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Read William Shiere, “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.”
Nazis were NOT socialists. Their name “National Socialist”, was an attempt to ingratiate themselves with the German public in the 30s, when the Socialists *were* popular in Germany.

When they got into power, they sent Socialists and Communists to the death camps right along with Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, and homosexuals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Party

“Nazis were NOT socialists.”

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.....
Shirer was HIMSELF a socialist, and did everything he could to disassociate Nazism from Socialism. His books are colored by this.

Better Reading:
“VAMPIRE ECONOMY: Doing Business under Fascism”, written in 1939 by Gunther Reimann

A QUOTE:
“Industrialists were visited by state auditors who had strict orders to examine the balance sheets and all bookkeeping entries of the company or individual businessmen for the preceding two, three, or more years until some error or false entry was found,” explains Reimann. “The slightest formal mistake was punished with tremendous penalties. A fine of millions of marks was imposed for a single bookkeeping error.”

Reimann quotes from a businessman’s letter: “You have no idea how far state control goes and how much power the Nazi representatives have over our work. The worst of it is that they are so ignorant. These Nazi radicals think of nothing except ‘distributing the wealth.’ Some businessmen have even started studying Marxist theories, so that they will have a better understanding of the present economic system.

“While state representatives are busily engaged in investigating and interfering, our agents and salesmen are handicapped because they never know whether or not a sale at a higher price will mean denunciation as a ‘profiteer’ or ‘saboteur,’ followed by a prison sentence. You cannot imagine how taxation has increased. Yet everyone is afraid to complain.

Everywhere there is a growing undercurrent of bitterness. Everyone has his doubts about the system, unless he is very young, very stupid, or is bound to it by the privileges he enjoys.”

Regardless of what wikipedia says, the Nazi’s were socialist. The left cannot abide by that definition because it eliminates a major opportunity to vilify the right. However, the far right is bounded by anarchy (no government), not fascism, which is an extremely strong central government. It is the far left that is the two headed monster of communism and fascism. They are two sides of the same coin.

The differentiation between fascism and communism is that one is nationalized socialism and the other is international socialism (exports ideology). The german brand of fascism under Hitler could most closely be described today as State Capitalism, where the government allows some form of private enterprise, but the enterprises are owned by the state ... much like what Obama is trying to do to America. Think Volkswagen (aka People’s Car) and compare that to GM.

If you do not think Germany was socialist, please explain the Hitler youth, Brown Shirts, Gestapo, takeover of private enterprise, confiscation of wealth and property of non-arian’s and communist. Concentration camps for non-arian’s and communist.

Oh, but they treated communists bad too!! Yes, and like many royals over the millenia that have had challengers to their throne, Queen Elizabeth had Mary, Queen of Scots imprisoned and executed, even tho they were cousins. Only one could survive, and so the fascists executed thier ideological cousins.

The name is William Lawrence Shirer and I have read “The Rise and Fall...” Shirer in the view of many was Marxist or at least a socialist, himself.

The National Socialist Workers Party (Nazi) was seen as a like-minded socialist party by the Socialist Party of Germany which offered to merge with the NSWP, an offer that was turned down by the NSWP by only 1 vote. Party line Marxists always maintain that NWSP was not socialist at all but was instead secretly capitalist.

Shirer was a long time on air commentator with CBS News.

They were national socialists, as apposed to international socialists of the Soviet Union, and Progressives of today. They were “Germany First” socialists. But they were definitely socialists. Early marques by Hitler included the hammer and sickle. Germany and Russia were allies until Germany attacked. That was after they both invaded Poland together and shared the spoils.

History was rewritten and you learned it well.