federal elections of 1928, the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche
Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP received only 2.6% of the national vote.
From the aftermath of the Crash of 1929, unemployment rose from 8.5% to 30%
in 1932.
In the federal elections of July 1932, the NSDAP received 37% of the
national vote, but 230 seats in Parliament, it had become the largest single
party.
In the federal elections of November 1932, the last free election in that
nation for some time, the NSDAP received 33% of the national vote, and 196 of
the seats.
In a January 1933 compromise promoted heavily by industrialists who feared socialism
and communism, the NSDAP party leader was named chancellor of a coalition
government.
In February 1933 there was a fire that destroyed part of the Reichstag
building that was blamed on the communists. In response, the government
passed the Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and
State , Reichstagsbrandverordnung, which suspended civil liberties and
outlawed all other political parties. This is also known as the Machtergreifung.
In March 1933, in an election marked by violent repression and the silencing
of most political opponents, starting with the left but moving quickly to
include the Social Democrats and the Zentrum, or Center Party, the
NSDAP received 43% of the national vote, and 288 seats out of 647.
The Enabling Act, Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich, was
passed, and plenary power was granted to the Chancellor to enact laws without
the involvement of the Reichstag.
By July 1933 there were about 27,000 key political leaders and journalists,
in opposition to the NSDAP, housed in newly established concentration camps
in Oranienburgm Esterwegen, Dachau, and Lichtenburg.
There were no more meaningful elections until 1949.
In their fear and anxiety some of the German people reached for a strong and
decisive leader who promised them a return to normalcy and freedom from their
fears and confusions, and the rest looked on, albeit often under threats of
incarceration and physical violence. His dedicated ranks of ardent followers
would form the phalanx of support, often disruptive and certainly unswayed by
empathy or tolerance for any other ideas or people except for themselves.
The will to power serves none but itself.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
"Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort
wo man Bücher verbrennt,
verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen."
Heinrich Heine, 1820
