Germany, The Great Depression and The Year of My Birth

After World War I the German Economy was destroyed by the demands of the Allied nations that Germany make reparations. With their economy destroyed and inflation out of hand, thousands of Germans lost their savings and their incomes. This nation was ripe for a takeover by people like the national socialists (Nazis). Consider the following as a partial explanation: Germany and the Great Depression [Mackinac Center].

As I look forward to celebrating another birthday in a few days, I am again reminded of what momentous events took place in the year I was born, 1933:

Coat of Arms of the German Government

• In January German President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolph Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany. Chancellor was the equivalent of Prime Minister in other countries. 
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt became President of the United States and his New Deal attempted to deal with the devastating effects of the Great Depression. 
• In April of that year the Nazis began a boycott of all Jewish establishments, beginning what came to be known as the Holocaust. 
• In the same month Hitler's private police, the Gestapo, was organized and began to operate. 
• In May, with massive book burning, censorship began in Nazi controlled Germany. 
• In the U.S.A. the gold-standard was abandoned and various New Deal programs, like the Tennessee Valley Authority, began to function. 
• By the middle of the year all opposing political parties were outlawed by the Nazis. 
• By the end of that year Germany had left the League of Nations and was well on its way to becoming a dictatorship. 

As the 1930s progressed Germany began its moves to take over neighboring nations. Based on its war economy the country moved out of the Depression and began to function as an apparently progressive and economically successful nation. This seems to be the reason why so many German-Americans admired Germany and its centrally controlled, one party system, totally non-democratic form of socialism. 

I needed to understand that vital part of history as I worked on my third novel. In it my main character, Albert, has long discussions with his wife's father, Doc Tilden, about what it meant, both for Germany and for the United States.