Adolf Hitler is appointed chancellor and the crowds go wild little realizing that Germany would never be the same again.
January 1933 saw Hitler as Chancellor and his rise to power was nearing its total completion.Adolf Hitler was appointed to the Chancellorship on 30th January 1933. Reactions to this varied from absolute joy to fear anxiety and alarm. The Nazis of course were thrilled as this was the triumph they had dreamed of.
Crowds Cheer the Newly Appointed chancellor
After his appointment with Reich President Hindenburg Hitler returned to the Kaiserhof, as the newly appointede Chancellor, accompanied by wildly cheering crowds. As he stepped out of the elevator on the first floor of the Kaiserhof with Goebbels and other Nazi leaders Hitler declared, “ Now we’ve got there.”
Goebbels promptly organized a torchlight procession of marching SA and SS men through the center of Berlin that started by 7pm and continued until well after midnight. He also exploited the newly available facilities of state radio to provide an ongoing and stirring commentary.
The numbers of men marching differed depending on who was asked. Goebbels claimed that a million men had taken part whilst the Nazi press halved that number and the British Ambassador estimated a maximum figure of some 50,000.
Regardless of numbers the display was a spectacular one. For Nazi followers it was unforgettable, exhilarating and intoxicating but for those at home and abroad who feared the consequences of Hitler’s power it was menacing.
The German Youth are Mesmerized
Many young people were mesmerized by what they saw. The marching columns gave a magical splendor to the idea of the national community. The fascinating torchlight procession through Berlin’s center led many to visualize the dawn of a new era and afterwards many of the young boys and girls would join the Hitler Youth Organization and the German Girls League.
Reich President Hindenburg watched the endless parade from his window and as the procession passed him there were respectful shouts but these respectful shouts turned into wild cheering and acclaim when the marchers came to the window where Adolf Hitler was standing. For those standing with Hitler to witness the parade it symbolized the transition from a moribund regime to the new revolutionary forces.
The Day of the National Uprising
The 30th January 1933, the day of Hitler’s appointment to the chancellorship immediately became stylized in Nazi mythology as the ‘day of the national uprising.’ This historic 30th January 1933 would always be the day that was an end and a beginning. The day that marked the start of the process that would lead to war, genocide and the inhumane behavior whose path would end in Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, Majdanek and all the other death camps whose names are synonymous with the horror of Hitler and Nazism.
Source :
Hitler - Ian Kershaw published by W.W. Norton & Co (1998)
