—a world's fair intended to promote greater understanding and tolerance among nations,

and to celebrate the new century, new inventions, exciting progress.

The 20th century began much like our own—with hope that education, science and technology could

create a better, more peaceful world. What followed soon after were two devastating wars.

The first "world war," from 1914 to 1918, was fought throughout Europe and beyond.

It became known as "the war to end all wars." It cast an immense shadow on tens of millions of people.

"This is not war," one wounded soldier wrote home. "It is the ending of the world."

Half of all French men aged 20 to 32 at war's outbreak were dead when it was over.

More than one third of all German men aged 19 to 22 were killed.

Millions of veterans were crippled in body and in spirit. Advances in the technology of killing included the use of poison gas.

Under the pressure of unending carnage, governments toppled and great empires dissolved.

It was a cataclysm that darkened the world's view of humanity and its future.

Winston Churchill said the war left "a crippled, broken world."

The humiliation of Germany's defeat and the peace settlement that followed in 1919 would

play an important role in the rise of Nazism and the coming of a second "world war" just 20 years later.

What shocked so many in Germany about the treaty signed near Paris, at the Palace of Versailles,

was that the victors dictated a future in which Germany was deprived of any significant military power.

Germany's territory was reduced by 13%.

Germany was forced to accept full responsibility for starting the war and to pay heavy reparations. To many,

including 30-year old former army corporal Adolf Hitler, it seemed the country had been

"stabbed in the back"—betrayed by subversives at home and by the government who accepted the armistice.

In fact, the German military had quietly sought an end to the war it could no longer win in 1918.

"It cannot be that two million Germans should have fallen in vain,"

Adolf Hitler later wrote. "We demand vengeance!"

Many veterans and other citizens struggled to understand Germany's defeat and the uncertain future.

Troops left the bloody battlefields and returned to a bewildering society. A new

and unfamiliar democratic form of government—the Weimar Republic—replaced the authoritarian

empire and immediately faced daunting challenges. Thousands of Germans waited in lines for work and food in the early 1920s.

Middle class savings were wiped out as severe inflation left the currency worthless.

Some burned it for fuel. Economic conditions stabilized for a few years,

then the worldwide depression hit in 1929. The German banking system collapsed,

and by 1930 unemployment skyrocketed to 22%. In a country plagued by joblessness, embittered

by loss of territory, and demoralized by ineffective government, political demonstrations frequently turned violent.

Many political parties had their own paramilitary units to attack opponents

and intimidate voters. In 1932, ninety-nine people were killed in the streets in one month.

Right-wing propaganda and demonstrations played on fears of a Communist revolution spreading from the Soviet Union.

New social problems emerged from the impact of rapid industrialization and the growth

of cities. Standards of behavior were changing. Crime was on the rise. Sexual norms were in

flux. For the first time, women were working outside the home in large numbers, and the

new constitution gave women the right to vote. Germany's fledgling democracy was profoundly

tested by the crumbling of old values and fears of what might come next. Adolf Hitler

had been undisputed leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party—known as

Nazis—since 1921. In 1923, he was imprisoned for trying to overthrow the government. His

trial brought him fame and followers. He used the jail time to dictate his political ideas

in a book, Mein Kampf—My Struggle. Hitler's ideological goals included territorial expansion,

consolidation of a racially pure state, and elimination of the European Jews and other

perceived enemies of Germany. He served only a short jail sentence, and after the ban was

lifted on his National Socialist Party, Hitler and his followers rejoined the battle in the

streets and in the countryside.

The Nazi Party recruited, organized, and produced a newspaper to spread its message. While downplaying

more extreme Nazi goals, they offered simple solutions to Germany's problems, exploiting

people's fears, frustrations, and hopes. In the early 1930s, the frequency of elections

was dizzying. So was the number of parties and splinter groups vying for votes. Hitler

proved to be a charismatic campaigner and used the latest technology to reach people.

The Nazi Party gained broad support, including many in the middle class—intellectuals,

civil servants, students, professionals, shopkeepers and clerks ruined by the Depression. But the

Nazis never received more than 38% of the vote in a free national election. No party

was able to win a clear majority, and without political consensus, successive governments

could not effectively govern the nation.

Adolf Hitler was not elected to office and he did not have to seize power. He was offered

a deal just as the Nazis started to lose votes. In January 1933, when the old war hero, President

Paul von Hindenburg, invited Hitler to serve as Chancellor in a coalition government, the

Nazis could hardly believe their luck. The Nazis were revolutionaries who wanted to radically

transform Germany. The conservative politicians in the new Cabinet didn't like or trust Hitler,

but they liked democracy even less, and they saw the leftist parties as a bigger threat.

They reached out to the Nazis to help build a majority in Parliament. They were confident

they could control Hitler. One month later, when arson gutted the German parliament building,

Hitler and his nationalist coalition partners seized their chance. Exploiting widespread

fears of a communist uprising, they blamed Communists for the fire, and declared emergency

rule. President Hindenburg signed a decree that suspended all basic civil rights and

constitutional protections, providing the basis for arbitrary police actions.

The new government's first targets were political opponents. Under the emergency decree, they

could be terrorized, beaten and held indefinitely. Leaders of trade unions and opposition parties

were arrested. German authorities sent thousands, including leftist members of Parliament, to

newly established concentration camps. Despite Nazi terror and brutal suppression of their

opponents, many German citizens willingly accepted or actively supported these extreme

measures in favor of order and security. Many Germans felt a new hope and confidence in

the future of their country with the prospect of a bold, young charismatic leader. Nazi

propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels planned to win over those who were still unconvinced.

One must govern well, and for good government one must also practice good propaganda. They

work together. A good government without propaganda is not more possible than good propaganda

without a good government.

Hitler spoke to the SA, his army of storm troopers.

Germany has awakened! We have won power in Germany. Now we must win the German people.

The ceremonial reopening of Parliament, orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels, aimed to link the Hitler

government to Germany's imperial past and portray the Nazis as saviors of the nation's

future. The event was carefully staged to reassure the German establishment, including

the military, that Hitler would respect their traditions. Nazi--controlled newsreels then

gave the impression that the Army supported the new government. Though Hitler walked behind

longtime President Hindenburg for now, the new chancellor would soon be Germany's absolute dictator.

Today was dedicated to the New Germany. And more than one hundred thousand schoolchildren

stood, shoulder to shoulder, as the car bearing the aged President and the Chancellor proceeded

through the crowd to the speaker's stand. Whether you agree with his doctrines or not,

it must be admitted that the leadership of Hitler has united the German people for the

first time since the war. Their almost fanatical enthusiasm is a marvel to the entire world...

Hindenburg remained President until his death in August 1934. With Hindenburg gone, Hitler,

by agreement with the army, abolished the office of President, declaring himself Führer

and Reich Chancellor, leader of the nation and head of the government. Now there was

no authority above or beside him. Immediately, the armed forces swore an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler.

I swear by God this sacred oath to the Führer Adolf Hitler to render unconditional obedience...

All civil servants, including teachers and police, members of parliament and the judiciary,

swore an oath of loyalty—not to any constitution—but to Hitler as Führer of the German nation.

The economy had reached rock bottom when the Nazis came to power. They boosted its recovery

with huge public works projects for the unemployed.

A half million folk comrades have gone back to work this year. Since the takeover of power,

unemployment has fallen by more than half.

Hitler christened new autobahns triumphantly in a display of national will that would unite

the country and facilitate the secret expansion of Germany's armed forces. In 1935, Germany

openly defied the 1919 Treaty of Versailles by reinstituting the draft and increasing

its military strength. The Nazis were delivering on their promises to restore and strengthen

the nation. Their achievements encouraged many people to overlook radical Nazi policies,

or even to support them. In September 1935, the Nazi Party gathered in Nuremberg for its

annual rally. It opened with a traditional hymn that added solemnity and a sense of continuity

with the past. It ended with a special session of Parliament far from Berlin. New race laws

were introduced by Hitler and read by Parliament President Hermann Göring.

German citizenship is restricted to persons of German or kindred blood. Marriages between

Jews and citizens of German or kindred blood are forbidden. [Cheering]

The Nazi regime aimed to create a racially pure Germany whose so-called "superior traits"

would make it ideally suited to rule the entire European continent. Nazism taught that racial

struggle was the driving force in history—"superior" races must battle "inferior" races or be corrupted

by them. The Nazi concept of a national community was exclusive and based on race, as defined

in the new laws and decrees. Heinrich Himmler and the SS led the ideological battle. Racist

ideas were taught in schools. Some groups, such as Jews, Slavs, Blacks and Roma (also

called Gypsies) were labeled racially inferior. People with mental or physical disabilities

were designated "unworthy of life." Scientists and medical professionals applied pseudo-scientific

theories for measuring and valuing racial characteristics.

Before the Nazis assumed power, Jews enjoyed all rights of citizenship in Germany. After

1933, the German government gradually excluded Jews from public life and public education.

Newly established Jewish private schools provided a safe learning environment for some. By 1938,

German authorities had isolated and segregated Germany's Jews, expelling them from the professions

and eliminating most opportunities to earn a living.

We felt so... why can't we be part of it? Why can't we? Everybody said, "Heil Hitler,"

like this. I did, too. What did I know? I was eight years old. So my mother said to

me, "You're not supposed to do that." I said, "Why not?" She said, "Haven't you been told

that you are Jewish?" I said, "Oh, I forgot."

Germany's Jews would get plenty of reminders.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a boycott of Jewish shops. Please keep moving.

This sense of isolation that came upon us after 1933, gradual and increasing, it also

affected us psychologically. We knew we were in a hostile world.

Between 1933 and 1939, the German government enacted hundreds of laws to define, segregate

and impoverish German Jews.

My sister and I used to slink by those huge banners that were all over the city. And we

used to just try not to see them, thinking if we didn't see them, they weren't there.

But they were there. That just, little by little, that really took over.

...without a solution to the Jewish question, there will be no solution for humanity.

The goal of Nazi propaganda was to demonize Jews and encourage Germans to see Jews as

dangerous outsiders in their midst. After 1935, everyday antisemitism was a regular

part of carnival parades and floats. Public displays of antisemitism reinforced a climate

of hostility toward Jews in Germany, or at the least, indifference to their treatment.

In March 1938, German troops moved into neighboring Austria. Germany shredded another provision

of the Versailles Treaty, as Hitler's homeland was incorporated into Germany. It was a disaster

for Austrian Jews. Within a year, the Nazis achieved in Austria what had taken five years to carry out in Germany.

On November 9th, the Nazi Party orchestrated an outbreak of anti-Jewish violence throughout

Greater Germany. It was a lawless onslaught that outraged the world and provoked criticism

of the regime by many Germans. Jewish businesses that had already suffered antisemitic attacks

were targeted for deliberate vandalism disguised as spontaneous public action. Party officials

directed the SA, SS and Hitler Youth to destroy Jewish shops and torch synagogues. Over 7,000

Jewish-owned businesses were vandalized. Germans named the violent attacks Kristallnacht—Night

of Broken Glass—for the shattered windows of Jewish-owned stores that littered the streets.

The nationwide violence damaged or destroyed more than 250 synagogues.

After Kristallnacht, I remember driving through Berlin and seeing the synagogues in flames

and all the glass on the streets, and the people huddled and depressed. They walked

around like the victims, like the hunted.

German police filled the concentration camps with thousands of Jewish inmates. The SS released

them only if they agreed to emigrate. But Jews faced increasingly restrictive immigration

quotas in most countries and bureaucratic hurdles in Germany. A new law issued in October

1938 required Jews to surrender their old passports, which would be valid only after

the letter "J" was stamped on them. Two months later, another law prevented the flight of

capital owned by Jews, when the Economics Ministry froze all Jewish property and assets.

Many who had the means and somewhere to go tried to leave Germany. Some families sent

their children alone to other, safer countries. They could not know how soon the world would be at war.

As the Nazi regime implemented its long-standing goal of territorial expansion, aggression

against Germany's neighbors initially succeeded without encountering armed resistance. Hitler

counted on the reluctance of Britain and Europe to intervene, for fear of another war. The

German occupation of Prague, capital of Czechoslovakia, left no doubt as to Germany's intent on military

conquest in Eastern Europe. On September 1, 1939, a massive German force invaded and conquered

Poland within a month. It was the start of the Second World War. In April 1940, Germany

occupied Denmark and Norway. In May, the German armed forces attacked France, the Netherlands,

Luxembourg and Belgium. In June, Paris fell and France surrendered. The swift and unexpected