They Knew How To Die
Before They Knew How To Live

It is widely argued that Hitler is the most evil man in human history. He is responsible for the most devastating war this world has ever known, a needless war fueled by his own intolerance that led to the deaths of over fifty million people. He sanctioned acts of genocide so inhumane and on such a large scale that it is unlikely that humanity will ever see their like again. And yet, as disturbing as this might seem to someone far removed from the history of Hitler's rise to power, it is difficult not to begrudgingly admire the efficiency by which he resurrected a beleaguered Germany. He, nearly single-handedly, took a country that was collapsing under the weight of the Treaty of Versailles, almost universally despised, lacking any semblance of national pride, and in a few short years transformed Germany into a well-oiled military machine nearly bereft of poverty and beaming with national pride. Hitler was nothing short of the messiah for the German people, as can be witnessed in the 1934 film Triumph of the Will. Hitler's presence at the youth rally featured in the film is received with such fervor, such passion, that one can only wonder how a man of such evil could incite such a following. The answer is three-fold: Hitler's undeniable charisma as a leader, his re-structuring of Nuremberg, and the Hitler Youth program.

When people think of Hitler's leadership they think of how he rallied the general population, but perhaps the most important facet of Hitler's leadership was his hold over the high-ranking members of the National Socialist Party. Hitler had won the admiration of men such as Heinrich Himmler (commander of the SS) and Joseph Goebbels (propaganda minister). This helped him limit disagreements within the party and explains the enormous amount of activism, which was crucial to creating a sense of Nazi pride. He also targeted men with respected opinions such as doctors, lawyers, and students. Furthermore, he made a point to include farmers, to whom he addressed new policies, because he knew that their production would be sorely needed in the war he was planning.

Hitler was keen on deploying new technologies in his campaign. He distributed records of his speeches and films of his rallies, and he was the first politician to use an airplane to attend meetings. These served him well in attracting the attention of soon-to-be Nazis who formerly had little love for politics. Non-voters and women (who became a massive constituency for him, comprising over half the Nazi vote1) were afforded the opportunity to see and hear this charismatic radical who promised, and delivered, a rejuvenated Germany. Hitler's reversal of the Treaty of Versailles (which plummeted Germany into debt and prohibited them from raising a substantial army) and his innovative employment schemes were heard first-hand by everyone in the city. Hitler did not want to restrict political knowledge to the politicians. He broadcasted his political stratagems and victories for all to hear so that each man could celebrate and feel included.

A charismatic personality can be broken down into three traits, as outlined by Roger Eatwell: "Firstly, they are missionaries – they have a vision. Secondly, they deal in symbiotic hierarchy – they are both above and of the people. Thirdly, they engage in a demonization of enemies which not only reinforces the conception of the Other, but which also heightens threat."2 Hitler embodies all three of these traits. He had a clear vision for Germany: a united nation who would rise from the depths wrought by the Great War, only to take their rightful place as rulers of the world. He was very careful not to make an emperor of himself. In Triumph of the Will he says to the crowd "Whatever we create today, whatever we do, will all pass away. But in you, Germany will live on."3 He cleverly allows the people to believe that this is not his mission, but Germany's mission. Hitler is simply assuming a leadership role because that is what is needed, not because that is what he desires. Finally, Hitler's racist tirades against the Jews are well known. Germany was as hate-filled as he could have hoped it to be, which was demonstrated in his soldiers' execution of the holocaust.

To persuade ordinary men to march thousands of miles across the European continent just to kill complete strangers is a remarkable feat. Although few would make the connection, Adolf Hitler shares this ability with men like Charles Manson and even George Bush. These men are somehow able to incite the desire to kill for what leadership believes to be legitimate reasons for doing so. They accomplish this by creating the illusion of a just cause. If not all, then the majority of soldiers who enter battle do so because they believe that what they are doing is just. The war they are fighting is a worthwhile cause that needs to be fought. A just cause (either real or perceived) is essential to making war. No leader in history has galvanized a legion of men to kill innocents for no apparent reason. But unfortunately, "history reveals...that appeals to justice are every bit as effective in galvanizing the masses when the leader in question is depraved, for example, in the case of Adolf Hitler."4 It does not matter to the leader that the "just cause" may be criticized in retrospect. All that matters is whether it is substantial enough to outlast the conflict. In truth, the actual power of leaders who wage wars," says scholar Laurie Calhoun, "inheres not in their use of force against enemy nations but in their ability to persuade their constituency to commit what would ordinarily be regarded as crimes."5

The week-long festivities captured in Triumph of the Will are located in the city most symbolically important to the Nazi regime: Nuremberg. The Nazis held annual rallies here throughout much of the 1930's. The rallies were a series of gigantic, theatrical celebrations of unity, power, and fanaticism. While many great leaders use historically significant buildings or statues as backdrops of their campaigns, Hitler used Nuremberg's architecture as more than the stage for the performance: it was the performance. In order for this pageantry to be effective, the setting needed to be somewhere associated with German greatness, with historical significance, a place that could evoke strong national pride. That city was Nuremberg.

Nuremberg has a long history dating back to medieval times, and many relics of German significance were located there. Thus, in many ways it was already a symbol of national pride for many people. What Hitler needed was to somehow connect what was once great about Nuremberg and what would be great about Hitler's new vision. It was his wish to combine the architecture that gave Nuremberg its history, and the spectacle that would define the history that Hitler sought to create.

The rally grounds for the Nuremberg rallies contain a wide central column, called the Great Road, which splits the grounds. This is where esteemed speakers enter and it leads straight to the podium at the front of the grounds. This Great Road was built in such a direction that it is aligned with Nuremberg's Imperial castle several kilometers to the north. Also, parade routes that lead towards the grounds actually began at the Imperial castle and passed through Adolf-Hitler-Platz (the city's marketplace). These routes both "symbolically and literally constructed linkages between the medieval Holy Roman Empire and Hitler's Third Reich."6

While elaborate staging and lavish ceremonies are part of nearly every political movement, few have been as effective as the Nuremberg rallies. The structures that were built just for the event (the stadium could hold 70,000 people) awed the German public as well as the rest of Europe. Triumph of the Will won awards in Germany, Italy, and even the grand prize at the Paris International Film Festival in 1937. Even now, seventy years later, the images captured in the film have not lost any power.

Scholars Kong and Yeoh have argued that spectacles are designed to cause an impact in one of two ways: fear and wonder.7 The interesting thing about Nuremberg is that the Nazis combined both of these aspects and somehow made it work. The lush history of Nuremberg lent itself to a celebratory atmosphere, while the grandiose structures and elaborate displays created an environment of power. The Nuremberg rallies were like if you were to combine the parades of communist Korea with the opening ceremony of the Olympic games.

As stated before, a ploy often used by politicians is to utilize particularly inspiring surroundings as a stage for their campaigns. Nuremberg was actually quite different. What the city engineers did was structure the buildings that would serve as grounds for the rallies and relevant events in such a way that the crowd would feel enveloped and overwhelmed by the vast open spaces and towering boundaries. Adolf-Hitler-Platz, the Zeppelin Field, the Congress Hall, and even the fortifications that surrounded old Nuremberg, were all large yet enclosed areas. Such enclosure essentially eliminated observers, for everyone within the walls would feel more like an actual participant in the event rather than an onlooker. Everyone was on stage, so to speak. This created incredible feelings of empowerment for the German people. It allowed for a feeling of inclusion that could not have been cultivated in any other way.

By far Hitler’s most shrewd (and evil) move made in the formative years of the Nazi party was the creation of the Hitler Youth movement. By the beginning of the war Hitler had amassed a force that comprised nearly sixty percent of all young people in Germany from the ages ten to eighteen. These children were manipulated and put into service for the "good" of the Reich. They were Germany's army of the future (which turned into the present) and Hitler's lapdogs. Many would become fanatically devoted to him, racist beyond reason, and martially educated as well as anyone in the army. They were a labor force, became the 12th SS Panzer Division (the Hitlerjugend), and were legendary for their tenacity and prowess on the battlefield.

These children had no defense against the brainwashing that occurred. Having complete control over the press, education, and "free speech," the Nazis promoted their ways and influenced every facet of these children's behavior and attitude at levels that were never before possible. Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister for the Nazis, demonstrated just such an influence in a speech he gave at a Hitler Youth rally:

Since our enemy is waging war even against children, children too must play their part…. When a nation is fighting for its future, which after all is the future of its children, the youth have to be involved, they have to support the battle with their full energy…. It is a good thing for the German youth to fully experience these great days. They should do their best for the war, giving their courage, their idealism, and their faith.8

This backward logic (children need to fight because children are being killed) is exactly the type of discourse that convinced these kids. They had been taught to think this way from the time they were ten years old (actually, children from ages six to nine were allowed to "tag along" with the older kids if they wanted to soak up the atmosphere).

A man named Karl Schnibbe joined the Hitlerjugend at age twelve. He remembers that he could "hardly wait" to sign up when recruiters came to his neighborhood, even at the behest of his father.9 His father, of course, could not forbid him, for fear of being heard speaking against Nazi doctrine (or told upon by his son), which would lead to him being sent away to a concentration camp. Karl could not wait for the camping trips, parades, and games played with the other boys. It was a world of their own, free from their parents and their schools. What awaited him was a environment based on competition. Nearly every task, no matter how big or small, was turned into an individual, team, or unit competition. This was the case for boys and girls sports, singing quality during propaganda marches, and collecting scraps for the army. The Nazis capitalized on their youthful enthusiasm by keeping them constantly busy. They abused these children's desire for acceptance, hoping that each child would eventually come to see the Hitlerjugend as his new home.

Girls joined the League of German Girls. The purpose of this group was to train the girls in three ways: "to serve as helpmates to the men...to bear them children and rear them according to Nazi values...and to be faithful homemakers."10 Hitler needed to cultivate the future generation of mothers as well as fathers. These girls were needed to continue to pure seed of the Aryan race and advance the species, as it were.

Neither the boys nor girls received a proper education. Instead they were indoctrinated in the Nazi vision of race, culture, and duty. The Nazis had their own standardized curriculum that reinforced both Nazi values and Hitler as their leader. The Nazi flag and Hitler's portrait hung in every classroom throughout Germany. "In the morning, we stood at attention, and there was the Nazi flag," remembers Karl Schnibbe. "We always had to start class with ‘Heil Hitler!' There was no more, ‘Good morning, children.'" Any teachers who refused to teach the National Socialism agenda were dismissed.11 This education was largely responsible for the holocaust. Many Germans did not even question what they were being told to do. They had been told about the evils of the Jews for years. There was even a "racial science" part of their classes, during which the teacher would instruct the children on what Jews were like and what they looked like.

The Hitler Youth created the Nazis most fanatical followers. Some were used as suicide bombers. They would allow themselves to be run-over by tanks, only to detonate a bomb from underneath. Kurt Meyer, their commander, proudly exclaimed, "I know every single one of these grenadiers. The oldest is barely eighteen. The boys have not yet learned how to live, but by God they know how to die!"12 In truth, most of the Hitlerjugend were faithful to the end. Even after Hitler had committed suicide, and the dream of Germany was gone, they fought for all that they had been told. One boy who was fatally injured in the Germans' last stand, was carried into a hospital and was told by a doctor, "You dummy! Look at what this has gotten you!" The boy straightened up, spit in the doctor's face, and said, "Long live the Fuhrer!" Such was their fanaticism, even at the end.13 Many of the surviving Hitlerjugend would never come to understand that their actions were wrong. They would mourn the death of the Furher for the rest of their lives.

Say what you will about Hitler's politics, ideals, and personal philosophies, but his efficacy at leading the Nazis cannot be disputed. In truth, were it not for a few crucial mistakes, the Germans may have triumphed over all of Europe, and we would be speaking German today. If any silver lining can be found, it is that Germany has recovered from Hitler's evil legacy, and has become a country that is stable, that is capable, that is proud. Perhaps the Germany that was the dream for millions of wrongly led Germans has finally come to pass.

Works Cited
1 Eatwell, Roger. "Explaining Fascism and Ethnic Cleansing: The Three Dimernsions of Charisma
and the Four Dark Sides of Nationalism." Review, Volume 4, Number 3. 2006. Pg 267.
2 Ibid. Pg 271.
3 Triumph of the Will. Dir. Leni Riefenstahl. 1935. Chapter 11 (DVD).
4 Calhoun, Laurie. "Just War? Moral Soldiers?" Independent Review, 10861653. 2000.
5 Ibid.
6 Hagen, Joshua and Robert Ostergren. "Spectacle, Architecture and Place at the Nuremberg
Party Rallies: Projecting a Nazi Vision of Past, Present and Future." Cultural Geographies.
Marshall University: 2006. Pg 173.
7 Ibid. Pg 175.
8 Nasuti, Guy. "The Hitler Youth: An Effective Organization for Total War."
militaryhistoryonline.com. March 22, 2007.

9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid.

Bibliography
Calhoun, Laurie. "Just War? Moral Soldiers?" Independent Review, 10861653. 2000.
Eatwell, Roger. "Explaining Fascism and Ethnic Cleansing: The Three Dimernsions of Charisma
and the Four Dark Sides of Nationalism." Review, Volume 4, Number 3. 2006. 263-278
Hagen, Joshua and Robert Ostergren. "Spectacle, Architecture and Place at the Nuremberg Party
Rallies: Projecting a Nazi Vision of Past, Present and Future." Cultural Geographies.
Marshall University: 2006. 157-181.
Nasuti, Guy. "The Hitler Youth: An Effective Organization for Total War."
militaryhistoryonline.com. March 22, 2007.
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/effectiveorganization.aspx