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Edited on Sun Aug-15-10 01:31 PM by struggle4progress
Hitler was appointed in January 1933
In February, Nazis burnt down the Reichstag and blamed Jews and Communists for the fire. The day after the Reichstag fire, civil liberties were suspended: freedom of speech and the press were no longer guaranteed, telephone and mail communications could be intercepted by the state, and opposition to the Nazis became grounds for imprisonment
In March, the so-called Enabling Act allowed the "government" to pass legislation by decree, without regard for the Constitution and without the approval of the Reichstag. Arrests began immediately. Also in March 1933, the concentration camp Dachau was established to hold opponents of the regime
In July, all political parties (other than the NSDAP) were outlawed
Thus, within about six months of Hitler's appointment, he had absolute power, much of the opposition press had been silenced, and quite a few opponents of the Nazis were silenced
By the end of December 1933, all government employees were required to use Heil Hitler in place of more customary greetings; job loss followed failure to do so. Thus the postman said Heil Hitler when delivering mail; the railway conductor said Heil Hitler when punching tickets; the school teacher said Heil Hitler to students; in short, everyone heard obligatory Heil Hitlers many times in the course of daily business. The Nazis then harassed and/or arrested people who did not use this "greeting." Since people in "protective custody" lost rights to counsel or visitors, being arrested became dangerous, because one disappeared into a world where violent beatings were common; moreover, whenever the authorities suspected lack of enthusiasm for the Nazi program, they were free to open letters or tap phones to determine whether or not they wanted to arrest
The foregoing describes a mere fragment of the Nazi steps to consolidate power in their first year. The grip continued to tighten in following years: for example, 1934 saw a major Nazi initiative to control the churches; in the "Night of Long Knives" at the end of June and through the first few days of July, Nazis systematically murdered potential opponents across the political spectrum, including not only rightwingers like Rohm and a number of his SA brownshirts, but the former German chancellor Schleicher, the Bavarian commissioner Ritter von Kahr who had smashed the Beer Hall Putsch, and some Catholic leaders
So within a few years, the obvious opponents of the regime had quietly disappeared or had been terrified into silence, and most Germans never heard any anti-Nazi views but were exposed constantly to Nazi propaganda
<edit: oops: relocated "Night of Long Knives" to 1934>
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