o *.

HITLER’S RISE TO POWER

Ruling class brought fascists into gov't

By CONRAD KOMOROWSKI ae

Fifty years ago this month a fateful chapter in history
Was opened. On Jauary 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was made

ellor of Germany. ~ :
Hitler was, at that point, a partner in a reactionary
dictatorship. The Nazi party did not have a majority
cither in the Cabinet or in Parliament (Reichstag); nor did

it have a majority following in the country.

In fact, only shortly before Hitler with his Nazi party
Were brought into the government, Joseph Goebbels,
One of the top Nazi party leaders, who later became
Minister of Propaganda, wrote in his diary in December
1932: “deep depression throughout the organization .. .

he situation in the party is getting worse from hour to

Ore.

Goebbels also wrote: ‘The year 1932 has brought us
eternal ill luck ... The past was sad, and the future looks
dark and gloomy; all chances and hopes have quite dis-
appeared.” :
Hitler shared the feeling of depression in the critical
Situation. Goebbels wrote: ‘‘For hours, the leader paces

up and down the room in the hotel. It is obvious that he is

nking very hard .. . Suddenly he stops and says: ‘If
the Party once falls to pieces, I shall shoot myself with-
Out more ado.’ A dreadful threat, and most depressing.”

_Hitler did not shoot himself then. The most aggres-
Sive, chauvinistic and oppressive section of the German
Tuling class needed him. It took the anti-fascist alliance
and the Soviet capture of Berlin to decide Hitler to carry
Out the threat he had made in 1932!

Sident Hindenburg’s agent, Col. Franz Von Papen,
arranged a meeting between Hitler and Kurt von
Schroeder, Cologne banker, closely linked with German
big industrialists and with U.S. financial interests, at
Which Hitler obtained vast funds and backing for the

421 party’s terrorist forces and his campaigns.

On January 30, Gen. von Hindenburg, the proclaimed
Protector of Germany, named Hitler Chancellor, with
von Papen as Vice-Chancellor, to head a Cabinet which
eeiuced representatives of various sections of the ruling

ass. ;

Everything proceeded ‘‘constitutionally.’’ There was
ho Hitler “‘revolution,” but a deliberate inclusion by
Tepresentatives of the ruling class of the fascist element
Into the government. Hitler pledged to President von

Hindenburg that he would make no change in the mili-
tary (Reichswehr) leadership or the Cabinet.

An excellent study about Hitler fascism titled ‘‘The
Lesson of Germany’’ was written by three German
Communists who later became leaders in the building of
the German Democratic Republic — Gerhart Eisler, Al-
bert Norden and Albert Schreiner. In their book, written
while in exile in the U.S. during World War II, they
point out: “‘It was no accident that Hitler became Chan-
cellor and that he and his party received increased
financial, political and moral assistance at a moment
when the Nazis were in serious difficulties. For the reac-
tionary cliques in Germany were confronted with the
momentous question: What would happen if the Hitler
movement disintegrated and progressive forces were
allowed to develop? They finally decided that it was vital
to prevent this.”’

The most reactionary, most aggressive section of the
German ruling class, rapacious in its demand for
maximum profit, needed a terrorist organization to use
against the German people, while demagogically deceiv-
ing them and preparing for war.

From the January 30 lie of establishment of a ‘‘united
national front’’ to February 24 when the Communist
Party headquarters were seized and the February 27

provocation, when the Hitlerites burned down the
Reichstag and claimed that the crime had been com-
mitted by the Communists, the unleashing of terror, the
incitement to unbridled hatred and violence against the
Jews, it was not long until fascism took state power.

The German ruling class betrayed the German people
and, by its mad pursuit of maximum profit above all
other considerations, brought onto the German people
the disaster of World War II.

Historians note that at various times the Nazi forces
could have been repulsed and defeated. One example is
cited above, when Goebbels was lamenting the Nazi
party’s declining fortunes. But divisions in the working
Class and democratic forces generally blocked the united
effort necessary for victory.

The Social Democrats bear major responsibility for
this, particularly at the moment of crisis, when united
action, as proposed by the Communist Party in 1932 and
1933, could have radically changed the situation.

Above all, the lesson that must not be forgotten, is that
“Hitler was the instrument of the most reactionary sec-
tions of the German ruling class,”’ as is stressed in ‘‘The
Lesson of Germany,”’ and not just an adventurer who
became ‘‘Fuehrer’’ and Dictator.

— reprinted from Daily World

Hitler's army was decisively defeated in Stalingrad. Pictured here is the bombed-out downtown of Stalingrad in 1943.

ees P

_ Hats off to. the eight-bishop commis-
Son of the Canadian Conference of
Catholic Bishops in bringing down its re-
Port “Ethical Reflections on the Eco-
nomic Crisis’’. In total it represents a
Scathing critique of the capitalist system
4s it functions today in Canada and on a
World scale. This is especially significant
inasmuch as it reflects the views of a part
of the Catholic Church, which is gen-

frally regarded as a prominent and pres-

structural crisis in the international sys-
tem of capitalism’’. These are strong

takes precedence over the preservation
of a system which excludes them.

People’s needs and rights first!

wm, |

| re Marxism-Leninism Today

have an effective role in developing eco-
nomic policies.
Communists have long championed
the above proposals we have singled out
. from the bishops’ report. They are im-
portant steps that government must take
if it is serious about its stated aim of
overcoming the economic crisis in the
best interests of Canada and her people.
In this connection we draw your atten-
tion to a statement issued by the

=r

Ous pillar of the social and economic
System of Capitalism..
Teaction we have heard and read
So far is a mixed bag. A good deal of
Skepticism is expressed by those who
View critically the Church’s social and
Political activities in various countries,
Where People have embarked on the
Socialist path, or have already built a
Socialist society. Then, there are those
Who are apt to read more into the
‘titique than what it says. And, there is
18 business and the corporate elite who
view the critique as a stab in the back
™ a moral and above-class institution,
Which they consider to be a staunch
deological bulwark of the capitalist
System.
ok * *
Though Tribune readers are
Wledgeable about many negative fea-
tures of modern capitalism exposed in
bishop’s report, it will be useful to
Rote the most significant factors and pro-
Posals brought out in the report in order
0 situate an attitude toward it.
our opinion the most significant

Observation made in the critique is the —
| sa that the ‘‘present recession appears

be symptomatic of a much larger

words, for they put in question the very
future of this exploiting system. As
examples of such, the report notes that
we now live in an age where
“transnational corporations and banks
can move capital from one country to
another in order to take advantage of
cheaper labor conditions, lower taxes
and reduced environmental restric-
tions’’, and we would add ‘‘at will’. The
bishops remind us that ‘‘automation and
computers are rapidly replacing human
work by machines on the assembly lines
and in administrative centres’. All of
this serves to emphasize the dismal fu-
ture the present system holds for the
youth of our land.
* * *

The report singles out the working
people, the poor, pensioners and Native
peoples as ‘‘the real victims of the pres-
ent recession’’. It demands that in
developing strategies for economic
recovery, priority must be given to these
groups. It emphasizes that this calls for
policies that put the needs of people over
the wants of the rich. It baldly states that
the rights of the workers are more impor-
tant than the maximization of profit; and
that the participation of marginal groups

The report also singles out unemploy-
ment and not inflation as Canada’s
number one problem which must be sol-
ved if the economic crisis is to be over-
come. It calls for an industrial strategy to
create permanent and meaningful jobs;
an equitable program for the curbing of
inflation; shifting the burden of taxation
to upper income earners and investment
income, curtailment of cutbacks in social
services, and the maintenance of ade-
quate health care and social security
benefits.

And, most significantly, the bishops’

critique charges that the increasing

concentration of capital and technology
in the production of military armaments
further intensifies the present economic
crisis, rather than helps bring- about
recovery.
* * Ca

The report calls for a more decisive

role for the trade unions in developing

Strategies for economic recovery and

employment. This, states the report, re-
quires restoration of collective bargain-
ing rights where they have been sus-
pended, collaboration between unions
and unemployed and unorganized work-

ers, and assurances that labor unions will -

Communist Party of Canada on October
29, 1982 under the title Put People Before
Profits.* This statement advances a pro-
gram of immediate priorities and reforms
that can be implemented within the
framework of the capitalist system, to
put Canada back to work at accepted
wage and work standards. Compare it
with the bishops’ report.
* * *

In comparing the program of imme-
diate priorities projected in the bishops’
report with those already advanced by
the trade union movement, the New
Democratic Party, other reform-minded

groups and the Communist Party, there ©

appear sufficient grounds to visualize a
common platform directed towards put-
ting our country on the road to recovery.

If the Canadian Conference of
Catholic Bishops endorses its commis-
sion’s report, this would bring a powerful
ally on the side of the working people,
into the struggle for a democratic
people’s program to put Canada back to
work.

“If you would like a copy (or copies) write
to: The Canadian Tribune, 924 King St.
W., Toronto M5V 1P5.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FEBRUARY 11, 1983—Page 5