188 Chapter 8
priationwithoutcompensation’ referssimplyto the creationof possiblelegalmeansfor
confiscation,whennecessary,of landacquiredillegallyor not managedin the public
good.It is, therefore,aimedprimarilyagainstJewishcompaniesthat speculatein land.”^75
But the Nazis’ implementationof collectivistanti-capitalismgoesfarther.“Like[Franklin
D.] Roosevelt,” JohnTolandadmits,Hitlercampaignedto maintain“socialsecurityand
old-agebenefits.” The Germanruleralsoheldup his oathto forcelaborregulationsupon
businessesfor the ostensivebenefitsof employees.Thisis whythe Nazidespotfelt that
privatelaborunionswereno longerneeded.
For the rest of partII, I shallexpounduponhowHitlerfacilitateda welfarestate,one
thatwas,in astonishingrespects,politicallycorrectby twenty-first-centurystandards.I
do not accusecontemporaryprogressivesof condoninganyof the atrocitiesthe Nazis
committed;almostno one in the freerworldcondonesthem.Thisis to stress,though,the
disingenuousnessof the claimthatthe ThirdReichpracticedany sort of “socialDarwin-
ism” consistentwithwhatleft-wingwriterspresumeto be the socialDarwinismof nine-
teenth-centurylaissez-faireproponents.To be sure,few of thesewelfare-stateinitiatives
began,in utero, withthe ThirdReich.Underhis ownsystem,the Führermerelyexpanded
uponthe precedentsthatBismarckhadset in the nationearlier,underthe SecondReich
withwhichthe expressionwelfarestateoriginated.Hitlertoldone interviewer,“The bour-
geoismustno longerfeelhimselfa kindof pensionerof...capital,separatedfromthe
worker.. ., but mustaimto accommodatehimselfas a workerto the welfareof the
community.”^76
Thatthe GermanLaborFrontembodiedthe governmentnationalizationof traditional
unionsdoesnot proveHitlerinsincerein degradingthe positionof the entrepreneuror in
promisingregulationsto boostthe employees’ ostensivewell-being.Whilestrikeswere
bannedunderthe newregime,somewildcatstrikestookplaceduringits reignanyway.
“The‘socialism’ in the partytitle,” elucidatesGeorgeL. Mosse,“wasgivenconcrete
expressionthrougha paternalismwhichwassupposedto end classdifferenceson behalf
of the unityof the Volk.” The emphasison solidaritymanifestedin the StrengthThrough
Joy (KraftdurchFreude) program,whichbeganin 1933as a privateinitiativebut soon
becamea Stateproject.At the LaborFront,RobertLeyerected“an empirewhich...
organizedand lookedafterthe socialwell-beingof the salariedworkers.. .”^77
In JohnToland’s words,Hitler’s lawsdemandedthat workplaceshad “morewindows,
less crowding,and betterwashrooms.” For the employeesof the governmentand private
companiesalike,the StrengthThroughJoy campaignexpendedtax moneyto subsidize
theirattendanceof motionpictures,^78 operaticconcerts,stageplays,adulteducation,
lectures,andevenluxurycruisesandothertourvacations.^79 The Statefinancedthe em-
ployees’ formationof sportsteamsas well.^80 AndTolandobservesthatthis“spiritof
equalitywasevenfelt in the armedforces.Therewasfar morecamaraderiethanformerly
betweenofficersandenlistedmenin the regularserviceandthe eliteSS unitswere
modelsof democracy.... Nowherewasegalitarianismmoreevidentthanin the Youth
LaborServicewhereyoungmenand womenof all classesbetweenthe agesof seventeen
andtwenty-fivewereobligedto workfor a periodas farmhandsandlaborersforVolk
andVaterland”—fatherland,meaningthe nation.“Thisservicehad beeninstitutedto alle-
viateunemployment butwent far beyondRoosevelt’s CivilianConservation Corps,
whichhada similaraim,to becomethe manifestationof socialism.”^81 Recognizingthat
the Naziregimefacilitateda full-scalewelfarestate,Hitlerannouncedto the Reichstagon
January30, 1937,“A radicaltransformationhas...producedresultswhichare democrat-
ic.. .”^82 Twoyearslater,uponwatchingthe growthof thissamewelfarestate,Hitler
boastedto a Munichassemblyon February26, “If positiveChristianitymeans... the
clothingof the poor,the feedingof the hungry... thenit is we whoare the morepositive