History is like a mirror in which generations, nations, and armies see their images. This history is one such mirror in which the entire nation and world leadership, particularly the so-called superpowers and secular states can view their ‘real’ image.

Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany’s Nazi Party, was one of the most powerful and notorious dictators of the 20th century. When After Hitler came into power in Germany, the Germans found a new ray of hope; some Germans believed that the good days of Germany had arrived. There was already a deeply rooted prejudice in them that they were in danger because of the Jewish community. Therefore, for this Nazi state, the persecution was a necessary evil for the revival and nation-building of Germany. Along with winning the hearts of the people of Germany with his talks, Hitler had also awakened nationalism in them. At that time, there were lots of intellectuals who did not agree with the ideas of Hitler but a lot of his blind followers talked about the progress achieved by Germany and used this to silence intellectuals. The first work of Hitler in Nazi Germany, was to improve the economy of Germany.

Nazi policies of expansion led to World War II. This was successful to some extent but even the dumber followers quickly realised the true aim behind this nationalism and progress. And this intention came out in the form of World War II. After World War I, Germany needed a scapegoat to hide its failure. They needed a false narrative. And there was pre-existent prejudice against the Jewish community in German society. The narrative that the Jewish people had betrayed Germany in World War I was spread around in Germany. The entire narrative began to be referred as a “stab in the back”. The government started to legislate new laws against the community. And after Hitler was appointed chancellor in Germany in 1933, Nazism became widespread.

When everyone began considering them traitors, the next step was to weaken them economically. Shops were marked and closed. Jewish professionals were removed from public office and other occupations; civil servants, lawyers, and teachers were sacked. Anti-Semitism began to peak in Germany. In 1936, the Olympics were held in Germany and a show was essentially conducted, in which they showed the world that everything was fine in Germany. Meanwhile, Germany was taking legal steps to make the country an Aryan nation. They introduced new citizenship laws in which German Jewish people were just made residents in their own country. The whole world knows about the concentration camps/detention centres, but in the beginning, Germany had concealed these camps from the whole world. In 1933, the first centre was constructed. Initially, these camps were built to detain political dissidents who raised a voice against the Nazi party, and other criminals. Afterward in 1938, thousands of Jewish people were sent to these concentration camps, which was the beginning of the journey towards genocide. Adolph Hitler knew about the importance of the media, so he used it as a tool to spread hatred and nationalism. Special attention was paid to highlighting Nazi ideology in the newspapers and radio. The raw wisdom of Hitler, the tales of his bravery. The only thing highlighted in the media was how Hitler was working day and night to take Germany forward. But before the defeat of Hitler in World War II an entire generation was wiped out.

After demolishing the opposition and taming the media, Hitler showed his true colours in the form of strikes on western German, Austria, and Czechoslovakia and finally, he captured France in 1940. Violence through Kristallnacht (Crystal Night), the Holocaust, the Gestapo and illegal detention only ended when around 6 million were killed.

At the end of World War II, with defeats at El-Alamein and Stalingrad, as well as the landing of US troops in North Africa by the end of 1942, the tide of the war turned against Germany. With Soviet troops occupying Berlin, Germany surrendered unconditionally on all fronts on May 7, 1945, bringing the war in Europe to a close. Hitler took his own life and with it came the end of an evil reign. In the end, Hitler’s planned “Thousand-Year Reich” lasted just over 12 years, but wreaked unfathomable destruction and devastation during that time, forever transforming the history of Germany, Europe, and the world.

Hitler may be dead but is the ideology of fascism he mastered coming back to haunt humanity?

At present, the fascism is evident in several crises; the Kashmir unrest, and the Palestine-Israel conflict in particular. In Nazi Germany, Jewish individuals were persecuted and made slaves in their own country. Despite the Holocaust ending just 75 years ago, many parts of the world are making the same mistake. The memory of what happened in Germany from 1933 to 1945 perturbs the Germans even today and that’s why they tell the world not to repeat history.