How Hilter became Dictator

How Hilter became Dictator

After the elections of March 5, 1933, the Nazis began a systematic

takeover of the state governments throughout Germany, ending a

centuries old tradition of local political independence. Armed SA and

SS thugs barged into local government offices using the state of

emergency decree as a pretext to throw out legitimate office holders

and replace them with Nazi Reich commissioners.

Political enemies were arrested by the thousands and put in hastily

constructed holding pens. Old army barracks and abandoned factories

were used as prisons. Once inside, prisoners were subjected to

military style drills and harsh discipline. They were often beaten and

sometimes even tortured to death. This was the very beginning of the

Nazi concentration camp system.

At this time, these early concentration camps were loosely organized

under the control of the SA and the rival SS. Many were little more

than barbed wire stockades know as 'wild' concentration camps, set up

by local Gauleiters and SA leaders.

For Adolf Hitler, the goal of a legally established dictatorship was

now within reach. On March 15, 1933, a cabinet meeting was held during

which Hitler and Göring discussed how to obstruct what was left of the

democratic process to get an Enabling Act passed by the Reichstag.

This law would hand over the constitutional functions of the Reichstag

to Hitler, including the power to make laws, control the budget and

approve treaties with foreign governments.

The emergency decree signed by Hindenburg on February 28, after the

Reichstag fire, made it easy for them to interfere with non-Nazi

elected representatives of the people by simply arresting them.

As Hitler plotted to bring democracy to an end in Germany, Propaganda

Minister Joseph Goebbels put together a brilliant public relations

display at the official opening of the newly elected Reichstag.

On March 21, in the Garrison Church at Potsdam, the burial place of

Frederick the Great, an elaborate ceremony took place designed to ease