A dire warning from the past for the people of today. Images of war are not all that we have today from the Germany of the 1930s and 40s. It was a functioning state under the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party. People did see change when they gave power to Hitler and his gang. He gave them a feeling of confidence and of hope. On the surface the submission to a one party system and a supreme dictator was given in exchange for economic prosperity and the shoring up of the lifestyle of the middle class. But the workers were exploited, unions were banned and real wages fell. Militarisation and the expulsion and destruction of anyone who did not fit or submit to the Nazi template were also parts of the deal and few people did not live in fear of what they did and said. From the account of an American living in Germany from 1934-1938 named Nora Waln (1895–1964), this documentary builds an image of a sinister society where nobody trusted anybody, other than by putting all trust and belief into the fascist state apparatus as symbolised by Adolf Hitler.
What is most shocking about this film is the way people submitted and believed, in exchange for the feelings of security and hope for the future. Like the street conman, Hitler saw a need, approached the unsuspecting dupe, made the offer that could fulfil the need, and then took the victim for all they had (including their life in many many cases). Those that complied were ultimately plunged into an abyss of amoral violence and power. Narcissistic sociopaths should not be given highest office. This is what is happening again now in the world. If anyone tells you they have all the answers, remove yourself from their presence or them from yours.
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