Hitler had no problem using homosexuals to achieve his goals.
My understanding of the Nazi homosexual dealings is that the more masculine homosexuals were left alone, but men who were more effeminate were removed from society.
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There was a great deal of “This is okay until we decide it isn’t okay anymore” with Hitler and the NAZIs.
For instance, they embraced avant garde art and the whole artsy-fartsy thing. Until they secured power. And then they went after anything that violated Hitler’s “aesthetics.”
And the NAZIs primary vehicle to power was angry labor unions. How do you think Hitler treated malcontent workers once HE became “the man”?
There were a lot of VERY suprised artists, homosexuals, and others who suddenly found themselves on the outs.
The History Channel program that documented the homosexuality of the SA pointed out that there was evidence linking Hitler himself to homosexuality. And that one of the reasons he purged the SA was to destroy the evidence/witnesses.
Ultimately, a lot of what was “in” and what was “out” depended on der Fuhrer’s mood.
Yes. For that reason alone, I scoffed at my Political Science professor when he said his ideal form of government was a Benevolent Philosopher King with a willing army to back him.
Great, if your philosopher King is God, not so good when he is a human being. I told him I prefered the rule of law and the rights of the individual over the rule of any man.
While he may have been a flaming lefty, he certainly didn't take arguing with his philosophy personal. I got an A in his class.
Shirer would disagree with that point.
The Nazi/Hitler rise to power was due to the use of street violence (the SA) and alliances with the Army, the political elite, big business, and the junkers/agricultural estates (in that order).
Hitler paid only lip service to the labor unions and gave them the stiff arm by placing all authority with management to control wages and employment. In fact shortly after coming to power, Hitler abolished trade unions.
Long story short, attempts to clarify the political spectrum so as to link Hitler to socialism and communism is a silly exercise and there is a tremendous amount of disagreement with it among political scientists and historians. The NAZI party might have started out with many socialist components but Hitler is quite difficult to place on the spectrum. He was a malignant narcissistic monster who could and did move quite nimbly around the political spectrum when he thought it would gain him more power.
If Hitler had an ideology other than himself, it was German nationalism and antisemitism.
I don’t think SA Leader’s Ernst Roehm’s homosexuality was the main reason behind Hitler’s 1934 purge of the SA. At the time the newly appointed Chancellor Hitler was rebuilding Germany’s armed forces for future wars of aggression. He needed the support of the military. The Prussian aristocracy whose officer corp controlled the military were increasingly wary of Ernst Roehm’s private army ,the SA, whose numbers even exceeded that of the Wehrmacht. They wanted Roehm stopped and Hitler wanted the support of the traditional military. A deal was cut which precipitated the Purge: Hitler agreed to eliminate Roehm and disband the SA. In return, every German soldier was required swear a personal oath of allegiance to Hitler. Although Hitler tolerated homosexuality there has never been any solid evidence that he ever engaged in such activity. It is also worth noting that at the time Hitler was also currying favor with big German industrialists he would need for his military build up, and these business leaders were also quite wary of Roehm and the SA who did in fact represent the socialist and labor union wing of the Nazi movement.