142 Chapter 6
“the NaziMovementwas the creatureof big businessand sustainedby its funding” is not
“solidlyfounded.”^80
JoachimFesthas uncoveredsomeof the tacticsthat academicleftistshaveemployedto
sire the misinterpretationthatGermanbig businessempoweredthe Nazis.Accordingto
Fest,“Czichontendsto prefergeneralreferencesand unpublisheddocuments,so that his
sourcesin manycasescan scarcelybe checked.Frequently,too, he indulgesin apparently
deliberatedeceptions,inaccuracies,andfaultyreferences.ErnstNoltehas shownthat
Czichonreportsa paymentfromIG Farbento the NSDAPin sucha waythatthe reader
wouldthinkthe paymenthad beenmadebeforethe seizureof power,whereasthe docu-
mentitselfshowsthatthe moneywaspaidin 1944.” TheNazis’ unpopularityamong
industrialistsin generalcan be gaugedby an examinationof the actionsof the few indus-
trialistswhodid supporthim.In 1932,steelindustrialistAlbertVöglerteamedup with
the big bankersHjalmarSchachtandKurtvonSchröder to winmoresupportfor the
Nazisamongthe businesscommunity.Theyparticularlywantedto currythe favorof the
chemicalindustryandthe departmentstoreowners,industriesthatremaineddoubtful
towardthe Nazis’ goals.Vögler,Schacht,and Schröder thushad Hitlergivea fundraising
speechbeforethe DusseldorfIndustryClubon January26. Whenthe trio of businessmen
countedthe amountin donationscollectedfromthis talk,theyexperienceddisappoint-
ment.The threethentriedto circulatea petitionaskingGermanleaderPaulvon Hinden-
burg(1847–1934)to appointHitleras chancellor.NotesJoachimFest,“the majorityof
businessmenwhowereapproachedrefusedto givetheirsignatures.” Indeed,he contin-
ues,“Thetheoryof a close,pragmaticalliancebetweenHitlerandthe majorcapitalists
alsofailsto explainthe timelag betweenthe explosivegrowthof the partyandthe
injectionof fundsfromindustry.”^81
Kershawconcurs,^82 as doesYaleUniversityhistorianHenryAshbyTurner,Jr., who
explicates that“the financialsubsidiesfromindustrywereoverwhelminglydirected
againstthe Nazis”^83 (emphasishis).Ian Kershaw,JoachimFest,HenryAshbyTurner,
JohnToland,and FloridaStateUniversityhistorianRobertGellatelydisclosethat,priorto
Hitlergainingthe chancellorshipin 1933,big businessfinancialsupportto the NSDAP
wasscant,and thatfundingof the NSDAPcampaignscamedirectlyfromenthusedindi-
vidualsmostlyof the middleclass.^84 Whereasthe Germanbig businessespaidthousands
of marksto professionalartiststo producetheircampaignposters,NSDAPvolunteers
spentconsiderablehourscraftingtheirownsigns,and numerouspaintersin the NSDAP
contributedtheirconsiderableartistictalentsto providingthe NSDAPwithevocative
imagesfor its posters.^85 The surprisingextentof supportthatartistsshowedthe NSDAP
in the late 1920sshallbe furtherexaminedin chapter8. Moreover,Hitlergainedsucha
cult followingamongthe middleclassthat he wasableto commandhugefees fromthese
peoplesimplyfor the privilegeof beinggrantedaccessto one of his publicspeeches.^86
Somepeoplepaidas muchas 7,000marksto attenda rallyto hearthe manspeak.^87 The
middle-classNSDAPmemberswereso devotedto theirpartythat theymadewhatTurn-
er and Gellatelycall financial“sacrifices,” suchas turningovertheirentirelife savingsto
the cause.Thesesacrificesdemonstrablyhadadverseimpactson the donors’ financial
well-being.^88 Festobserves,“Someof the earlypartymembers,like OskarKorner,owner
of a smalltoy store... all but ruinedthemselvesin the interestof the party.”^89 JackL.
Snyder,an internationalrelationsprofessorat ColumbiaUniversity,observesthatfar
frombeinga tool of Germany’s big business,the Naziswerevotedinto officeas a formof
protestagainstbig business.Themiddle-classsupportersof the NSDAPgenuinelybe-
lievedthe partywouldstandup for them.Accordingto Snyder,abouta thirdof the
Germanvotersfelt abandonedby the business-supportedconservativepoliticalparties,
thatsuchpro-businesspartieswere“indifferentto theirplight.At thatpoint,the dense
networkof grassrootsvoluntaryorganizationsin smallcitiesand townsturnedmassively