Contents

Acknowledgments v

Introduction vii

Part I: From Artist to Dictator 1

Chapter 1: Adolf Hitler’s Humble Beginnings 3

Chapter 2: Vienna and the Roots of Hitler’s Antisemitism 10

Chapter 3: The Great War 22

Chapter 4: The Failure of Democracy 28

Chapter 5: From Soldier to Führer 36

Chapter 6: Hitler’s Swift Rise to Power 49

Chapter 7: Germany’s Economic Recovery 57

Part II: The Overwhelming Power of Propaganda 69

Chapter 8: Hitler and the Arts 71

Chapter 9: Antisemitic Propaganda 102

Chapter 10: The German “People’s Community” 130

Chapter 11: Racial Hygiene for the Master Race 143

Chapter 12: Hitler: Actor and Orator 152

Chapter 13: Hitler in “His” Mountains 159

Chapter 14: Mass Events and the Art of Propaganda 164

Chapter 15: Third Reich Cinema 173

Chapter 16: Volk ohne Raum and Other Justifications for War 182

Chapter 17: One Crown for Two Empires 191

Part III: State of Terror 203

Chapter 18: Policing the Reich 205

Chapter 19: Persecution 216

Chapter 20: Extermination 232

Chapter 21: Resisting the Reich 246

Part IV: Additional Perspectives 256

Chapter 22: Hitler’s Secret Book 259

Chapter 23: Did Occultism Play a Role in the Third Reich? 280

Chapter 24: Religion in the Reich 288

Chapter 25: The Third Reich: A New Rome? 305

Chapter 26: Women in the Reich 311

Chapter 27: The Hidden Face of Eva Braun 328

Part V: Dealing with Collective Guilt 337

Chapter 28: How Nazified Were the Germans during the Third Reich? 339

Chapter 29: Neo-Nazis in Germany Today? 359

About the Author 395