Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Hitler was a Leftist
Hitler was a Leftist ^ | John Ray

Posted on 10/29/2003 7:46:53 AM PST by finnman69

"We are socialists, we are enemies of today's capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions." --Adolf Hitler

(Speech of May 1, 1927. Quoted by Toland, 1976, p. 306)

[Below is the 25 of the NSDAP Program - This is basically the National Socialist German Workers Party Platform. It included measures that in effect would redistribute income and war profits, profit-sharing with large industries, nationalization of trusts, extensive development of old-age pension (just like FDRs Social Security Program), and free education. Clearly this demonstrates Hitler was indeed a left winger and here is startling proof.]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 25 points of the NSDAP Program were composed by Adolf Hitler and Anton Drexler. They were publically presented on 24 February 1920 "to a crowd of almost two thousand and every single point was accepted amid jubilant approval." (Mein Kampf, Volume II, Chapter I) Hitler explained their purpose in the fifth chapter of the second volume of Mein Kampf:

[T]he program of the new movement was summed up in a few guiding principles, twenty-five in all. They were devised to give, primarily to the man of the people, a rough picture of the movement's aims. They are in a sense a political creed, which on the one hand recruits for the movement and on the other is suited to unite and weld together by a commonly recognized obligation those who have been recruited.

Hitler was intent on having a community of mutual interest that desired mutual success instead of one that was divided over the control of money or differing values.

THE COMMON INTEREST BEFORE SELF-INTEREST - THAT IS THE SPIRIT OF THE PROGRAM. BREAKING OF THE THRALDOM OF INTEREST - THAT IS THE KERNEL OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM.

In these straightforward statements of intent, Hitler translated his ideology into a plan of action which would prove its popularity with the German people throughout the coming years. For many, the abruptness of its departure from the tradition of politics as practiced in the western world was as much of a shock as its liberal nature and foresight of the emerging problems of western democracy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Programme of the German Workers' Party is designed to be of limited duration. The leaders have no intention, once the aims announced in it have been achieved, of establishing fresh ones, merely in order to increase, artificially, the discontent of the masses and so ensure the continued existence of the Party.

1. We demand the union of all Germany in a Greater Germany on the basis of the right of national self-determination.

2. We demand equality of rights for the German people in its dealings with other nations, and the revocation of the peace treaties of Versailles and Saint-Germain.

3. We demand land and territory (colonies) to feed our people and to settle our surplus population.

4. Only members of the nation may be citizens of the State. Only those of German blood, whatever be their creed, may be members of the nation. Accordingly, no Jew may be a member of the nation.

5. Non-citizens may live in Germany only as guests and must be subject to laws for aliens.

6. The right to vote on the State's government and legislation shall be enjoyed by the citizens of the State alone. We demand therefore that all official appointments, of whatever kind, whether in the Reich, in the states or in the smaller localities, shall be held by none but citizens.

We oppose the corrupting parliamentary custom of filling posts merely in accordance with party considerations, and without reference to character or abilities.

7. We demand that the State shall make it its primary duty to provide a livelihood for its citizens. If it should prove impossible to feed the entire population, foreign nationals (non-citizens) must be deported from the Reich.

8. All non-German immigration must be prevented. We demand that all non-Germans who entered Germany after 2 August 1914 shall be required to leave the Reich forthwith.

9. All citizens shall have equal rights and duties.

10. It must be the first duty of every citizen to perform physical or mental work. The activities of the individual must not clash with the general interest, but must proceed within the framework of the community and be for the general good.

We demand therefore:

11. The abolition of incomes unearned by work.

The breaking of the slavery of interest

12. In view of the enormous sacrifices of life and property demanded of a nation by any war, personal enrichment from war must be regarded as a crime against the nation. We demand therefore the ruthless confiscation of all war profits.

13. We demand the nationalization of all businesses which have been formed into corporations (trusts).

14. We demand profit-sharing in large industrial enterprises.

15. We demand the extensive development of insurance for old age.

16. We demand the creation and maintenance of a healthy middle class, the immediate communalizing of big department stores, and their lease at a cheap rate to small traders, and that the utmost consideration shall be shown to all small traders in the placing of State and municiple orders.

17. We demand a land reform suitable to our national requirements, the passing of a law for the expropriation of land for communal purposes without compensation; the abolition of ground rent, and the prohibition of all speculation in land. *

18. We demand the ruthless prosecution of those whose activities are injurious to the common interest. Common criminals, usurers, profiteers, etc., must be punished with death, whatever their creed or race.

19. We demand that Roman Law, which serves a materialistic world order, be replaced by a German common law.

20. The State must consider a thorough reconstruction of our national system of education (with the aim of opening up to every able and hard-working German the possibility of higher education and of thus obtaining advancement). The curricula of all educational establishments must be brought into line with the requirements of practical life. The aim of the school must be to give the pupil, beginning with the first sign of intelligence, a grasp of the nation of the State (through the study of civic affairs). We demand the education of gifted children of poor parents, whatever their class or occupation, at the expense of the State.

21. The State must ensure that the nation's health standards are raised by protecting mothers and infants, by prohibiting child labor, by promoting physical strength through legislation providing for compulsory gymnastics and sports, and by the extensive support of clubs engaged in the physical training of youth.

22. We demand the abolition of the mercenary army and the foundation of a people's army.

23. We demand legal warfare on deliberate political mendacity and its dissemination in the press. To facilitate the creation of a German national press we demand:

(a) that all editors of, and contributors to newspapers appearing in the German language must be members of the nation; (b) that no non-German newspapers may appear without the express permission of the State. They must not be printed in the German language; (c) that non-Germans shall be prohibited by law from participating financially in or influencing German newspapers, and that the penalty for contravening such a law shall be the suppression of any such newspaper, and the immediate deportation of the non-Germans involved.

The publishing of papers which are not conducive to the national welfare must be forbidden. We demand the legal prosecution of all those tendencies in art and literature which corrupt our national life, and the suppression of cultural events which violate this demand.

24. We demand freedom for all religious denominations in the State, provided they do not threaten its existence not offend the moral feelings of the German race.

The Party, as such, stands for positive Christianity, but does not commit itself to any particular denomination. It combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit within and without us, and is convinced that our nation can achieve permanent health only from within on the basis of the principle: The common interest before self-interest.

25. To put the whole of this programme into effect, we demand the creation of a strong central state power for the Reich; the unconditional authority of the political central Parliament over the entire Reich and its organizations; and the formation of Corporations based on estate and occupation for the purpose of carrying out the general legislation passed by the Reich in the various German states.

The leaders of the Party promise to work ruthlessly -- if need be to sacrifice their very lives -- to translate this programme into action.

Source: Programme of the NSDAP http://www.hitler.org/writings/programme/


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: gay; hitler; homosexuality; leftist; nazi; s; socialism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-66 next last
To: You Dirty Rats
Hitler was a leftist in exactly the same way Mrs. Bill Clinton is a leftist.
41 posted on 10/29/2003 10:55:50 AM PST by Maelstrom (To prevent misinterpretation or abuse of the Constitution:The Bill of Rights limits government power)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Kleon
In his Germany, the means of production were controlled by capitalists, not the workers

Absolutely wrong. The means of production were controlled by the state, not in the way the Soviet Union did, but the state controlled private coporporations via Third Way Socialism.

Workers controlling the means of production is anarchism, and is not the only attribute of the "Left Wing". When the State controls the means of production Directly (as in the Soviet Union) or indirectly (as in NAZI germany or much of Europe today) that is also left wing.

42 posted on 10/29/2003 11:04:24 AM PST by chudogg (http://chudogg.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: finnman69
do you have a link for that?
43 posted on 10/29/2003 11:10:58 AM PST by chudogg (http://chudogg.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: chudogg
Well, if Hitler was using left-wing Socialist ideas, then I guess Socialism really worked: Unemployment in Nazi Germany January 1933--6 million; January 1934--3.3 million; January 1935--2.9 million; January 1936--2.5 million; January 1937--1.8 million; January 1938--1.0 million; January 1939--302,000. It's true that Capitalists controlled the production in Nazi Germany. I think the confusion comes from the fact that Hitler had a powerful grip on any industry that would help build up the war machine and help Germany become autonomous, not the entire economy.
44 posted on 10/29/2003 11:43:08 AM PST by Kleon ("I'm hanging on to a Solid Rock, made before the foundation of the world" -- Bob Dylan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: finnman69
Bump
45 posted on 10/29/2003 11:45:32 AM PST by Havoc (If you can't be frank all the time are you lying the rest of the time?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kleon
I think the confusion is in the false propaganda that Fascism or Nazi-ism must be right-wing.

He not only controlled vast portions of the economy directly through government regulation, he also controlled the very lives of the people who lived in Germany by dicating to them from a young age the very careers at which they would work when they joined the workforce.

The German economy was strictly controlled in a great many ways.

The German economy was doomed when it adopted the strict controls that made it a socialist country. That doom would take more time than the nation using it survived. It had more capitalism maintained within it than the USSR, about what China has, however, it was as socialist as any socialist nation.

Germany is *less* socialist today than it was under the Nazis. That fact should be inarguable.
46 posted on 10/29/2003 11:56:18 AM PST by Maelstrom (To prevent misinterpretation or abuse of the Constitution:The Bill of Rights limits government power)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: finnman69
A BUMP for Later Today!
47 posted on 10/29/2003 1:35:30 PM PST by Pagey (Hillary Rotten is a Smug, Holier - Than - Thou Socialist)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: finnman69
BTTT
48 posted on 10/29/2003 9:09:06 PM PST by StriperSniper (All this, of course, is simply pious fudge. - H. L. Mencken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Maelstrom; oldglory; MinuteGal; Luke FReeman; gonzo
"Hitler was a leftist in exactly the same way Mrs. Bill Clinton is a leftist."

BTTT!!

49 posted on 11/13/2003 9:05:53 AM PST by Matchett-PI (Why do America's enemies desperately want DemocRATS back in power?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: You Dirty Rats
Claiming Hitler was a Leftist is as ridiculous as those that claimed in the Late 1980's and '90's that the Politburo were the "Conservatives" and Yeltsin, et al were "Liberals" -- and that, therefore, the Politburo were Rightists. Stalin was Left (i.e. pro-worker anti-capitalist) and Hitler was Right (anti-worker and pro-business). The 25 points mean squat -- actions, not words or papers, are the means to judge.

I'm with you man, but trying to explain this is too often an exercise in futility.

50 posted on 11/13/2003 9:11:31 AM PST by Petronski (Everybody calm down . . . eat some fruit or something.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Petronski
"Claiming Hitler was a Leftist is as ridiculous as..."

I'm with you man, but trying to explain this is too often an exercise in futility.

And wrong by any measure short of religion. Arguably even arguing from the perspective of religion Hitler was still a Leftist, having used religion as a political carrot and goad while pursuing a path for himself more akin to New Age Crystalism or Norse Mythology than Christianity.
51 posted on 11/13/2003 10:03:24 AM PST by Maelstrom (To prevent misinterpretation or abuse of the Constitution:The Bill of Rights limits government power)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: finnman69
For reader's of the NY Times it could have been posted in Breaking News...
52 posted on 11/13/2003 10:05:06 AM PST by Pharmboy (Dems lie 'cause they have to...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Petronski; You Dirty Rats
Read it and weep:

http://www.waragainsttheweak.com/

Woodrow Wilson was a profound admirer of the Bolshevists, and Col House used to brag that he was the guy who gave Mussolini the idea on how to make Italy Fascist.

By the way, don't post links to Col House's book 'Philip Dru - Administrator wherein he outlines a path to the overthrow of the US government and the implementation of a national and socialist system of dictatorship for America.
The organization that currently publishes it is strictly 'verboten' here.

Woodrow himself spent time alone with the book right after his first presidential election, and Woodrow used to boast that he had managed to overthrow the government without House's recipe for a revolutionary war. In the Wilson era, the book was a best seller.

Hitler said the same thing as Wilson did about his coming to power.


53 posted on 11/13/2003 10:14:58 AM PST by Held_to_Ransom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: finnman69

bump


54 posted on 05/17/2004 11:13:17 PM PDT by Capitalism2003 ("Greedy capitalists get money by trade. Good liberals steal it." – David Friedman)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Comment #55 Removed by Moderator

To: TheEntity

Buh bye, trollboy.


56 posted on 04/15/2006 4:55:01 PM PDT by facedown (Armed in the Heartland)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: Petronski
To all
Read the book 'The Hidden Hitler' !
It discusses in great detail the issue of Hitler's sexuality and the high likelihood that Hitler was a homosexual of the sado-maschoist variety. The book says that there was police evidence that Hitler was a male prostitute back in his Vienna days. Also Hitler made a concerted effort to erase his past, particularly he felt the need to control or eliminate anyone who knew him during his youth.
Another point the book makes is that much of the appeal of Nazism comes from the 'Wandering Youth Movement' of the late 1800s to 1920s. A social youth movement which had homo-erotic tendencies. Many of these people latter migrated to the SA.
57 posted on 04/15/2006 5:11:25 PM PDT by Reily
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]

To: Maelstrom
In his Germany, the means of production were not controlled outright by the GOVERNMENT, but via extensive and overburdening regulations, the business owners were figureheads.

Government control of the economy is socialism. And this seems to fit the bill. If I were a businessman, I think I’d rather cross FDR, or a President Hillary, than cross Hitler. Hitler doesn't strike me as someone who would respect a Constitution, Bill of Rights, or valid concern for State’s rights. “The government that governs best, governs least.” That’s not a Hitler quote. On a large government - small government continuum, I place Hitler on the far left.
58 posted on 04/15/2006 6:52:18 PM PDT by ChessExpert (Islam - a dangerous cult)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: ChessExpert

Neither does Mrs. Bill Clinton, nor did FDR.

That quote is neither a quote FDR nor Mrs. Bill Clinton are fond of either.

The Left likes to pretend that burdensome government controls on an economy is entirely unlike socialism.

Worse...the Left proceeds to re-cast the American economic landscape into something closer to that which Mussolini constructed on their path to a more socialist America.

Opposite them all, we remain capitalists.


59 posted on 04/16/2006 8:39:44 AM PDT by Maelstrom (To prevent misinterpretation or abuse of the Constitution:The Bill of Rights limits government power)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: ChessExpert

It's funny that where most people learn that Hitler wasn't from the far left is in the colleges and universities.
The home of the far left.


60 posted on 04/16/2006 9:08:59 AM PDT by oneofmany (Slaying the Fifth Column with the Truth as my sword.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-66 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson