Were there Positive Impacts from Hitler’s Rule?

Throughout history people only focus on the negative impacts of Hitler being in power. For example through his strong anti-Semitism that caused extreme genocide that killed millions of Jews and the violence and deep control of the Nazi party through the election time. These negative impacts, however are extremely important and it is hard to see how someone who is capable to that kind of destruction and thought could have a few positive impacts on Germany. Many people fail to acknowledge, as they should, that Hitler actually created and did some positive impacts that help Germany through this difficult time during depression of the 1930’s.

Hitler was known for becoming to power through the role of chancellor, but once the president Hindenburg passed away the Nazi party and Hitler were able to come rule through dictatorship. During the time of Hitler’s rule was during the Great Depression which impacted many middle class people, farmers, and young college students. However, through Hitler’s rule he created many programs and opportunities for these people to come out of unemployment and survive in Germany. One positive impact that Hitler had on some small Germany towns that was stated in the novel The Nazi Seizure of Power, was the process of public works project. ” What the Nazi brought to public works project was the concept of applying them so as to eliminate all unemployment in the town”1. By 1933 “every person in the town who had been registered as unemployment was at work” 2. However this was only for this small town that unemployment numbers were lowered not all Germany towns lowered there unemployment. The second positive impact from Hitler’s rule was to fighting the depression. The Nazi party also pushed charity during their first few months in office, “Charity collections for the Nazi “Winter Aid” brought in considerable amounts, and the SA soup kitchen reported that it had distributed over 32,000 meals in the winter of 1932-33″ 3. However where these positive impacts truly the good efforts and ideas that Hitler and the Nazi Regime thought of? No! These ideas of public work projects and charity work was first the idea of the socialist which the Nazi Party discouraged before Hitler was Furher of Germany.

Even though the Nazi party helped this town’s economic problems through the socialist ideas by abolishing unemployment and increasing income in this town the Nazi’s by no means ended the depression, in fact they created a long emotional depression from the strong anti-Semitism belief and genocide through the concentration camps that will continue to impact people in Germany and around the world.

 

Footnotes:

1. William, S. Allen. The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town 1922-1945 (Danbury, CT, Franklin Watts Publishing, 1965) 234.
2. Ibid,  235
3. Ibid, 237
4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchene/6913363766/in/photolist