Nazism, the root of all evil, is one of the most infamous ideologies in the 20th century. The infamous stories and activities by the Nazi party has influenced various media and culture as well.
Nazism has directly or indirectly influenced various media and films as the origin of pure evil. Such examples include the ‘Red Skull’ and the group ‘Hydra’ from the Marvel Cinematic series, and the Galactic Empire from the Star Wars saga.
Surely, everyone would know that Nazism is pure malevolence itself. However, if someone was to ask, “What is Nazism and the Nazi?”, only a few will be able to answer this question and concisely define Nazism. Politicians, influencers, and countless people proudly allege their ideas to the public without noticing how identical they are with Nazism.
Still, if you were to ask these people if Nazism is ‘bad’, they would answer that of course Nazism is ‘bad’.
People should never comprehend Nazism or any other historical ideology as a mere good vs. evil concept. The film Downfall depicts the final days of the Nazi Regime and its key figures.
It is very hard to follow the flow of the film without any background knowledge. What is Nazism? Who were the key figures of Nazism throughout the film of Downfall.
Nazism, in German ‘Nationalsozialismus’ which translates as National Socialism is the combination of Anti-Semitism (Anti-Judaisum), social hierarchy based on the cultural and racial superiority of the German race, nationalism, and totalitarianism [1]
Nazism was inspired by fascism, which was first created by Hitler’s partner Benito Mussolini, shared similarities with it, and often Nazism is considered a synonym with it.
However, Nazism isn’t identical with fascism but it is rather a derivative from fascism. The term Fascism was established by Nazi Germany’s close ally Benito Mussolini incorporating nationalism and totalitarianism together.
Based on these two concepts, fascism spread out to various countries. Those countries that accepted fascism would incorporate different ideas or cultural concepts to develop their unique fascist doctrine during the early 1900’s.[2]
The Nazi Party, National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei NSDAP) was not founded by Adolf Hitler.
A man named Anton Drexler from Munich founded the Dap(Deustche Arbeiter Partei), the predecessor of the Nazi party. however, he didn’t hold any power throughout the Nazi regime.
The DAP changes its name to the NSDAP(NAZI) in 1920. Adolf Hitler became the leader of the Nazi party in 1921 after solidifying his position by his inspiring speech skills.
In 1923, Hitler and the Nazi party attempted to overthrow the Bavarian State government.
This attempt is later called the ‘Beer Hall Putsch’. This may have been a failure, but it was just the start of the rise of a phantom menace.[3]
Adolf Hitler, born in Austria Braunau am Inn, once dreamt of becoming an artist but he eventuall failed to enter the Academy of Fine Arts.
He moves to Munich, Germany and serves for the Germany army during World War I. After Germany’s defeat of World War I, he joined the German Worker’s Party (DAP), the predecessor of the Nazi Party in 1919/
Hitler found his talent in speech and steadily developed his mad idealism of Nazism incorporating antisemitism with national socialism.
After the Beer Hall Putsch failed in 1923, Hitler served 9 months in prison, which was supposed to be a 5-year sentence.
During his imprisonment, he wrote his biography ‘Mein Kampf’, which Hitler proclaimed the importance of antisemitism, blaming the Jewish race for all matters, the importance of Nationalism, and the superiority of the German race.
Mainland Germany was unharmed and intact from the fires of World War I. Many Germans, who haven’t experienced the dreadful trenches questioned German Empire’s defeat and have put doubt on the Weimar Republic (which was formed because of the German Empire’s defeat).
The humiliating Treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression put even more pressure and raise disbelief among the German public on the Weimar Republic.
The Beer Hall Putsch made Adolf Hitler a national star and his book Mein Kampf became a best seller.
Upon 1932, the Nazi Party became the second largest party in Germany. Hitler is offered chancellorship in 1933 and the same year, the Enabling bill was passed leaving the Nazi Party as the only eligible party in Germany with thunderous applause.[4]
June 1934, through the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ Hitler mobilizes his personal guards the SS(Schutzstaffel), which used to be a small organization compared with the mainstream group SA(Sturmabteilung) which is also known as the 'Brown Shirts' of the Nazi Party to ‘clean up’ his enemies within the Nazi Party.
Ernst Röhm, who was one of the greatest power and the leader of the SA, was murdered this day as he couldn’t concur with Hitler accepting the elites of the Germany society into Nazism.
After, seizing his power within the Nazi party Adolf Hitler now announces himself the president and Führer(Führer und Reichskanzler).[5]
The rise of Adolf Hitler leads to horrors of the Holocaust, and World War II, which eventually leads to his suicide and Germany’ defeat in 1945.
Adolf Hitler was a dedicated vegetarian and teetotaler, which means he doesn’t intake any alcoholic beverage. This was often depicted in many films including Downfall, where he only eats vegetables for his meals and underestimated by personnel as he doesn’t drink any alcohol.[6]
The ‘second’ among the ranks of the Third Reich is Heinrich Himmler. After joining the Nazi party in 1923, Heinrich Himmler was one of those who have pushed through the Beer Hall Pausch along with Hitler, Röhm, and Hermann Göring.
Himmler was able to build up his reputation within the party through his speeches on the superiority of the German race, inferiority of the other races, and other political parties such as communism.
In 1929, Heinrich Himmler is appointed the Reichsführer SS of the SS, the Schutzstaffel (personal bodyguard of Adolf Hitler) by Hitler. Himmler maintains this position as the highest-ranking leader of the SS until his suicide in 1945.
The SS, Schutzstaffel, Guard unit is the political corps, the ‘political gang’, that supported the Nazi Party. The SS was a comparatively very small unit during the 1920’s compared to the SA(Sturmabteilung) of the Nazi Party, which was the dominant paramilitary force within the SS lead by Ernst Röhm.
However, as Hitler seized more power within the Nazi party and nationwide, the SS also started to grow.
On 1931, the Security Service, the SD(SicherheittsDienste-SD) is established which later serves as the infamous intelligence and counter-intelligence security service for the Nazi party.
The same year the Race and Settlement Office (Rasse-und Siedlungsmat) was also created for the maintenance of ‘racial purity’ within the SS. By 1933, the SS grows to up to 50,000 men.
By this time Hitler constantly clashed with Ernst Röhm in the Nazi party’s policy in embracing the elites and traditional powers of Germany.
Röhm was more radical on the ‘socialist’ perspective and constantly demanded a ‘revolution of the people’ while Hitler stretched the necessity of the traditional powers and elites.
Eventually, Hitler orders the Himler and the SS to eliminate Röhm and other political enemies in 1934 during the ‘Night of the Long Knives’.
The SS has gained more power as the German Police is centralized under the control of the SS Himmler eventually becomes the Chief of the German Police as well.
The SS even systematically controlled all operations and administrations of all concentration camps.[7] With this power, the SS eventually erected the ‘Final Solution’, the decision for the systematic annihilation of Judaism.
Later on, the SS would divide into the Algemieine SS (General SS) and the Waffen SS, where the Waffen SS rivals the Germany Army as the ‘people’s army’ armed with political fanatics.(Although the ‘racial purity’ and ‘ideologically armed’ concept diminishes throughout the progress of war out of desperation).[8]
Towards the defeat of Germany, Hitler loses his faith in the Germany military due to a series of events, including the attempted assassination by the exploit of ‘Operation Valkyrie’, and constant defeats in the west and east.
Hitler eventually appoints Himmler as the Chief of the Replacement Army and commander-in-chief of the Army Group Upper Rhine in the end of 1944.[9]
Although this might make Himmler seem like the All-Mighty of Nazi Germany, later he struggles on political rivalry with Albert Speer, Göring and Martin Bormann.
In April 1945 Himmler attempted to negotiate with the Allied Forces by the Swedish Red Cross in desperation to reach Dwight Eisenhower, the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces in the West.
Hitler outraged when he found about this and terminated all positions that Himmler held. Afraid of trials for his actions, Himmler tried to disguise himself as an ordinary civilian but was arrested by the Allied forces.
Before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Himmler commits suicide as the guards were unaware of the cyanide capsule in his mouth.
Hermann Fegelein was the liaison officer of Heinrich Himmler. As Adolf Hitler found the treachery of his trusted Himmler, Hitler immediately ordered to find Fegelein.
This was depicted in the film, Downfall. Despite Hermann Fegelein being the wife of the sister of Eva Braun, Hitler’s lover, Hitler orders the execution of Fegelein.
Walther Hewell was a diplomat of Germany and one of the early members of the Nazi Party. He was well known as a close friend of Adolf Hitler.
During Hitler’s imprisonment for the Beer Hall Putsch, Hewell was also imprisoned. After Hewell’s release, Hewell temporarily takes work in the coffee sales business as a salesman in the Dutch East Indies.[10]
After Hitler gains power in 1933 becoming the chancellor of Germany, Hewell returns to Germany and works in the diplomatic field until the end.
His work includes the diplomatic service in Madrid and mediation between Germany officials and the Czech president in 1939.
Later, Walther Hewell is appointed the special ambassador without an official profile and served as the liaison officer of the infamous minister of foreign affairs Joachim Von Ribbentrop.
Hewell eventually commits suicide on 2 May 1945. The day that Helmuth Weidling officially announced the death of Adolf Hitler and ordered the cease-fire of all resistance in Berlin.[11]
[1] “Totalitarianism and Expansionism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/event/Nazism/Totalitarianism-and-expansionism.
[2] Waxman, Olivia B. “What Is Fascism? What to Know about Its Brutal Origins.” Time, Time, 22 Mar. 2019, https://time.com/5556242/what-is-fascism/.
[3] “Nazi Party.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nazi-Party.
[4] Michal. “How Did Adolf Hitler Happen?: The National WWII Museum: New Orleans.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans, The National World War II Museum, 22 June 2017, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/how-did-adolf-hitler-happen.
[5] “Dictator, 1933–39.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Hitler/Dictator-1933-39.
[6] “9 Things You Might Not Know about Adolf Hitler.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/list/9-things-you-might-not-know-about-adolf-hitler.
[7] United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/heinrich-himmler.
[8] “SS.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/topic/SS.
[9] United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/ss-key-dates?series=27.
[10] Peoplepill.com. “About Walther Hewel: German Diplomat (1904 - 1945): Biography, Facts, Career, Life.” Peoplepill.com, https://peoplepill.com/people/walther-hewel.
[11] (john@spartacus-educational.com), John Simkin. Spartacus Educational, Spartacus Educational, https://spartacus-educational.com/Walter_von_Hewell.htm.
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