75th anniversary of Hitler's installation as Chancellor

I’m a WW II buff. In today’s RFF feed of “On this day,” I read that on January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was named the German Chancellor. Today is the 75th anniversary of Hitler’s installation.

I didn’t see this written up anywhere in my local paper, but a quick search with GoogleNews revealed that at least some people in the rest of the world had not let this anniversary pass unnoticed. Der Spiegel has a well-written article describing the context of Hitler’s accession to power.

It’s hard to believe, but within seven months of Hitler’s accession to the Chancellorship, people’s rights were curtailed or eliminated, people thrown into prison for their political, religious, or other beliefs, and opposition parties were abolished. Within these short seven months, a democracy was transformed into a dictatorship, and the seeds were sown for the persecution of the innocent, be they Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies, or anyone else which did not conform to the Nazis’ ideals of the “German race.” And a world war would follow.

The next important 75th anniversary days are:

· 27 February: The burning of the Reichstag
· 28 February: Hitler’s proclamation “Decree for the protection of the people and the state”
· 23 March: The final meeting of Germany’s parliament (the last until 1990)
· 1 April: The beginning of the persecution of the Jews in Hitler’s Germany
· 2 May: Outlawing of labour unions

Lest we forget…