In this week’s reading, one concept that was heavily written about was the complete gain of power from the Nazi party. How this was so easily accomplished is still a mystery to me. When the Nazi party initially took over, the economy was still awful; people were unemployed, starving, and hopeless. Apparently there were “ominous signs of increasing interest in the communist party amount the unemployed.” (142) I don’t quite see why the other political parties didn’t take full advantage of this desperate despair.
The Nazi party’s answer to this despair was more power and control over the people; “to convert the town’s mechanisms of power from democratic, pluralistic ones into instruments of dictatorship.” (159) This was intelligent on the Nazi’s behalf. If the people are too afraid to turn against you, they are more likely to join you. “Control of the city government made it possible to reward friends and punish enemies.” (173) The local citizens had realized that they no longer had personal freedom and lived in a constant state of terrorism by their own government. This was especially effective because the Nazi party took control of the local police.
By this point in time, there was no point to go against the German government. “Poverty, terror, bureaucratic chicanery, social isolation- a potent formula. Perhaps one should add what might have been the most significant factor of all: the sense of futility.” (190) There was never a real chance for any rebellion movement to happen. The Nazi party had seized all the available weapons for their own control. Even if another political party wanted to start a rebellion, there were too many Nazis around to make a real impact. Every other political party at this point had been killed, threatened, or silenced, and the Nazi party had moved on the keeping up the people’s hope and loyalty to the Nazi movement.
While I was reading this week, I was having the same thoughts. As I went through though, a lot of my questions about how a town could have let this happen were answered, and I think you answer these questions for yourself in your post. In my opinion, the other parties didn't take control because they knew they didn't really have a chance. The Nazis knew how to take over and would do everything in their power to do this in the most efficient way possible. Other parties probably feared standing up to the Nazis as well. The point you make about how important control of the government is is something to think about also. When a person is being rewarded for something they know is bad, they are likely to turn a blind eye.
ReplyDeleteThe speed with which they went from "pleasing" the town of Northeim to making them live in fear is scary to think about. As you mentioned, the townspeople had no way to revolt or rebel, and once they realized they wanted to it was too late.