184 Chapter 8
SocialParty,GeorgeL. Mosseexplains,“opposed[laissez-faire]liberalism... and finance
capitalism.”^39
It also behoovesme to tell the tale of howthe NaziPartybegan,and of howit recruited
Hitler.The NaziPartywasstartedin the 1920sby a locksmithnamedAntonDrexler.Its
firstchairmanwasnewspaperreporterKarlHarrer,andone of its earliestdiscipleswas
the constructionengineerGottfriedFeder,whofoundedthe GermanFightingLeaguefor
the Breakingof InterestSlavery.^40 Originally,the partywasmerelycalledthe DAP—the
DeutscheArbeiterPartei(GermanWorkersParty).TheNSfornationalsocialistwouldbe
addedto the party’s namein 1920.At its first-evermeeting,Drexlerexplicatedthe organ-
ization’s goals.The partydirectives,writesJoachimFest,expressed“resentmenttoward
the rich” and “the pricegougers.... The programcalledfor annualprofitsbeinglimited
to 10,000marks.. .’” Moreover,fromits beginning,the party“defineditselfas a classless
‘socialistorganization.. .’ Drexler’s ‘inspiredidea’ wasto reconcilenationalismand
socialism.”
Hitlerfirstbecameacquaintedwiththe NaziPartyon September12, 1919,whenhe
stumbledupona publiclectureFederdeliveredon the villainyof Jewishbankerscharg-
ing interest.Its titlewas,“HowandBy WhatMeansCanCapitalismBe Eliminated?”^41
UsurywassomethingthatFederwantedabolished,particularlywhenpracticedby Jew-
ish investmenthouses.Accordingto WilliamShirer’sThe Riseand Fall of the ThirdReich,
Hitler“wasmuchimpressedby Feder’s lecture.He sawin Feder’s appealfor the ‘break-
ing of interestslavery’ one of the ‘essentialpremisesfor the foundationof a newparty.’”
At the sametalk,Drexlerintroducedhimselfto Hitlerand gavehim a gift—a pamphletof
his ownauthorship,entitled“My PoliticalAwakening.” Shirerdocumentsthatwhen
Hitlerreadthe pamphletthe nextday,he discoveredthat “it reflecteda goodmanyideas
whichhe himselfhadacquiredoverthe years.Drexler’s principalaimwasto builda
politicalpartywhichwouldbe basedon the massesof the workingclassbut which,
unlikethe SocialDemocrats,wouldbe stronglynationalist.” Drexlerwasonceassociated
witha much-less-leftistnationalistadvocacygroup“but hadsoonbecomedisillusioned
withits middle-classspiritwhichseemedto haveno contactat all withthe masses.”
Shirerremindsthe readerthatHitler“hadlearnedto scornthe bourgeoisiefor the same
reason—its utterlackof concernwiththe working-classfamiliesandtheirsocialprob-
lems.Drexler’s ideas,then,definitelyinterestedhim.”
In the early1920s,Hitlerbecamethe officerin chargeof the NaziParty’s propaganda.
The party’s firstchairman,KarlHarrer,agreedwithHitler’s denunciationsof capitalism,
but objectedto howHitlerplacedmostof the blameon Germany’s troubleson a particu-
lar ethnicgroupof businessmen—the Jews.As HarrerfoundthatDrexler,Feder,and
mostotherDAPmembersmaintainedthe notionthat Jewsdeservedto be hatedfor being
too capitalist,Harrerrealizedthathe wasthe oddmanout in the dispute.Harrerthus
resignedas chairman,his positionsoonfilledby Drexler.As I statedin BookOne,Hitler
thenceco-authoredthe NaziParty’s anti-capitalistplatformwithDrexlerand Feder.
An apologistfor socialismmightrationalizethat onceHitlerestablishedhimselfas the
party’s leader,he hijackedit and dispensedwithany desireto implementits anti-capital-
ist program.OnemightarbitrarilyaccuseHitlerof betrayingthe manwhohadseduced
himintothe NaziPartyfromthe outset,GottfriedFeder.But Hitlerremainedloyalto
Federto the end.Soonuponreachingdictatorstatusin 1934,HitlerappointedFederan
undersecretaryin the Ministryof Economics—the areaof governancewhereFedermost
covetedcontrol.Federheldontothat positionas late as 1940,whenDer Führerwasat the
peakof his power.^42
In lightof the Nazis’ consistencyin theiranti-capitalistrhetoric,the rhetoricof the
twenty-firstcentury’s anti-capitalistmovementremainstroubling.In Januaryof 2014,
billionaireand SiliconValleyventurecapitalistThomasPerkins(b. 1932)pointedout in a