Democracy Destroyed The First 100 Days of Nazi Rule

Day 70, Sunday 9 April 1933: Göring tells 20,000 Nazi factory-cell members it is a 'National Socialist revolution'

Day 70 of 100

Göring tells 20,000 Nazi factory-cell members it is a ‘National Socialist revolution’

At the first general meeting of the Nazi factory cell organisation in Greater Berlin, Göring insisted that the upheaval be called a ‘National Socialist’, not merely a ‘national’, revolution; that afternoon he flew to Rome, his appointment as Prussian premier now said to be settled. The Reichstag deputy Sprenger was made Reich commissioner to ‘coordinate’ the civil servants’ associations. Hindenburg attended a Palm Sunday confirmation, and an aircraft crashed into spectators at a Nazi youth flying display in Staaken, killing two.

Profile portrait of a heavy-set man in a brown shirt with a cross-belt, wearing a cross on a ribbon at his neck and medals on his chest.
Hermann Göring, photographed in August 1932 when he was elected President of the Reichstag. On 9 April 1933 he addressed the Nazi factory cells in the Sportpalast before flying to Rome. For context Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-13805 / CC-BY-SA 3.0. CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons

Politics and power

Government, terror and persecution

  1. Propaganda midday, Berlin, Sportpalast

    Göring before the Nazi factory cells

    The National Socialist Factory Cell Organisation (NSBO) of Greater Berlin held its first general members’ meeting in the Sportpalast at midday; 20,000 people were let in and thousands turned away. After the Landtag deputy Engel had boasted that the cells had broken into the ‘strongholds’ of the Marxist organisations, Göring declared that this was a ‘National Socialist’ revolution, not just a ‘national’ one: whoever refused to speak of socialism, or saw in it only Marxist subversion, had not grasped National Socialism. Nationalism, he said, was service at the outer frontier, socialism service within the people.1

  2. Government Berlin

    Civil servants’ associations to be ‘coordinated’

    The Reich Interior Minister appointed the Reichstag deputy Sprenger honorary Reich commissioner for civil servants’ organisations, charged with bringing the existing associations into line with the government. Civil servants were no longer to combine in the form of trade unions.2

  3. Government Berlin, Tempelhof airfield

    Göring to be Prussian premier; flies to Rome

    Political circles reported that it was now settled that Göring would be appointed Prime Minister of Prussia, Vice-Chancellor von Papen having apparently renounced the post. At 16:08 Göring took off from Tempelhof airfield for Rome. In the Prussian Interior Ministry, State Secretary von Bismarck was provisionally retired ‘for other duties’ and replaced by Ministerialdirektor Grauert.2,3

  4. The states Berlin

    Names for the new Reich governors

    The Reich governors law set off speculation in Berlin about who would be appointed. Names mentioned included Manfred von Killinger for Saxony, Friedrich Hildebrand for both Mecklenburgs, the Gauleiter Jakob Sprenger for Hesse, the Gauleiter Wagner for Baden and General von Epp for Bavaria; in Prussia Hitler himself held the office.1

  5. Foreign policy Berlin

    Norman Davis leaves for Paris

    After spending the day privately in Berlin and receiving Ambassador Nadolny in the afternoon to discuss technical questions of disarmament, President Roosevelt’s envoy Norman Davis left for Paris in the evening.3

Everyday life

What else was happening in Germany

  1. Religion Berlin, Dreifaltigkeitskirche, Mauerstraße

    Hindenburg at a Palm Sunday confirmation

    On Palm Sunday the President attended the confirmation of 12 girls and 9 boys in the Dreifaltigkeitskirche (Holy Trinity Church). He urged the newly confirmed never to forget their God and always to remember this day, ‘which falls in a great time’.4

  2. Transport Berlin-Staaken

    Aircraft crashes into spectators at Staaken

    At a National Socialist youth flying meeting in Staaken, a relay between riders, runners, motorcyclists and aircraft ended in disaster when the Albatros flown by Hermann Hackbusch clipped the high-voltage cables over the extended Heerstraße and fell among the spectators watching from outside the fence. Most jumped clear, but one man was killed and Sabika Zeki, the wife of a Turkish officer studying in Berlin, died of her injuries in Spandau hospital. The pilot escaped with a grazed lip and some broken teeth.4,5,8

  3. Sport Berlin

    BSV 92 beat Viktoria 89

    In the Brandenburg football championship BSV 92 beat Viktoria 89 2–1 (1–0 at half-time) before 15,000 spectators. The win was lucky, but the crowd cheered BSV’s remarkable energy, and it remained open which club would join Hertha BSC as Brandenburg’s second representative in the national championship. In a friendly, Minerva Berlin won 6–2 at Fortuna Magdeburg.7

Voices

If we have a National Socialist revolution today, we stress that it is a National Socialist revolution, and that it will not do to keep speaking only of the national revolution.

Hermann Göring, Reich Minister and Reich Commissioner for the Prussian Interior Ministry Speech to the Greater Berlin NSBO in the Sportpalast. ‘National revolution’ was the term then common in official statements, used by Hitler himself to the SA the evening before; Göring claimed the upheaval explicitly for National Socialism. Translated by this site.1

This sensational speech casts a telling light on the relationship between the two partners in government.

Sozialdemokrat (Prague), German-language Social Democratic daily in Prague Commenting on a reported speech by the Stahlhelm leader and Labour Minister Franz Seldte, who was said to have warned that the Stahlhelm would answer ‘force with force’ if clashes with the Nazis recurred; the paper read Göring’s speech of the same day as an answer to the Stahlhelm and Hugenberg’s party. Translated by this site.6

Elsewhere in the world

  • United States

    Scottsboro: Patterson sentenced to death again

    At the retrial in Decatur, Alabama, of the seven Black defendants sentenced to death at Scottsboro in April 1931 for an alleged assault on two young white women, the first defendant, Patterson, was again condemned to death. In Paris the former premier Herriot agreed to represent France at the Washington talks.3

More pictures

A domed baroque church with a lantern on top, standing at a street corner; a cyclist and a few pedestrians pass in the foreground.
The Dreifaltigkeitskirche (Holy Trinity Church) in Mauerstraße around 1930, where Hindenburg attended a confirmation on Palm Sunday 1933. For context Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1987-0127-503 / CC-BY-SA 3.0. CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

  1. Marbacher Zeitung, 10 April 1933: ‘Gegen falschen und für wahren Patriotismus – Die Aufgaben der Betriebszellen’; ‘Zehn Statthalter für die Länder’ (Berlin, 9 April) Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, Zeitungsportal, p. 1
  2. Biberacher Zeitung, 10 April 1933: ‘Göring nach Rom abgeflogen’; ‘Reichskommissar für Beamtenorganisation’ (Berlin, 9 April) Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, Zeitungsportal, p. 1
  3. Hohenstein-Ernstthaler Tageblatt, 10 April 1933: ‘Norman Davis abgereist’; ‘Staatssekretär von Bismarck zur Disposition gestellt’; Scottsboro retrial (9 April) Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, Zeitungsportal, p. 2
  4. Gießener Anzeiger, 10 April 1933: ‘Hindenburg bei der Palmsonntagseinsegnung’; the Staaken accident Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, Zeitungsportal, p. 2
  5. Sozialdemokrat (Prague), 11 April 1933: the accident at the Nazi youth flying meeting in Staaken (Berlin, 9 April) Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, Zeitungsportal, p. 4
  6. Sozialdemokrat (Prague), 11 April 1933: ‘Erneuter scharfer Konflikt zwischen Stahlhelm und Nationalsozialisten’ (Berlin, 9 April) Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, Zeitungsportal, p. 3
  7. Hannoverscher Kurier, 10 April 1933: football results, Brandenburg championship Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, Zeitungsportal, p. 11
  8. Hohenstein-Ernstthaler Tageblatt, 10 April 1933: ‘Schwerer Flugzeugunfall’ (Berlin, 9 April) Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek, Zeitungsportal, p. 3

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