rexler's pamphlets which detailed much of the group's
             political philosophy. Here he found "in Drexler a prophet after his
             own heart." (Payne, 137) In one chapter, "The Jew and His Activity
             Before and During the World War," Drexler wrote:
             There is a race-or perhaps we should call it a nation-which
             for over two thousand years has not possessed a state of its own,
             but has nevertheless spread over the entire earth. They are the
             Jews...They quickly conquered the money market, although they began in
             poverty, and were thereby made all the richer in vice, vermin and
             pestilence... Only one per cent of the total population is Jewish but
             for thousands of years the Jews, form the highest to the lowest, have
             grimly pursued the thought that this tiny people should never serve
             rulers but always govern them. Yet they are unable to form a state of
             Drexler was equally impressed with Hitler, and immediately saw
             his potential. Thus, Drexler invited him to attend one of the
             executive committee meetings. Hitler did attend the meeting; however,
             he was not too impressed with the organization. "This was all
             frightful, frightful. This was the life of a little club at the lowest
             possible level. Was I to join an organization like this" (quot. by
             Payne, 138) Although he did eventually become the fifty-fifth member
             and the seventh committee member, "in a sense he [never did] really
             join the party, for when he became a card carrying member it was with
             the intention of destroying it and re-creating it in his own image."
             Hitler's first step in developing the party was to take over
             the propaganda work. He had to advance the party's small gatherings
             from small to large scale. To begin, he arranged that their meetings
             take place in larger halls. Presently, they were held in obscure
             taverns like the Hofbrauhauskeller with an attendance of only about
             one hundred and fif...