Adolf Hitler – The Emergence of a People’s Movement – an early propaganda publication portraying Hitler as the ...

Adolf Hitler – The Emergence of a People’s Movement – an early propaganda publication portraying Hitler as the savior of the German people, written by his confidant and close associate Philipp Bouhler. Lübeck, 1933.

Adolf Hitler. Das Werden einer Volksbewegung – “Adolf Hitler – The Emergence of a People’s Movement” by Philipp Bouhler, senior Nazi Party official and close confidant of Hitler, who would later become responsible for the T4 euthanasia program (the systematic murder of the mentally ill and disabled) and ultimately took his own life after being captured by Allied forces at the end of the war. Lübeck, 1933. On the title page appears the ownership signature: "Dr. Leo Wegener-Groth" (a prominent German economist, student of Max Weber, and former director of the Prussian Cooperative Agricultural Association).

"Among the many successes of Hitler and his movement, these must, in the positive sense, first and foremost arise from the soundness of the idea itself, an idea that matured into a worldview within the consciousness of a statesman by nature, and then from the immense gift of oratory through which Hitler conveyed his intuitive insights to the masses. But there is more. It is his personality that stormed the hearts of German youth, that bound each of his collaborators to him inseparably, that turned everyone who ever came into close contact with him, who ever felt the breeze of his spirit, into a fanatic fighter for a shared and eternal cause… Adored by the masses of his followers, hated and feared by his opponents, admired by all around him as the head of the movement and as a fierce fighter, yet also as a man with a heart for all and a deep understanding for all: Thus stands Adolf Hitler today, at the peak of the popular movement he created, and, as the Chancellor of the German people, on the threshold of a new era.”

(From the author’s words about Adolf Hitler).

An early propaganda publication, issued upon Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, aimed at shaping the cult of personality surrounding the Führer. This is a purpose-driven text that presents the ascent of Hitler and the Nazi Party as the dawn of a new era for Germany, written by one of Hitler’s closest confidants, Philipp Bouhler. Bouhler portrays Hitler as a man ordained by divine providence to save Germany. He recounts Hitler’s life story with blind adoration, depicting his youth as a series of uninterrupted successes: “He far surpassed his classmates at school, ” “a soldier with heart and soul, ” “devoted every spare minute to self-education.” Hitler is described as the “beating heart” of the German Workers' Party, which, according to the author, was aimless until he assumed leadership in its formative years. He is presented as a brilliant orator who captivated crowds with fiery speeches promoting German nationalism as early as the 1920s, and as a man capable of overcoming all public opposition to the movement he founded. Bouhler praises the Nazi Party's growing influence over public consciousness in German cities, first in Bavaria, then in Saxony, largely due to the propaganda efforts of Joseph Goebbels (later Nazi Minister of Propaganda), and later in Berlin and across Germany, following the establishment of the National Socialist German Students’ League. He glorifies the SA (“Brownshirts”) and their violent suppression of political opponents, framing their brutality as a just and necessary means to victory. In the chapter “From Victory to Victory, ” Bouhler describes how Hitler ultimately seized power, while his opponents are derided as purveyors of a “campaign of lies” that collapsed under its own weight. The booklet reflects an early attempt to frame contemporary history (1933) as the first chapter in a grand national movement, elevating Hitler to the status of prophetic leader, and presenting the Nazi takeover as both inevitable and divinely justified.

At the opening of the book appears a note:

“Note: The author, who was severely wounded as a Bavarian officer during the war, was active in the movement since the end of 1921—first in the editorial office of the Völkischer Beobachter, and from 1922 onward at Party headquarters. Since the reestablishment of the Party, he has served as its Reich Secretary.”

Philipp Bouhler [1899–1945] was a high-ranking Nazi official, who held the title of Reichsleiter (National Leader) and served as Chief of the Führer’s Chancellery. He also held the SS rank of Obergruppenführer and was head of the infamous T4 euthanasia program, under which more than 70,000 German citizens with physical or mental disabilities were murdered in Nazi Germany. Bouhler and his wife Helene were arrested by U.S. forces in Austria on May 10, 1945. Shortly after their arrest, Helene committed suicide by jumping from a high building. Bouhler himself committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule on May 19, 1945, while in American custody in Austria.

52 pages. Very good condition.