1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,520 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday, everybody. Coming up on the show, we are 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,519 Speaker 1: going to talk about someone who was suspected of distributing 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: Nazi propaganda in the United States in the early nineteen thirties. 4 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: One part of that context is, of course, what was 5 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: happening in Germany during this time, but that's a little 6 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: outside the scope of that upcoming episode. So today we 7 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: are bringing out our May episode on the Night of 8 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: the Long Knives as a Saturday classic. This episode covers 9 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: how Adolf Hitler came to power, leading up to a 10 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:39,159 Speaker 1: massive purge of his political opponents. In four Welcome to 11 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production of I 12 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio Hello book for the podcast I'm Holly from 13 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So we don't often talk about 14 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: Nazi history. No, we don't. It's I mean, you might 15 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: think we would more because of the Internet where it's 16 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: all Nazi talk all the time. But it's one of 17 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: those things that people have hashed out a lot, and 18 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: it's uh not something most people miss in history class. 19 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,960 Speaker 1: But in talking with people lately, I have discovered that 20 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: some of the finer points maybe people don't always recall. Yeah, 21 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 1: some of the details get a little lost like we 22 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:25,479 Speaker 1: know the broadstor everybody knows the broad strokes, but particularly 23 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: around like Hitler's rise to power and sort of the 24 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: steps that happened that enabled him to basically claim that 25 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: he ruled everything in Germany, those get a little fuzzy 26 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: for people. Yeah, I think for a lot of folks there, 27 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: knowledge of Hitler sort of begins in World War Two 28 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: and not all the stuff before that. Right, there's a 29 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: lot of knowledge of concentration camps and the things associated 30 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: with that and all of those atrocities of war, But 31 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: there was a long lead up to that, right, And 32 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: we aren't even covering all of it because it's one 33 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: of those figures where he has been so studied by 34 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: by people that are scholars of German history and Nazi 35 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: history in particular, that there's no way we can include 36 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: every detail of his life. And there are also pieces 37 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: in here that we're going to refer to you that 38 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: are individual incidents in history. We have one or the 39 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: other of us talked about doing as whole episodes before, 40 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: and I think I referenced in my notes that one 41 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: of them could become a whole episode in the future. 42 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,679 Speaker 1: But what we're sort of talking about is Night of 43 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: the Long Knives, But what we're actually doing is a 44 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:32,920 Speaker 1: lot of stuff leading up to that and why it 45 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: was an important moment, and then the night along and 46 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: then the Night of the Long Knives is actually the 47 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: last segment. So for just a quick context, over the 48 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,239 Speaker 1: course of several days in n Adolf Hitler, who was 49 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: at the time the Nazi Party leader and Reich Chancellor, 50 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,679 Speaker 1: directed an action which eliminated basically all of his political 51 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: enemies as well as some personal enemies, and enabled him 52 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: to declare himself here. But first, as I said, we're 53 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: going to need to talk about what proceeded. That's areas 54 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: of murders that have come to be known as the 55 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: Night of Long Knives. It also goes by a couple 56 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: of other names, and we'll talk about those. So we're 57 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: gonna do kind of a brief history of Hitler's rise 58 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 1: to power. Yes, the National Socialist German Workers Party the 59 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: Nazi Party was founded in nineteen nineteen under the banner 60 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: of the German Workers Party, and one of the primary 61 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:25,359 Speaker 1: drivers for its establishment was some dissatisfaction at the terms 62 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 1: that were set in the Treaty of Versailles, which ended 63 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: World War One. These terms called for Germany to make reparations. Yeah, 64 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: those certainly were not the only terms, but that's the 65 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: big one that really caused a lot of problems in 66 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: terms of public opinion in Germany and UH. The party 67 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: was actually founded initially by a locksmith named Anton Drexler, 68 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: but he was quickly usurped by an enthusiastic upstart Adolf Hitler, 69 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: and that change in leadership was also what brought about 70 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: the name change from the German Workers Party to the 71 00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: National Socialist German Workers Party. From the most moment that 72 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: he took the helm of the group, Hitler started working 73 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: on a plan which would be this guiding ideology of 74 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: the party going forward. It was a twenty five point 75 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: program that included goals of abandoning the Treaty of Versailles 76 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,920 Speaker 1: and expanding German territory. And there was also a strong 77 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: threat of anti semitism throughout, including the ideology that only 78 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,480 Speaker 1: those with German blood should have citizenship and by that 79 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: logic quote hence no Jew can be a countryman. And 80 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: thanks to UH, the socialist aspects at the time which 81 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: shifted away from that and the distrust of the German 82 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: government in the twenty five point program, which drew the 83 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: working class. The Nazi Party experienced a really steady increase 84 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 1: in membership in the early nineteen twenties. In the fall 85 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: of nine, the group had accumulated tens of thousands of 86 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: members and felt sort of so confident in their their 87 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: power that they thought they could wield with that membership 88 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: that they mounted what became known as the Beer Hall Pooch, 89 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:02,280 Speaker 1: also called the Hitler pooch or the Munich pouch Uh. 90 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: That's basically an attempted coup de ta and that happened 91 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,119 Speaker 1: on November eighth and ninth. The hope on the part 92 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,600 Speaker 1: of the Nazi Party was that their attempted coup in Bavaria, 93 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,799 Speaker 1: where the party was headquartered, would inspire the German army, 94 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: which was really rife with frustration, to carry this momentum 95 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: forward and lead to an overthrow of the government in Berlin. 96 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: To that end, Hitler and other leaders along with the 97 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: stern bat Lugen, which is also known as the Stormtroopers 98 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: or the Essay and I'm going to apologize for all 99 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: of my German pronunciation in this episode. I'm sure it 100 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: is terrible. They begin at a beer hall in Munich 101 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,839 Speaker 1: where the government leaders were meeting, with the intention to 102 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: overthrow them, and then they would march on Berlin to 103 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:48,119 Speaker 1: enact a full takeover of Weimar Germany. But the plan 104 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 1: was in fact a failure, so instead of culminating in 105 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: the government takeover, the whole thing was shut down really 106 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,679 Speaker 1: quite quickly. The beginning of the coup had gone as planned. 107 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: They easily suppressed the politicians that were in the beer hall, 108 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: but when they moved on to their next location at 109 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: the building of the Bavarian War Ministry, they were fired 110 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: upon by police and a riot followed. We could, and 111 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: perhaps on day we will do a whole episode just 112 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: on the beer hall puch like that's been on my 113 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: list for a while. You and I have talked about it. 114 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: But the outcome was that Adolf Hitler was arrested and 115 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: charged with treason along with nine other men, and was 116 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: ultimately sitting sentenced to five years in prison, and the 117 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: Nazi Party was banned. It was during his incarceration at 118 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: Lansburg Jail for the beer Hall Pusch that Hitler dictated 119 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: mine coomp to his personal secretary, Rudolf Hess, who had 120 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: also been convicted and was serving his sentence alongside Hitler. 121 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: Hitler did not, however, serve his full sentence. Pretty much 122 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: from the moment of his incarceration, the remnants of the 123 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,720 Speaker 1: Nazi Party, even though that was technically outlawed, they still 124 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: existed in a form not under that name. UH dedicated 125 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: their resources and energy to pressuring the German government to 126 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: release him, so he served about nine months of his sentence. 127 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 1: After his release, Adolf Hitler set about re establishing the 128 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: Nazi Party. The ban on its existence was legally lifted 129 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: after Hitler appealed to the Bavarian Prime Minister and assured 130 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: him that the group would abide by the rules of 131 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: the constitution. Hitler organized and the reinvigorated party with extreme care. 132 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: In the years that followed, and through deft framing of 133 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: the Beer Hall putch, November nine became Reich Day of 134 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: mourning for the Nazis who had been killed during the riot, 135 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: and it became a rallying point for the party. Germany's 136 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: economic depression at the end of the nineteen twenties really 137 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: left an opening for Hitler's Nazi rhetoric to win over 138 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: supporters from Germany's working class, desperate out of work. Germans 139 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: responded to the criticisms of the existing government that they 140 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: had felt caused their troubled situations, so they were very 141 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: happy to join on with the people making those criticism, 142 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: which were the Nazi Party. So elections started going to 143 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: the Nazi Party starting in about nineteen thirty. In nineteen 144 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: thirty two, the Nazi Party reached a major milestone. It 145 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: became the largest party in the German Parliament, although it 146 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: did not hold a majority. This was a massive shift 147 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: from the previous election, in which the Nazi Party had 148 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: only won a handful of seats in the Reichstag. Hitler 149 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,240 Speaker 1: actually ran for president that same year, but he lost 150 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: to Paul von Hindenburg. Hindenberg, who was eighty four at 151 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: the time and not in terrific health, had won the 152 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: presidency in nineteen five and he had been asked to 153 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 1: run again in nineteen thirty two because it was believed 154 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:41,680 Speaker 1: that he was the only man who could win against 155 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: Adolf Hitler. But Hitler had garnered a significant following and 156 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: he established himself as a political force even without that 157 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:55,199 Speaker 1: election win. In January of nineteen thirty three, Hendenberg selected 158 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,680 Speaker 1: Adolf Hitler as chancellor in an effort to appease the 159 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: Nazi Party. Hitler began as chancellor on January and immediately 160 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: advised President Hendenberg that the Reichstag, which was set at 161 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: a stalemate because no political party had managed to establish 162 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: a majority. He suggested that the rice Stag be dissolved 163 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: and that new elections be held, and a new election 164 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 1: was called for on March fifth. Three. Yeah, just for 165 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: a little bit of context, Hindenburgh thought that, you know, 166 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: with a vice chancellor there was not a Nazi and 167 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: some other people in prominent political positions, like surely they 168 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: would be able to keep this Hitler guy in check. No, 169 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: that didn't work out, and then the Reichstag building burned 170 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: under mysterious circumstances on February ninety three. Debate about the 171 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: cause of the fire has actually continued right up to 172 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 1: present day. You will hear historians discussing it and debating 173 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: the various theories. But one of the most popular theories 174 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 1: is that Joseph Gebbel's planned the fire with the intent 175 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: to pin it on the Communists, and as the Communist 176 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: Party was the was one of the Nazi Party's legitimate 177 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: right those in the upcoming election. This plan was intended 178 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,959 Speaker 1: intended to cast a shadow over that party and lose 179 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: them some votes. The day after the fire, Hitler leaned 180 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: on Hindenburg to deliver an emergency decree which stated, quote 181 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,960 Speaker 1: restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression 182 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: of opinion, including freedom of the press, on the rights 183 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: of assembly and association, and violations of the privacy of postal, 184 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 1: telegraphic and telephonic communication, and warrants for house searches. Orders 185 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:35,439 Speaker 1: for confiscations, as well as restrictions on property are also 186 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed, and this was 187 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: framed as being quote for the protection of the people 188 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: and the state. Hitler levied leveraged control over the country's politics, culture, 189 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 1: and society to further stack the deck in favor of 190 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: a Nazi party success at the polls. In the upcoming election, 191 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: Hermann Goering, who had become head of police, used the 192 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: brute power of his force to suppress most opposition, and 193 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: the Nazis did not win an outright majority, but Hitler's 194 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: next move made that a non issue. We're coming up 195 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: on the Enabling Act of nineteen thirty three, but before 196 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:17,320 Speaker 1: we get to that, we will pause for a word 197 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:27,199 Speaker 1: from one of our sponsors. As part of Hitler's consolidation 198 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:29,560 Speaker 1: of power, he wanted to diminish the authority of the 199 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,000 Speaker 1: reichs Dog, which was bymar Germany's legislative branch, and take 200 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 1: that authority for himself. With the votes of the supporting 201 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: members of the Reichstag and many members of the reichs 202 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: Dog not voting due to strong arm tactics on the 203 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: part of the essay in the s s, including corralling 204 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: many in what was called protective detention, it was easy 205 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: to get the Enabling Act of nineteen thirty three passed 206 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: on March. The vote took place in the corl Opera House, 207 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,440 Speaker 1: which was being used as the seat of the reichs 208 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: Dog in the aftermath of the fire which had burned 209 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 1: down the municipal building where they normally held that business. 210 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: Hitler had ordered that the Nazi party symbol, the Swatstika, 211 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: be hung in massive scale in the temporary reich stock Chamber. 212 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: Germany's Supreme Court accepted the passage of the Enabling Act 213 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: with no challenge, despite the dicey nature of the vote, 214 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: and some judges seemed to be unaware that anything out 215 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: of the ordinary parliamentary business had even taken place. So 216 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,319 Speaker 1: the Enabling Act was also called the Law to Remedy 217 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: the Distress of People and the Reich, and one of 218 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: the key passages in that act read quote. In addition 219 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:43,000 Speaker 1: to procedures prescribed by the Constitution, laws of the Reich 220 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: may also be enacted by the Government of the Reich, 221 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: and this meant that Hitler, as Chancellor and head of 222 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: the Reich Cabinet, could decree laws by himself by passing 223 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:56,199 Speaker 1: the approval of the reich stock. In essence, it legally 224 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: sealed his dictatorship. Not only could Hitler and act laws, 225 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 1: he could also enter into alliances or agreements with other 226 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,959 Speaker 1: countries without consulting the Reichstag or having his decisions ratified 227 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: by them. He could also undo existing laws of the 228 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: Weimar Constitution, again without any checks or balances. With this 229 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,720 Speaker 1: passage of the Enabling Act, the Reichstag had basically made 230 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: itself obsolete. By ninety four, it was apparent that s 231 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: a Chief of Staff Ernst Rome had turned the Stormtrooper 232 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: military into a mighty force, and at that point it 233 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:35,680 Speaker 1: boasted almost three million men and we uh I need 234 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: to point out that at the same time, the German 235 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 1: army had only one thousand men. That was a capped 236 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,080 Speaker 1: number that had been outlined in the Treaty of Versailles, 237 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,840 Speaker 1: so the Nazi Party actually had far more military might 238 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:51,560 Speaker 1: than the Weimar government. Naturally, there was some concern that 239 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:55,720 Speaker 1: the Essay was far too powerful. Both President Hindenburg and 240 00:13:55,800 --> 00:14:01,199 Speaker 1: Vice Chancellor Franz von Poppen were troubled by the Nazi forces, 241 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: but Hitler had his own concerns about homes military. While 242 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,200 Speaker 1: Hitler knew that he needed the Essay as part of 243 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: his support structure, the aims of the Nazi military had 244 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 1: evolved to a point that was also problematic for Hitler's goals. 245 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: The essays leadership wanted to oust the remaining non Nazis 246 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: from the government and replace them with their own people. 247 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: But Adolf Hitler, having learned from the beer Hell Putsch 248 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: that using brute force could backfire by turning people against 249 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: the party, recognize that consolidating power might be better achieved 250 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: by working with the elites and sort of more subtly 251 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: ousting them, and he had uh the party leaders that 252 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: were not part of the Essay, and he also had 253 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: the shoot Staffle, which was the s S on the 254 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: same page as him. The disparity and approaches to bring 255 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 1: the Nazi Party to ultimate power led to some friction. 256 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: Hitler had also cultivated animosity among the Nazi leadership, making 257 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: it clear that they should compete with one another to 258 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 1: gain in his favor. By the spring of Heinrich Hitler 259 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: and Reinard Haydrich, both leaders in the s S, and 260 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: Prussian Prime Minister Erman Guring, we're discussing ways to get 261 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 1: Hitler to rid the party of Ernst Chrome. At the 262 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: same time that Hendenburg and German military leaders were raising 263 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: concerns that the Nazi Party was becoming increasingly radicalized. Himler, 264 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: Hedrik and Gurring, we're starting rumors at Chrome, already seen 265 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: as the leader of the most radical arm of the party, 266 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: was plotting a move to take over the party. Rome 267 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: actually had no such plan. He was a friend of Hitler's, 268 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: but his image as an extremist made it really, really 269 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: easy for those rumors to gain traction. Hitler was in 270 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: danger of losing power if the vocally extreme elements of 271 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: the Nazi Party forced the German government's hand. But even 272 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: as his party was threatened by growing external and internal pressures, 273 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 1: he was hesitant when it came to deciding what to 274 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: do about the essay. In early June, Adolf Hitler convinced 275 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: Room that the heads of the essay should take an 276 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,840 Speaker 1: extended leave, which began on June eight. But there was 277 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: still an ongoing and growing concern that the Nazi Party 278 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:15,960 Speaker 1: was becoming a lawless entity, and nationalist opposition against it 279 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: began to swell. It was the threat of a more 280 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: organized move against the Nazi Party that finally tipped the 281 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: scales for Hitler, and by the end of the month 282 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: he had made a decision to get rid of all 283 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:32,360 Speaker 1: the problematic elements of the essay. He issued orders to 284 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: roam on June to gather the leaders of the essay 285 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: at a spot in by Visa Bavaria. And next up, 286 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about the Night of the Long Knives specifically, 287 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: which is actually used to refer to events that took 288 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 1: place over the course of several days. But before we 289 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: get into that, we're gonna pause and take a little 290 00:16:50,880 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: sponsor break. Two days later, the s s by Theodore Ica, 291 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:06,320 Speaker 1: commandant of Dako, captured the assembled essay leaders and moved 292 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,640 Speaker 1: them to Stobleheim Prison in Munich. Most of the men 293 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: were shot, although Rome was spared until the next day 294 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: because Hitler remained indecisive for a bit about whether to 295 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: execute him or not. When Rome was shot on July one, 296 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: he allegedly uttered the words Hyle Hitler as he died, 297 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: But the executions at Stottleheim weren't the only ones carried 298 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,919 Speaker 1: out by the s S. Once Hitler had decided to 299 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: take action, he opted to eliminate all possible threats to 300 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 1: his leadership in the Nazi Party, and to that end, 301 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 1: the SS killed and estimated one fifty to two hundred 302 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: people between June and July two. This was an execution 303 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 1: mission that was called Operation Hummingbird and also came to 304 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: be known as the Night of the Long Knives or 305 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:57,679 Speaker 1: as the Home Purge. There are only eighty five people 306 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:01,640 Speaker 1: identified by name as victims of a purge, so exactly 307 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: the exact number of people that Hitler had killed outside 308 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 1: of any sort of legal process is difficult to discern 309 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: since they went ahead with this without filing any paperwork 310 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 1: on it. Yeah, it's very hard to track exactly how 311 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: many people met their end victims of The purge included 312 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,000 Speaker 1: both political enemies and, as we mentioned earlier, people with 313 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: whom Hitler had personal Vendetta's General Kurt von Schleicher, the 314 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: man who preceded Hitler as Reich Chancellor, Schliker's friend, Major 315 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:37,120 Speaker 1: General Kurt Vondreidau, Schleiker's wife. Also Gustav von Kar, who 316 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:40,200 Speaker 1: was the Bavarian Chief of State who had withheld support 317 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:43,159 Speaker 1: for the nineteen three Beer Hall Pusch, So going all 318 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:45,479 Speaker 1: the way back more than a decade of sort of 319 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:50,680 Speaker 1: vendetta he was checking off his list. That particular man 320 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,679 Speaker 1: was hacked apart with axes in a particularly brutal killing. 321 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:58,680 Speaker 1: Uh and former Nazi leader Gregor Strasser, who had attempted 322 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 1: to make a deal wish like when he was Reich 323 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: Chancellor that would have stopped Hitler from rising to power, 324 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: was also killed. So is Bernhard Stemfel, a former priest 325 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 1: who was rumored to have damning knowledge related to the 326 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:14,159 Speaker 1: death of Jelly Rouble, which was Hitler's niece who had 327 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 1: allegedly committed suicide. That is another one of those stories 328 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: that could be its own episode. Potentially Basically anyone Hitler 329 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 1: thought might challenge him or have information that could hurt him. 330 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: At least one victim was killed due to a mix 331 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: up of identity. Munich music critic Willie Schmidt was murdered, 332 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: but the s S had intended to target uh An 333 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: Essay commander of the same name and Vice Chancellor Franz 334 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: von Poppin, who had been one of the loudest voices 335 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: warning of the Nazi Party growing more radical, was also 336 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 1: a target, but escaped to have visit AIDS though we're 337 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:56,439 Speaker 1: not so fortunate. The day after Operation Hummingbird concluded, so 338 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: that was July three, a law was issued by the 339 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: Reich Cabinet at Hitler's order, and this law framed the 340 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,399 Speaker 1: executions as an emergency action, claiming that they needed to 341 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: be carried out to protect Germany against agents who threatened 342 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: the nation, and thus retroactively making the mass murders legal. 343 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: It's well known today that the Nazi Party party widely 344 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,360 Speaker 1: used propaganda, and the period after the Night of Long 345 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: Knives as a prime example of how false information was 346 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 1: used to gain public favor and to damage enemies. Under 347 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: the direction of Google's a story of treason and treachery 348 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:36,400 Speaker 1: was spun out, which cemented the idea that people who 349 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: had been killed, the people who had been killed Hitler's order, 350 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:45,640 Speaker 1: were all dangerous enemies of the state. Additionally, Rome's homosexuality, 351 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: which allegedly people had known about, became a focus of interests, 352 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:52,920 Speaker 1: so while it had been a point of relatively common knowledge, 353 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,120 Speaker 1: Hmmler took advantage of this moment to claim that other 354 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,440 Speaker 1: homosexuals that Rome associated with had been a threat to 355 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:03,679 Speaker 1: national security. Himler further leveraged this piece of propaganda to 356 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 1: launch a series of legal actions against homosexuality, including new 357 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:12,159 Speaker 1: laws against homosexual acts and much more severe punishments for 358 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: anyone who was found guilty of homosexuality. On July thirteenth, 359 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 1: four Hitler made a speech to the Reichstag in which 360 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:24,440 Speaker 1: he justified this entire operation, and as Supreme ruler of Germany, 361 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: he claimed he had used his power to defend the country, 362 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: and that event in nineteen thirties Germany is often pointed 363 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,480 Speaker 1: to as the moment that really cemented Hitler's rise to power. 364 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: And by that event, I mean the whole night of 365 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: the Long Knives, not his speech that Tracy just referenced. 366 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 1: While the essay continued to exist as a tool of destruction, 367 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,680 Speaker 1: after the purge that swift and violent action against Rome 368 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,439 Speaker 1: and other leaders within the Essay exercised any thoughts of 369 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: ambition for the military forces to really challenge Hitler's power 370 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 1: or even stand as a major player in the regime's 371 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: power structure. Because the purge was a strike on the Essay, 372 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,439 Speaker 1: it also gained Hitler favor with the German army that 373 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 1: had seen the Nazi military as a challenger. Prior to 374 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: the purge, the s S had been a branch of 375 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: the Essay, but Hitler officially recognized them as a separate 376 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:20,960 Speaker 1: and independent entity on July four. This gave Himmler a 377 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,679 Speaker 1: position of increased power, able to confer directly with Hitler, 378 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 1: and made it possible for the SS to take control 379 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: of the police force as well as assumed command of 380 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:33,639 Speaker 1: the concentration camp system. Within a couple of years, the 381 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:38,119 Speaker 1: s S had completely supplanted the previously existing German police force. 382 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: Hindenberg died of lung cancer in early August nineteen thirty four, 383 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: and after he was gone, and leading up to that, 384 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 1: he was infirmed, so it also meant that he was 385 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: not particularly powerful, But after he had died, the last 386 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:57,399 Speaker 1: vestiges of democratic government in Germany were systematically undone. On 387 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 1: August nineteen, Hitler proclaimed himself here, and because of the 388 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:04,359 Speaker 1: alliance that had formed in the wake of Operation Hummingbird, 389 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: the German army supported him. The Night of the Long 390 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: Knives was used as a representative action on the part 391 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: of the s S by Himmler. It proved. He would 392 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 1: later say that the s S was loyal and willing 393 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: to do anything required to preserve the nation. He invoked 394 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,360 Speaker 1: it in the nineteen forties when speaking of the Final Solution, 395 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:27,159 Speaker 1: assuring the high ranking members of the Nazi regime that 396 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: his men were willing and able to carry out atrocities 397 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 1: for the quote annihilation of the Jewish people. It's important 398 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,199 Speaker 1: to remember, too, that the world outside Germany had a 399 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,679 Speaker 1: really wide range of reactions to the Night of the 400 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: Long Knives. British cartoonist David Lowe published a drawing of 401 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: essay officers surrendering in fear before Hitler holding a smoking 402 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,920 Speaker 1: gun and Gurring dressed as a barbarian and carrying a 403 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,400 Speaker 1: bloody spear, and the caption on it read they salute 404 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:59,719 Speaker 1: with both hands. Now there's also a truly chilling right 405 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,680 Speaker 1: up the The Daily Mail, which wrote a lot of 406 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:07,199 Speaker 1: pro Hitler and pro fascist pieces during this period, and 407 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: here is a quote from it. Harry Adolf Hitler, the 408 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: German Chancellor, has saved his country swiftly and with exorable severity. 409 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 1: He has delivered Germany from men who had become a 410 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,960 Speaker 1: danger to the unity of the German people and to 411 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: the order of the state. With lightning rapidity. He has 412 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: caused them to be removed from high office, to be 413 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: arrested and put to death. The names of the men 414 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 1: who have been shot by his orders are already known. 415 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: Hitler's love of Germany has triumphed over private friendships and 416 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,679 Speaker 1: fidelity to comrades who had stood shoulder to shoulder with 417 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 1: him in the fight for Germany's future. But it's so 418 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: creepy to read that's uh in present day, because of 419 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,360 Speaker 1: course now we know that with Hitler, assuming the role 420 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,159 Speaker 1: of sure, events were in motion that would lead to 421 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: World War two. Of course, in atrocities on an epic 422 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:03,200 Speaker 1: scale that as people do know about, uh well, And 423 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: even even without that piece of the context, it's pretty 424 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:11,400 Speaker 1: horrifying for a paper to be praising a mass murder 425 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:16,360 Speaker 1: carried out in as extra judicial. Yeah, and It's interesting. 426 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,680 Speaker 1: It came up briefly in our our episode with Victoria 427 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 1: Price actually that when Vincent Price was traveling, I forget 428 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,360 Speaker 1: what the years were, early early on and all of that, 429 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: like even he and he was very young at the 430 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 1: time when changed his position pretty drastically, but he initially 431 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: came away thinking, wow, that's a really organized like state. 432 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: They're really going to fix Germany. And of course a 433 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: lot of people thought that, and it there was such 434 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 1: a sort of false representation going on that it's easy 435 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: to see how some people were lured in by the 436 00:25:53,760 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: whole thing. Yes, especially before the murder. Yes, yeah, of course, 437 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,360 Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I don't know how you hear about all 438 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: of that, like someone going, oh, over the last two days, 439 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:08,679 Speaker 1: I killed all of my enemies, and you go, that 440 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 1: seems like a really smart, good move, Like, I don't 441 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 1: know how you say that, but no, And it also 442 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: reads very like there are historical accounts of you know, 443 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 1: monarchs hundreds of years ago eliminating enemies and hearing such 444 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:26,959 Speaker 1: a similar story of a dictator doing the same thing, 445 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:32,440 Speaker 1: and I'm in the modern world. To me, yeah, why 446 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 1: is seeing seeming more horrifying because it's seems like we 447 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:42,880 Speaker 1: as a as species should have learned to not do that. 448 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: But maybe that's we as a species should have learned. 449 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 1: It doesn't always work. I know. Thank you so much 450 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,679 Speaker 1: for joining us on this Saturday, since its episode is 451 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 1: out of the archive. If you heard an email address 452 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:04,960 Speaker 1: or a Facebook U r L or something similar over 453 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,640 Speaker 1: the course of the show, that could be obsolete now. 454 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:12,240 Speaker 1: Our current email address is History Podcast at i heart 455 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: radio dot com. 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