The “People’s Community” and the German Farmer.
The ideology of Nazi Germany was putting the group (Aryan) first over the individual. This way everyone was the same and there were no outcasts to rebel against the Nazis. The sense of belonging to something great was the overpowered feeling in Germany. A huge component to the people’s community were the Aryan farmers. Adolf Hitler was clever enough to touch bases on all parts to the German population and persuade them all to trust and ally with the Nazi Party. Hitler stated in a speech he gave in October of 1933 to the farmers, “We know that the ruin of the German Farmer will mean the end of the German people. The purpose of our political struggle is not to win against or conquer foreign nations (which would start to happen in just a few years), but is concerned instead with the maintenance and security of our own people. We are therefore determined to stand up for the German farmer” (Sax 267). Hitler points out the importance of the farmer and the support that they will be receiving. He is grabbing them into the ideology of one nation; one people. He later states, “May this feeling of solidarity between city and country and between workers of the hand and of the head be increasingly strengthened until we can proudly realize a powerful oneness” (Sax 268). Hitler strengthened the ties of the community through his speeches and knew very well that in order to gain a powerful nation, he needed the farmers on his side. A few years after Hitler’s speech at the festival in October, daily life for the small farmer increased. Policies were put into place where grants would help farmers improve the farm equipment and increase the amount of acres that they farmed. The farmers’ were without a doubt now trapped into the Nazi ideology because there was such an emphasis on them and their standard of living had now dramatically increased during the time period with the Nazis in charge. The “People’s Community” ideology had been laid and solidified within the agricultural life in Germany.
Sax, Benjamin and Dieter Kuntz. Inside Hitler’s Germany. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1992
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_and_Soil#/media/File:Blut_und_Boden.svg
I like how you regarded to farmers as being “trapped”. There were obviously those farmers who enjoyed being one of the main subjects of the National Socialist Ideology, but I never really thought about the ones who may not have wanted to be part of that. And as you said, some were “trapped” by the various policies and Hitler glorifying the agricultural community like he did by saying they are the blood and land of Germany, and basically are the ones who are the future. So I wonder, how many farmers may have actually been opposed to this, but then again, what could they really do to get out.
I feel as though Hitler was exceptional at getting those he is speaking to, to rally around his ideas. We see this with the military, the farmers that you mention, those working in the factories, and the rest of Germany. Hitler and the Nazi party were exceptional at increasing anti-Semitic views of the Jews. They rallied many Germans to get behind the removal of Jews from jobs, their homes, and cities.