Who is This Man?

The country was in a shambles. Thousands of unemployed people were starving and inflation was at its highest. The country was still weak because of the cost of war, a losing war. Then a charismatic character brought them all together. He blamed the problem on the rich shopkeepers and business owners. He spoke with conviction and banded them. He led them and they hoped for that kind of uniting leadership. This type of union only came because people were desperate and willing to put the blame for their woe on someone. It seemed logical it should be those that had more than they had. What was once a blessed life was that of despair. They couldn't help themselves. They needed someone. However, this man secretly hated a group of people and had plans that are more sinister for his power.

He was not born in the country that he would one day preside over, but later the place of his birth would become part of that nation. This man grew up in a rather unstable home. He his father had several wives and he, many half siblings. He was younger and often didn't live up to his potential. Some called him lazy. He went to a number of different schools but one of them was a religious school that would later play an important role in his future.

His mother was pregnant when she married the man that would be his father. Later he lived with his mother and loved her dearly but secretly resented his father who at that time was absent in his life. Though he used one name, there was question whether it was his actual name since there was a legitimacy issue in the past. Even though he didn't have a job, he always had plenty of money and traveled about like a man of means.

This sinister man traveled with many that were less than upstanding citizens. He found his way when he began working for those that had less, the workers of that country. He hated deeply some of the business owners of the cities and resented those with money. He also hated and deeply resented one particular group of people. This hatred and resentment may have come because he knew he contained the same blood as they.

He learned the hard way that only through political maneuvering and use of legal moves to manipulate the constitution and gain forces in the legislative body, could he ever have control and power. His charisma and ability to speak well was the way to gain that control. He didn't need to have a plan, but he did and it said that too few people had too much wealth and it needed to go the rightful people, the genuine people, the workers. His party was for the working people.

He appealed to all people, both the right and the left. He attempted and succeeded in forming a group of heterogeneous followers. People flocked after him and praised him like a God. They followed his every wish and whim. The famous invited him to their functions and he found that using hatred of those with money, mixed with persuasion allowed him to make his climb to power. People loved to listen to him. Most couldn't tell you exactly what he stood for, they only knew they stood for something better for them.

Who was this man? If you were thinking it's one of our more contemporary politicians running for a higher office in our country, you'd be wrong. This man was born April 20, 1889 in Austria. His political party was the National Socialist German Workers Party. He attended the Catholic Benedictine monastery growing up and used one of the symbols carved into the woodwork for his national insignia, the swastika. His father died when he was young but had married several different times. He hated his absent father because of the beatings he generously doled out to the family.

This man was Adolf Hitler. He came to power because people wanted the message he had to offer, a group to blame for their economic woe and despair. He united and divided at the same time. His father was the illegitimate son of a housekeeper and potentially the rich Jewish employer. He hated his father and the anger at the Jews may have come from that hatred.

Hitler's political activities against the government led him to a short stint in prison and then he found that if he used legal maneuvers of the Weimar Constitution, built a mass movement and controlled the parliament, he could be the supreme ruler.

He took on a role as an organizer for the German army that taught politics. Every soldier was glad to hear that they weren't to blame for the despair and failure of the country; it was after all, the fault of the rich Jewish shopkeepers. Hitler officially became a citizen of Germany and then decided to run for president.

Conservatives in Germany actually helped to get him nominated for presidency. He began to consolidate the parties to a one party system and used intimidation tactics to get what he wanted. We all know how badly the rest of the story goes. It is an era of shame for the German people.

However, were they really responsible? It is amazing that during times of strife how good people, honest people and normally loving people turn to anyone that offers hope and salvation. Germany in the years before Hitler rose to power was in a huge economic slump. Their paper money was almost worthless and they were desperate for a leader. Hitler promised them a path that would increase their prosperity. They wanted to believe. He offered a scapegoat in the Jews. Everything bad in life was their doing and by their elimination, life would be grand again.

Let us not ever forget the horrors that defeat and depression can bring. Let us all learn to listen with a critical ear and watch for signs that something's not right when we make our political choices. Always remember the holocaust and the thousands of lives that it took. Learn the issues and the backgrounds of the candidates before you pull the lever to vote in any election.

This isn't intended to draw comparisons, back any candidate or negate any person. If it were, it would have been published months ago when it was written, but I waited to publish it, lest others believed it to be a comparison for this election. It is just a piece of history in honor of Yom Hashoah, the Jewish day of remembrance.