This election brings to mind a brilliant old Englishman I knew years ago. His name was Hilary (a man’s name in England) and, although he graduated from high school, traveled in Europe, and started college in Vienna, he never finished it (WWII cut short the education of a lot of people).
Instead, he served in the RAF and was involved in developing Britain’s first jet engine. After the war he was put in charge of dismantling the Krupps Works, Germany’s premier weapons manufacturer. He and his wife and daughter emigrated to the US in the early 50’s, where he worked as an aircraft engineer and later on the rocket program for Westinghouse.
I guess some people just don’t need a college degree.
We had several conversations about WWII, about life before and after the war, and how a high school drop out, retired Army corporal, and mediocre artist created such a large, cult-like following, starting in the 1920’s, that changed the world.
Hilary told me that, in those days, people weren’t surrounded by entertainment the way we are now. They had books, newspapers, theater, and night clubs, but radio just a novelty then, movies rare, and TV nothing more than a weird science experiment.
Germany was considered the most avant garde (in science as well as the arts) and sophisticated country in the world. But even so, there wasn’t a lot of entertainment available. So, for fun on a weekend afternoon or evening, they would go to their local park to hear speeches by aspiring politicians, or anyone with an axe to grind. Communists, capitalists, fascists and others would stand on boxes that had once contained soap so people could see them, and talk for hours.
Hanging around a local park in those days was like going to a festival or carnival today.
One of the regular speakers was a charismatic man with a great act. He would start out speaking calmly and slowly. Then, over the course of an hour or so, he would get more and more animated, so by the end, he was shouting and flailing his arms in a crescendo of righteous outrage like a man on a mission from heaven. He would rail against the reparations ($500 billion in todays’ dollars) that allies demanded from Germany after WWI (it took 91 years to pay). He would rail against immigrants taking German jobs. He would disparage non-Christian and non-ethnic Germans, calling them “vermin” who took financial advantage of hard working, honorable – and pure – Germans. It was all fiction, but he repeated it over and over and over and over…until his now thoroughly frightened audiences believed it. And with each lie, he assured them that he and only he could protect them from these heinous humans.
The few film clips that exist from that time only show the last few minutes of his speeches, so most of us today have never seen his slow, deliberate arc from sober to explosive, or watched as the audiences were slowly drawn into the performance like fish chasing a lure, until they were screaming too, and pledging loyalty to the speaker.
Hilary told me the whole presentation, from the low energy start to the spit spewing finish, was considered great entertainment by audiences. The basic message of German superiority and others’ inferiority never changed, but people loved the presentation.
Other speakers were also captivating in their own ways. Unfortunately many had opposing views, as did many audience members. Sometimes that resulted in shouting matches, sometimes fist-fights. Over time, the violence became more common, to the point that families stopped going to the parks. It was simply too dangerous.
Which was not good for the speakers, particularly the one with the great act.
So he began bringing a few friends with him to break up any fights, maintain calm, and make people feel safe. Soon he earned a reputation for having orderly events. People attended his speeches and avoided others’ speeches. His following grew and grew until, in 1933, he became Germany’s Chancellor….…and wreaked havoc on the world.
I had always wondered how Hitler managed to captivate and control so many people. Hilary, with his gentlemanly bearing and clipped accent, explained it as only an eye-witness can.
We talked a bit about history repeating itself, but only in general terms. Fortunately, he died in 2008, without having to see another great entertainer frighten audiences into submission all over again.