Excerpt from Why the German Republic Fell by Bruno Hellig

Last updated: 3/22/2024

Excerpt from Why the German Republic Fell by Bruno Hellig published in Why the German Republic Fell And Other Studies of the Causes and Consequences of Economic Inequity edited by Arthur Madsen published by The Hogarth Press London UK 1941 Hellig was a journalist for newspapers in Vienna Budapest Prague and Berlin who was arrested In Austria in 1938 for being Jewish He was released from a concentration camp in 1939 emigrated to Britain and served in the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War Was there a link between the economic and the political collapse Eventually yes For as unemployment grew and with it poverty and the fear of poverty so grew the influence of the Nazi Party which was making its lavish promises to the frustrated and its violent appeal to the revenges of a populace aware of its wrongs but condemned to hear only a malignant and distorted explanation of them In the first year of the crisis the number of Nazi deputies to the Reichstag parliament rose from 8 to 107 A year later this figure was doubled In the same time the Communists captured half of the votes of the German Social Democratic Party and the representation of the middle class practically speaking disappeared In January 1933 Hitler was appointed Reichskanzler Chancellor he attained power as I said before quite legally All the forms of democracy were observed It sounds paradoxical but it was in fact absolutely logical 14 Who is the author of Source C7 15 In what way does Heilig s profession as a journalist provide value to this source for a historian studying interwar conditions in Europe 16 In what way does Heilig s profession as a journalist lead to limitations of this source for a historian studying interwar conditions in Europe