Defying Hitler
Defying Hitler was the task set before Sebastian Haffner in his lifetime. Defying Hitler...how can a mere individual, lost in a sea of millions that simultaneously had suffered a nervous collapse (Haffner 125), defy Hitler? Why does Haffner defy Hitler? Is his response to Hitler and the Nazis positive or negative? Why was his defiance not the decision made by the majority of other Germans? What is it about Haffner's particular experience that leads him to behave as he does? Haffner's memoir paints an intimate portrait of daily life in Germany and how people allowed Hitler, the Nazis and themselves to collectively destroy it. Haffner never directly defied the Nazis. His attitude, intentions and writings defied them. Haffner struggled when confronted with opportunities to directly oppose the Nazis. Who wouldn't? "Individual resistance was only a form of suicide" (Haffner 199). Haffner says that he failed to defy the Nazis directly, starting in the Kammergericht by admitting he was Aryan, followed by hiding when Nazis marched down the streets so he wouldn't have to salute them, and by going through a training camp and not resisting them. So how and why does he proceed to take his stand?
The Nazis started to rule with an iron fist and began putting into practice some of their more radical beliefs. It is a continuing duty each country has to another, to be watchful that evil does not have the opportunity to flourish so deeply in a society that the most depraved characteristics of human nature overwhelm a whole country, as happened in Nazi Germany. Haffner says that comradeship destroyed the German life and helped the Nazis rule. Despite grumblings from France and ineffective treaties aimed against Germany, Hitler got almost everything he wanted. Germany, under Hitler, withdrew from the League of Nations in October 1933; reintroduced military service (even though the Treaty of Versailles prohibited it); got English approval to expand her naval armaments beyond the Treaty of Versailles in 1935; placed troops in the Rhineland on March 13, 1936 (a violation of two treaties), and gained international alliances. The older and "wiser" Germans, as Haffner puts it, tried to convince themselves and others that this could not continue for long (201), others simply believed that the Nazi regime was not a cause for alarm (108), and some still foolishly believed that they could change the Nazi Party by becoming a member (135). Another great step for the Nazis was their control of the daily lives of Germans. Haffner clearly tells us here that there was no public outcry in opposition to the Nazis because it looked like they were in control and they were not yet so radical in their actions. The point of comradeship is driven here excessively for a reason; I believe it was perhaps the single most effective method of destruction the Nazis used. Supported by his own words, Haffner felt like an outsider within the German Reich. Other European countries kept appeasing Hitler and the people saw this as a sign. The final reason is that people did not have the foresight to see what was in store for themselves and their country. This is Kershaw's assessment of the blame of the European continent in the rise of Nazism.
Common topics in this essay:
Hitler Nazis,
Nazism Haffner,
Nazis Haffner's,
Germany Nazis,
Hitler Nazi,
Adolf Hitler,
Nazi Germany,
Kershaw Hitler's,
Wilhelm II,
Nazis Germans,
hitler nazis,
german people,
european countries,
nazi germany,
defy hitler,
haffner calls,
haffner stated,
nazis control,
nazis haffner,
nazism haffner,
experience leads behave,
germany european countries,
haffner calls hitler,
haffner's particular experience,
particular experience leads,
|
Acceptance Essays
