Hitler (episode)/Transcript

Part 1
OverSimplified: Look at this baby. So gentle, so innocent. You'd think this child would grow up to become a good man, an honest man. Well, think again.

* alarm sounds*

OverSimplified: Hitler was born Adolphus Hitler in 1889 in a small town in Austria-Hungary. His father, Alois Schicklgruber, was born out of wedlock, but eventually changed his name to that of his stepfather, becoming Alois Hitler. Alois was a mid-level Austrian customs officer—not really rolling in cash, but certainly rolling in women. He married a rich, older lady, but then immediately started having affairs, including one with a much younger house servant. A few years later, he left his sick wife to be with his mistress, but since the Catholic Church didn't allow divorce at the time, he couldn't marry her. So he waited for his old wife to die and had a child in the meantime. Then his wife died, so he married his mistress and had another child, but then his new wife got sick, so he employed his much, much younger cousin Klara to take care of her. Then when his new wife died, he immediately got Klara—his cousin—pregnant and then married her... in that order. (You rockstar.) Klara and Alois had three children together who all tragically died while in infancy, so when the fourth child, Adolf, came along, Klara spoiled him rotten. The Hitlers had two more kids and the family moved around a few times, meaning Adolf had to attend five different elementary schools. Adolf's father was strict, quick to anger, and took most of it out on the eldest son until he had enough and ran away at the age of fourteen, leaving seven-year-old Adolf to do most of the chores and get berated by his father. The result was a difficult relationship with his dad, while he was super attached to his mother, who worried over him and his health excessively. Hitler did well in school. At first, his grades were good and his teachers praised him. He was popular with the other kids and enjoyed gathering them together to play war games. He also loved reading and particularly liked stories about cowboys and Indians. As he grew older, though, he started to get into trouble. He was caught smoking once, organized a raid on a local orchard, tormented his pro-Austria religion teacher with symbolic gestures displaying his allegiance the idea of united Germanic people under a greater German state and defines of Habsburg Austria, you know, the usual. All of this enraged Adolf's father, who punished him severely. The area of Austria-Hungary that Hitler lived in was once part of the German Confederation, and many of the people who lived there considered themselves to be German. Adolf tended to just go against whatever his father said and since his father was an Austrian public official, Hitler got big into German nationalism. This enraged Adolf's father, who punished him severely. Around this time, a family tragedy struck. His six-year-old brother, whom he loved a lot, died of measles when Adolf was 10 and was buried in the cemetery just across from their home. Around this time, neighbors reported a change in the young boy. Strange behaviors such as talking to trees and staying up late staring at the stars from the cemetery walls. He lost interest in religion and his school grades started to decline which enraged his father, who punished him severely. It also didn't help that he had just entered high school and the cool city boys treated him like a rural peasant. He had to repeat a grade and had little interest in most school subjects instead spending his time reading and drawing which he was quite good at. One day his father said, Alois Hitler: Son, someday you'll be a big balls public official like me. OverSimplified: and Adolf replied, Adolf Hitler: No father. I'm going to become an artist and soar high above the clouds with the eagles. OverSimplified: This enraged his father, but by this time he was an old-ass man, so he just sort of let it go and then died of a lung hemorrhage. Hitler just about passed his final semester and celebrated in the typical way by getting blackout drunk and wiping his ass with the certificate. However, he didn't take the overall final school exam instead. Just dropping out. the now 16-year-old boy was unemployed without much purpose in life and for the next three years. He stayed that way he spent most of his time at the opera with his only friend August Kubizek. August Kubizek later wrote his memories of the Young Hitler and said he was passionately interested in many things, felt he was in many ways better than others his age, was quick to anger just like his father, and an incredible speaker once he was ranting. When he was 18, he said a very sad goodbye to his mother and went to Vienna to take the entrance exam for art school he failed. Soon after he had to return home his mother was sick and her health was rapidly deteriorating Hitler stayed by her side. And when she eventually died the family doctor said he had never seen someone so overwhelmed with Grief as Hitler was. Then Hitler returned to Vienna still hoping to find a career in the arts. But he never did instead without parental support Hitler ended up on the streets now in his early 20s. He spent a few rough years living in and out of homeless shelters, making What little he could from selling postcards. He painted it's hard to pinpoint exactly when and how Hitler's extreme ideological beliefs formed, but his time in Vienna would have certainly played a role. Anti-semitism was widespread in the city the mayor whom Hitler supported with an outspoken antisemite. There were many right-wing anti-semitic newsletters. Which Hitler took a keen interest in he bought into the conspiracy theories and became a firm believer in the idea that there are many races and constant struggle with one another the purest of which were the German Aryan people and the worst of which he believed were jews. Since Austria-Hungary was a multi-ethnic Empire full of lesser races Hitler wasn't a fan. So when he was 24, he moved to Munich in Germany to avoid doing military service and for one more year, he was a drifter on the streets until something huge happened. In 1914 long-standing tensions in Europe erupted into the first world war. Crowds across Europe celebrated the news. Within days, Hitler volunteered for the German Army the war gave him a purpose in life his fellow Soldiers gave him friendship and Brotherhood. Despite the horrors of War Hitler considered it to be the best time of his life. He was reportedly a brave soldier and was awarded the iron cross first class. He was also very lucky and had many close encounters with death. His luck ran out in 1916 however when an artillery shell injured his leg he went back to Germany to recover and was outraged to find a general apathetic anti-war attitude among the exhausted and hungry German populace with the war turning against Germany he returns to the [frontlines]. But was temporarily blinded by a British gas attack in 1918 a month later still recovering in hospital. Hitler Learned of Germany's defeat and Surrender. The terms of the peace treaty were tough on Germany it had to pay a lot of money and lose a lot of soldiers these conditions weakened Germany and humiliated the German people. Europe's borders changed after the war too. New countries were formed out of Russia's lost territory. Austria-Hungary was dissolved and there was one big new country splitting Germany into two. Hitler, seeing the country he loved humiliated like this, said that hatred grew in him for those. Responsible by which he meant Communists and Jews who he believed had stabbed Germany in the back by spreading dissent and Anti-War Propaganda back home.

Part 2
Since Germany's military had to be reduced, Hitler could no longer remain a soldier after the war, but he kept working for the army as an informant. After the war, communists in Germany had attempted a revolution, and the government was worried about communism in general, so Hitler was tasked with infiltrating and reporting on any new political parties that could pose a communist threat. A new party called the German Workers' Party threw up a whole bunch of red flags, so Hitler went along to one of their meetings but found that they weren't communists at all - they were extreme right and shared many of his extreme beliefs, so he left the army, and signed up to join the party. His fantastic speaking abilities impressed the party's leadership and supporters, and he very quickly rose to the top. He decided that the party needs a makeover, so he renamed it to the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi for short, and he gave it a new color scheme. The Nazis weren't very specific on policy, but Hitler made extravagant promises to return Germany to its former glory, by undoing the Treaty of Versailles and reuniting all ethnic Germans into one nation. He also said that only pure Aryan people should be allowed to be citizens. And that all Jews would lose their citizenship. These ideas were already common in extreme right politics, but what set the Nazis apart was Hitler himself, and they quickly became the leading party on the extreme right. Many of the political parties in Germany at the time had paramilitary wings, and the Nazis were no different. Hitler set up the very descriptive "Hall Protection Detachment," later changed to the very delightful "Gymnastic and Sports Division," and finally settling on the ominous "Storm Detachment", or SA for short. Their job was to defend Nazi party meetings and intimidate political opponents, and they were frequently engaged in battles with communists on the streets. Since the allies had demanded a reduction in Germany's military size, many trained soldiers were left unemployed. They liked the Nazi ideology, and it was only natural for them to join the SA, which grew larger and larger over time. The new democratic government that formed after World War I was pretty weak and ineffective. In order to pay reparations to the Allies, it started printing more money. The problem is that printing money doesn't actually give a country more money - it just makes money less valuable. So as the country printed more and more money, it became worth less and less and the currency crashed. In 1919, one U.S. dollar was worth about for German marks, but by December 1923, one U.S. dollar was equal to 4.2 trillion marks. The price of bread rose to 200 billion marks. Banknotes became worthless. Unsurprisingly, in such an economic crisis, Germany struggled to pay the allies. The French were pissed about this. So they occupied the Ruhr, an area full of factories, and took the economic output from the area as payment. They treated the German civilians badly, and in total, approximately a hundred and thirty Germans were killed during the occupation. Germans were furious and Hitler and the Nazis thought that now would be a great time to lead a revolution. In November 1923, inspired by something a certain bold Italian man did a year earlier, Hitler stormed a meeting at a beer hall and called for an uprising against the government. With his supporters, he marched on the streets of Munich, hoping the police would join his side. They did not.

* Gun Shots*

Hitler was put on trial for treason. He could have been sentenced to life, but the right-wing judges thought he was a pretty cool guy. Hitler knew the judges and knew that they would be lenient. So he took the opportunity to make impassioned speeches during the trial and in the end he was sentenced to just five years in prison, of which he only served nine months, and when I said prison, it was more like a pleasant hotel stay where he had plenty of time to write a book. The whole affair was covered by the media nationwide, and it made Hitler famous. Hitler and his extreme message were now known throughout Germany. But the everyday German still didn't care much for him. In the 1928 election, the Nazis only won about 2% of the vote. Many were still intimidated by all the violence and the shouting and how un-politician-like he was, but a new economic crisis would change all of that. To help Germany pay its reparations, America agreed to give it loans. In October 1929, the Wall Street crash happened and America wanted its money back. The economic strain that stood on an already struggling Germany was severe. Unemployment skyrocketed. Poverty was widespread and Germans were sick of it. It was clear that the newly formed democracy wasn't working. In the face of crisis, Germans began moving to the political extremes. If you were German and want to change, your choices now were either the communists or the Nazis. Hitler claimed that he was the only one who could return Germany to its former glory. The Nazi party used propaganda to make Hitler seem like a great and powerful man and they gave the German people a scapegoat to blame for all their suffering. The promise of a single strong dictator was a breath of fresh air for Germans after years of failing democracy. Some bought into his extreme ideology. Some didn't agree with the racism but were willing to vote for him anyway. Many didn't know much about politics at all, but just got caught up in the hype. Election after election, the Nazis became more and more popular until in 1932, they became the biggest party in the German parliament. Hitler came to truly believe that he was some sort of great destined savior of Germany. He turned megalomaniac. He decided to run for president and did surprisingly well, but still lost to the extremely popular World War I general, Paul von Hindenburg. Since he was now the leader of the biggest party, though, he demanded President Hindenburg make him chancellor. But Hindenburg was reluctant, seeing that Hitler was clearly such a big racist. Industry leaders urged Hindenburg to give Hitler the chancellorship, fearing the rising support for communism, and leader of the center party von Papen, who had been secretly negotiating with Hitler, said to Hindenburg.

Franz Von Papen: How about we make Hitler chancellor on the condition that I get to be vice-chancellor and most government jobs go to us, moderate conservatives. That way I'll get to keep my power, I mean, we'll get to keep our power and we'll control Hitler like he's our angry little puppet. What could possibly go wrong?

OverSimplified: As it turned out, EVERYTHING! Hitler became chancellor of Germany in January 1933, but he was not yet a dictator. In February, the German Parliament building was set on fire. Historians still aren't sure who did it and many suspect the Nazis did it themselves, but Hitler blamed the communists, and he convinced President Hindenburg to sign an emergency decree allowing him to imprison all communists and other political opponents. Communists and others were sent off to the first concentration camp in Dachau. At this time, the elderly president Hindenburg passed away, giving Hitler the perfect opportunity. He introduced a law to parliament that would allow him to make all future laws and decisions entirely on his own. With his political opponents in prison and the SA intimidating others, Hitler's law passed. Just two months after becoming chancellor, Hitler was now a dictator. He still had one problem. The leader of the SA wanted the SA to take over the job of the regular German Army and the German Army didn't like that idea. Hitler needed to maintain the support of his professionally trained German army, more so than his rough and rowdy SA. So one night in June 1934, he had Rohm and many other of his own SA officers rounded up and murdered. While he was at it, he took the opportunity to brutally settle some personal scores as well. Politicians who had disagreed with him in the past, reporters who had printed negative articles about him, one guy who did absolutely nothing, but they thought he was someone else. In some cases, even their families were murdered. In total, up to 200 people were killed in what became known as the Night of the Long Knives. The army, now satisfied that they wouldn't be replaced, pledged total allegiance to their new fuhrer and Hitler's control was now absolute. Life in Germany changed violently. Freedom of the press, expression, and public assembly were suspended. Jews were initially branded and their businesses boycotted, and eventually, Hitler would go on to have six million Jewish men, women, and children killed in concentration camps. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced into sterilization for physical and mental imperfections. The Hitler Youth became a way to brainwash the young. Boys were trained to fight and returned home from camp violent. Girls were told their purpose was to have many pure Aryan children and they would sometimes return from camp pregnant. When their parents were understandably horrified, their children would threaten to turn them over to the Gestapo for standing in the way of Germany's greatness. The standard greeting changed and you could be sent to a concentration camp for not using it. This way, it seemed like everyone was a Nazi supporter. If you dare to pose Hitler or speak out against him in any way, you also would be sent to a concentration camp. German Nationalism captivated the young Adolf. Extreme ideology and anti-semitism vested in him as a young man living a hard life on the streets. Germany's defeat in the First World War filled him with hatred and a thirst for vengeance. A political movement that treated him like a god and hundreds of thousands looking up to him as their savior made him a megalomaniac, and soon, his aggressive foreign policies would drag the world into a second tragic global conflict, otherwise known as... (WW2)