1933: Warnings from History

The coming to power in Germany of Hitler’s National Socialists in 1933 was possibly the biggest political disaster of the 20th century. But the victory of Hitler was by no means inevitable: the German labour movement was the strongest in the world, with mass Socialist and Communist Parties, each with an armed militia, and a powerful trade-union movement. Yet the Nazi rabble came to power almost unopposed, with barely a shot being fired against them. Peter and Irma Petroff, authors of the title piece in this book, offer an eye-witness report on the terrible events of 1933. They tell of the defeat of the German labour movement and explain why the organisations of the German working class failed miserably to confront the enemy that threatened — and was to carry out — its destruction. As the danger of new authoritarians increases, these texts are once again required reading for people who wish to learn the grim lessons of that catastrophic defeat and who are determined not to allow history to repeat itself.