-Hi. I'm Rick Steves, back with
more of the best of Europe. No, actually, this time,
it's the worst of Europe. In this special episode, we'll travel together
through Germany and learn from
the hard lessons of fascism that this country learned
from nearly a century ago, and why it matters. Thanks for joining us. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ As democracies are being
threatened throughout the West by the rise
of angry populist masses and wannabe autocrats,
thoughtful travels reveal that history is speaking to us. Traveling through Germany today, you see many reminders
of the rise and fall of Nazism and the devastation
wrought by its fascist leader, Adolf Hitler. In this episode,
we'll travel to places that evoke those
terrible times in Germany, and see a few of the sites
and memorials that recall
that county's fascist nightmare. We'll learn how in Germany
fascism rose and then fell, taking millions
of people with it. Along the way,
we'll learn from Germans whose families lived
through those times. -See, you do not trust
in anybody any longer, after the burning of books. -...and see how Germany
guards against the rise of fascism again. Throughout Germany, we'll see
sites related to fascism. We'll start where Hitler got
his political start -- Munich. Then we'll visit Nuernberg, the site of his notorious
political rallies; Berchtesgaden, home of
his getaway the Eagle's Nest; and Berlin, the capital and site
of German fascism's downfall. In 1918, World War I ended, leaving 10 million dead
and Europe in ruins. The chaotic aftermath of the war
created fertile ground for the seeds of fascism. Nowhere was that more true than in defeated
and devastated Germany. After World War I,
Germany was in a shambles. After a humiliating defeat and the loss of
over 2 million men, they were forced by the Allies
to pay costly war reparations. Their emperor had abdicated and was replaced
by a weak democracy. The economy was terrible:
Unemployment was high and inflation
was out of control. Germans had no faith
in their government to get society back on track. In this vacuum of power,
a fringe movement -- claiming to be the champion
of the oppressed -- emerged. They dressed in intimidating
brown-shirt uniforms, roamed the streets in gangs, and wanted to restore
Germany's national pride. They called themselves the
"National Socialists," or
"Nazis." Their leader: Adolf Hitler. Those early Nazis found
a natural base here in Munich. While a pleasant
and idyllic city today, this capital of Bavaria
was known for its conservative and nationalistic passions. Nazi street gangs violently
attacked unwanted outsiders: Jews and Communists. ♪♪ In 1923,
in a beer hall like this, the original Nazi leadership
gathered their followers. They were impatient
and eager to take power. Hitler waved his pistol
in the air, and called for the revolution
to begin. ♪♪ Hitler led the ragtag
revolutionaries in the beer hall into the streets of Munich, planning to overthrow
the government. But that attempted revolt, called the "Beer Hall Putsch,"
failed. After a bloody confrontation, the police crushed it
here at Odeonsplatz. Hitler was arrested
and sent to jail, and it seemed that Germany's
fascist movement was finished before it got off the ground. Unable to overthrow
the government by force, Hitler resolved to take it
by political means. While in prison, he wrote
"Mein Kampf" (or "My Struggle"), which preaches his message
of uniting all ethnic Germans and giving them
more space to live. Once out of prison,
Hitler managed to take power within the existing
political system. Shaping his
National Socialist Party into a political entity, he put forward
a populist strategy: rousing a disillusioned
workforce, reviving a struggling economy, and fixing what was considered
a weak government. At first, the boom times
of the Roaring '20s blunted his populist message, but then the Great Depression
hit in 1929, the working masses
were angry again, and Hitler's promises
gained traction. Fascism was now taking root
in Germany. -[ Speaking German ] [ Crowd cheering ] -So, Hitler promised
jobs, jobs, jobs to everybody, and, of course,
people needed jobs. -Hitler promised the people
everything -- everything they wanted. He promised them
a bright future, he promised them work, he promised them "Lebensraum,"
-- "living space"... -[ Speaking German ] -Hitler was a powerful,
mesmerizing speaker. -[ Speaking German ] -People were taken
by Hitler's speech -- not so much by the beauty
of his arguments, but by his sheer fanaticism,
by his anger, by his rage,
and his repetitive rhetoric. And people --
eyewitness accounts -- describe it as a barbaric,
primitive effect. -He repeated a lie endlessly, and he didn't make it
a small lie; he made it a big lie and he kept hammering it
into their heads. He also dumbed it down
as much as possible. -His simplistic promises
were made to order for his political base: [ Cheers and applause ] more prosperity,
and expanded borders for more room in which to live,
or "Lebensraum." -[ Speaking German ] -Fascism is perceived
as a strong movement with simple answers
for complicated problems. -He blamed Germany's problems
on scapegoats -- like Jews and Communists -- and fears that the communist
revolution in Russia would spread to Germany. In 1932, the Nazi Party won only about a third of the seats
in parliament. But Hitler managed to put
together a ruling coalition and was appointed Chancellor
in January 1933. Suddenly Adolf Hitler was
heading a new German government. Then, just a few weeks
into Hitler's rule, under mysterious circumstances,
there was a fire in Germany's parliament
building, or "Reichstag." ♪♪ A disaster like this,
which many historians believe was actually
the work of Hitler's people, is an answer to
an aspiring dictator's prayer. With this "national security
emergency," Hitler now had his excuse
to crush the Communists, silence moderates, and create laws
giving him sweeping new powers. Suddenly, in Germany,
there was no middle ground: you were either with Hitler...
or against him. Hitler followed a playbook
that has inspired autocrats- - left and right -- ever since. Hitler proceeded to consolidate
his power in the most ruthless ways. He locked up the few
courageous politicians who voted against him and established
his total control of the German government. This poignant memorial remembers those who tried to resist
Hitler's power grab. The German equivalent of
congressmen and senators, they were quickly silenced. You can see the dates
they were arrested, sent to concentration camps,
and executed. Hitler had hijacked
Germany's democracy. He was given
extraordinary powers to temporarily suspend
democratic procedures in order to get things done. A dictator now in charge
of a mighty industrial nation, Hitler and his team
begin to lay out his plan for Germany and the world. Inheriting a German economy suffering from
the Great Depression, including an employment rate
of nearly 30%, Hitler quickly turned
to improving the economy. He accelerated the previous
government's policy of large public works and infrastructure projects
financed with deficit spending. As a result, employment
increased dramatically from 1933 to 1936. Despite this new focus on jobs,
and the German worker, the Nazis had no use
for labor unions. -Well, fascism basically hates
everything communist -- or Bolshevik, as they call it -- so they would not like
trade unions. They were not within the frame
of the fascist movement. -One year into their government, they declared May Day a holiday
for the first time; the unions celebrated... and the next day, when they were
hungover, more or less, they smashed the unions. -Despite having the term
"socialist" in the party name, Hitler was a friend of industry. He privatized many industries, and the corporations
that had supported his candidacy continued to back him. -Corporations would support
the Nazi Government of Germany because it was good
for their profits. -With all this economic activity
and employment, Hitler re-energized Germany. -..." zwei Schichten kannte,"
"den Bauer und den deutschen"
"Arbeiter." [ Crowd cheering ] -Much of Germany was swept up
in Hitler's charismatic vision and the country
had a common purpose. Everywhere he went,
crowds adored him. Women swooned
when his car drove by. [ Cheering ] In clubs called
the "Hitler Youth," boys and girls pledged
their allegiance to him. -A little boy in 1935,
when he looked at Hitler, he would see a god-like person. He was somebody who would
elevate the German people; he would elevate
the people of this boy to become the perfect
master race running the planet. -Hitler became known
by a new title, which meant he was their leader,
their "ührer" . -[ Speaking German ] -The idea about fascism
is to have a big community that all operates
exactly the same way, and to have a common opinion
that covers all. -There was one phrase
that was called ""Ein Volk, ein Reich,"
"ein Fuehrer"" -- "one people, one empire,
one leader." Full stop. -There was a dark side
to all this Nazi conformity. Individuality was lost. -Individualism doesn't
even exist in fascism. It doesn't exist in any aspect. It doesn't exist in art, it doesn't exist in lectures
at university, it doesn't exist
in newspapers and press... -For the Nazis, the city
that most embodied their sense of national unity
was Nuernberg. Nuernberg, so steeped
in German history, was nicknamed "the most German
of German cities." That's one reason it was
a favorite of Hitler's to showcase his nationalistic
pomp and pageantry... to inspire all of Germany
to get on board. [ Crowd cheering ] -There were three German
"Reichs" , or empires. The first was medieval -- it was
called the "Holy Roman Empire." In fact, the emperor's castle
still towers above Nuernberg. The Second Reich
was 19th century -- the creation
of the modern German state by Prussia under the leadership
of Bismarck. And it was here in Nuernberg, that Hitler declared
the Third Reich -- a powerful German empire
to last 1,000 years. When Hitler took power, he made
Nuernberg's Zeppelin Field the site of his
enormous Nazi Party rallies. Today, the stark remains
of this massive gathering place are thought-provoking. German tour guide
Thomas Schmechtig is joining me for some insight. "-Sieg Heil!" -For several years, increasingly elaborate
celebrations of Nazi culture, ideology, and power
took place right here. Fascist dictators understood the
propaganda power of big rallies, where they can manufacture
the adoration of their people, bask in it, and then broadcast it
to the rest of the population -- as Hitler said,
turning the "little man" into part of a "great dragon." -[ Speaking German ] [ Crowd chanting ] -Imagine, Hitler
stepping out of that door, overlooking the masses --
200,000 people being lined up... He used propaganda to create
a new community -- in fact we even have
a word for it: It's called
"" Volksgemeinschaft" ". -Inspirational images from Leni Riefenstahl's
propaganda movie "Triumph of the Will" were filmed
at the 1934 Nuernberg rallies, and then shown in theaters and schoolrooms
throughout the country. The goal -- to bring a visual
celebration of the power of the Nazi state
to all 70 million Germans. ürnberg shows
the enormous power of fascism's secret weapon: propaganda. Looming over a now peaceful lake
in Nuernberg is another remnant
of the dictator's megalomania: his huge, yet unfinished,
Nazi Congress Hall. Hitler, who believed he would
create a new civilization based upon fascist values, modeled this building after
the ancient Roman Colosseum, but even more colossal. -Imagine 50,000 leading Nazis
in here, one third higher, covered by a roof,
a window inside the ceiling; sunshine would've fallen down
to the podium. Once a year, one speech
of Adolf Hitler. -Another stage set
for this propaganda show was Hitler's mountain-capping
Eagle's Nest. This alpine getaway, just south
of Munich in Berchtesgaden, was used to soften
Hitler's image against a majestic,
almost theatrical backdrop. His visits were lovingly filmed
to show him as the embodiment of all
that was good about Germany: healthy, vigorous,
respectable... everyone's favorite uncle. Set in the scenic foothills
of the Alps, it was built in 1938
as a mountain retreat for Hitler and his guests. A stone tunnel
crafted with fascist precision, leads to Hitler's plush
elevator, which still whisks visitors
to the top. Because it was in this corner
of Bavaria that Hitler claimed
to be inspired and laid out his dark vision, some call Berchtesgaden
"the cradle of the Third Reich." Hitler may have stoked
Germany's economy and put people back to work, but it was becoming clear
that whatever benefits fascism might bring
to its political base, it had a darker side --
and it came at a huge cost. Despite its veneer
of respectability, and its popularity
among ordinary people, the thriving fascist state relied on increasingly
brutal repression. Hitler continued
his ruthless creation of a totalitarian fascist state. The free press was silenced, as were intellectuals
and universities. Art was expected
to be naturalistic, and Germans to be depicted
as blond, blue-eyed, and wholesome. Books that caused people
to question the Nazi agenda were forbidden
and publicly burnt with delight
by Hitler's supporters. -If you have some books,
titles, of those books that were burned
the night before, and you invite some people,
they can argue against you because you have those books
in your private library. And even your roommate
has an argument against you. You do not trust
in anybody any longer after the burning of books. One famous German writer
and author said, "Once you're burning books, very soon you are
going to burn people." -Artifacts and posters in
Berlin's German History Museum illustrate the Nazi notion
of a master race. Anyone who didn't fit
their model could be viewed
as an enemy of the state, and sent to concentration camps. The Nazis required those they
imprisoned to wear badges that identified their status:
Political trader, law-breaker, foreigner, homosexual, and a catchall, "Asocial" -- anyone who would not conform. A special badge,
the yellow Star of David, went to Hitler's lowest
of the low: the Jews. -The Nazis believed
that the German people were the master race, the toughest, the strongest,
the bravest, the smartest. They said, "We should be
running the planet; we just can't do it
because this conspiracy, the Jewish 'world conspiracy'
is in the way. And without them, if we deal
with that conspiracy, then we will achieve
our rightful status again." -[ Chanting in German ] -The Nazis started putting
their anti-Semitic ideas into action
as early as April of 1933, when they organized a boycott
of Jewish businesses. -He specifically blamed
one group, the Jewish people, for ruining things
for everybody else. -For him, it was clear
his scapegoat was the Jews. They were the source of all evil
in Germany, and in the world, and he wanted to kind of
get rid of that evil, and that's what he worked for. -Then in November of 1938, the Nazis lead a pogrom
against Jews throughout Germany. During Kristallnacht, or
the Night of the Broken Glass, as it was called, Jewish homes, hospitals,
and schools were ransacked. 7,000 Jewish businesses
were damaged or destroyed, and over 1,000 synagogues
were burned. And 30,000 Jews were arrested
and put in concentration camps. This was a turning point
from earlier economic, political,
and social persecution to physical beatings,
incarceration, and even murder. It was the beginning
of Hitler's "Final Solution." Today, Berlin's
Topography of Terror exhibit stands on the rubble of what was once the most
feared address in Berlin: the headquarters
of the Gestapo secret police and the elite SS force. It was from here
that government employees managed the Nazi State and dispassionately coordinated
its most ruthless activities. The efficient
and heartless bureaucracy behind Hitler's crimes gave rise to the expression
"the banality of evil." Fascism in Germany turned ever
more hateful and militaristic. And fascism in Italy,
under Benito Mussolini, had been firmly rooted
since the 1920s. Italian fascism practiced
similarly militaristic and expansionist policies. Peace in Europe
was under threat, and war seemed inevitable. In 1939, Germany invaded Poland,
and World War II began. The military might of Germany
seemed unstoppable. Employing their fast
"lightning war" technique, called "Blitzkrieg," Hitler's mighty tanks
and high-tech air force, the Luftwaffe,
swept across Europe. France fell quickly, and suddenly Hitler was playing
tourist at the Eiffel Tower. Soon, nearly all
of the Continent was under direct
or indirect fascist rule. With their "Final Victory"
seemingly inevitable, the Nazis tightened the screws
within their own society. The evils of fascism
were incremental. As its small evils
became big evils, German society managed to be
oblivious to its own atrocities. At first, concentration camps contained people
who didn't conform. Then, they became
forced labor camps. Eventually, the Nazis built
death camps -- which were located
outside of Germany and therefore farther
from public view. With what the Nazis called
the "Final Solution," the entire Jewish population
was targeted for extermination. In total,
approximately 6 million Jews died from Nazi persecution. 2.7 million of those
died in death camps. Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland
was the biggest and most notorious
concentration camp in the Nazi system. Seeing the camp
can be difficult. But Auschwitz survivors
want tourists to come here, to try to appreciate the scale and the monstrosity
of the place in human terms, in hopes that this horror,
known as the Holocaust, will never be forgotten. To finally defeat fascism -- the alliance of Hitler
and Mussolini -- it took a massive
and heroic allied effort led by Britain, America,
and the Soviet Union. Germany was overwhelmed
as the combined military might of the Allies
closed in on the Third Reich. Finally,
the Nazi capital of Berlin was liberated by Soviet troops. And Hitler finished his life
here in Berlin. Deep underground,
in a bunker below my feet, with his capital smoldering
in ruins, the dictator committed suicide. Finally, in the spring of 1945,
the war in Europe ended. The death toll was staggering. In addition to 6 million Jews
the Nazis killed hundreds of thousands
of so-called "undesirables," over a million political
and religious prisoners, and nearly 9 million Soviet
and Polish citizens. Europe's experiment with fascism
left the Continent devastated, with entire societies
needing to be rebuilt. Germany had to be reconstructed
inside and out. The sweeping impact of fascism
can be felt to this day in the many memorials
across Europe that remind us
of those horrific years. In Berlin, the Memorial
to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a touching
and evocative field of gravestone-like pillars. It's designed to cause people
to think and to ponder this horrible
chapter in human history. A common refrain at many
of these memorials is "Never Again." But even today, in well-established democracies
throughout the West, societies are facing
many of the same emotions, frustrations, and inequities that, a century ago, opened the door
to fascism in Europe. -If I ask myself "could it
happen again?" I would say no... but it has happened in Germany, and it might happen again. -Fascism happened here
in Germany, in the center of civilization, in the land of Beethoven,
Goethe, and Schiller. And if it could
have happened here, it can happen anywhere
in the world. -Today Germany deals
responsibly with the legacy of pain
it brought Europe. Germany knows the importance
of a well-informed electorate. Every schoolchild learns
of the Holocaust with a visit
to a concentration camp, and Nazi documentation centers
in major cities tell the story. But perhaps most important is
the preservation of government by the
constitution and the rule of law, and not by the dictates
of a charismatic all-powerful leader. -One of the things
that you can do to make sure that something like this
will not happen here or in other countries, is not trust people that promise
you very easy answers for very complicated problems. It never works. -As we've seen through the story
of fascism in Germany, a charismatic leader
rose to power through the democratic process and then seized
extra-constitutional power by unlawful means. When citizens allowed this,
individual freedoms and rights soon fell by the wayside, and democracy was lost. While democracy was restored
to Western Europe, it easily could have
been lost forever -- and the cost
was millions of lives. As history continues to unfold
around us today, it's important to remember
that freedom and democracy are not guaranteed. We are all participants, and we are all responsible. The story of fascism in Europe has taught us that strong
and charismatic leaders can capitalize on fear
to lead a society astray. Democracy is fragile. It requires a vigilant
and engaged populace. And if you take freedom
for granted, you can lose it. Thanks for joining us.
I'm Rick Steves. Until next time,
travel thoughtfully. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪
