If the Führer knew

If the Führer knew (German: Wenn das der Führer wüsste) is an idiom originating in Nazi Germany, describing a political phenomenon wherein many Germans at the time believed that Nazi Party officials were deliberately concealing evidence of atrocities from the Führer Adolf Hitler. They believed that he was oblivious and would have stopped them.[1]

This phenomenon was observed for the first time in the early years of Hitler's chancellorship, particularly following the Night of the Long Knives. It was believed that Hitler had ordered the purge after discovering evidence of crimes perpetrated without his knowledge by Ernst Röhm and the SA.[1]

Sometimes, this way of thinking manifested in a belief in an "infallible" Führer.[2] The perception of Adolf Hitler as an "enlightened leader" who only sought what was best for the German people, was counterposed with radical and incompetent lower-level bureaucrats. These bureaucrats were supposedly responsible for all the misdeeds of the Nazi government.[3]

See also

"Wenn das der Führer wüsste" is also the German title of a 1966 satirical novel by the Austrian writer Otto Basil, also known by its English name "The Twilight Men".

"Good Tsar, bad Boyars" is a similar idiom originating in the Russian Empire.

References

  1. ^ a b Kershaw, Ian (2001). The "Hitler Myth": Image and Reality in the Third Reich. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280206-4.
  2. ^ Ciompi, Luc; Endert, Elke (2011). Gefühle machen Geschichte: die Wirkung kollektiver Emotionen - von Hitler bis Obama (in German). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-647-40436-3.
  3. ^ Bleyer, Alexandra (2020). Propaganda. 100 Seiten: Reclam 100 Seiten (in German) (1. Originalausgabe ed.). Ditzingen: Reclam Verlag. ISBN 978-3-15-961726-8.
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