7 DAYS OF SCHOOL LEFT
7 GOD DAMN DAYS OF SCHOOL LEFT! <3
Adolf Hitler’s Fiftieth Birthday: April 20, 1939.
Although the Führer’s birthday had always been celebrated throughout the Reich, the festivities of 1939 outstripped all past ones in grandeur. Two days earlier, the government had declared April 20 a holiday, and on April 19, the celebrations began. Hitler first rode through Berlin at the head of a motorcade, travelling along Albert Speer’s grand new boulevard, then arrived at the Reich Chancellery, where he received a number of gifts - some silly, some quite lovely. From Ferdinand Porsche, who had been commissioned by Hitler some years earlier to design an affordable Volkswagen (“people’s car”), he received his very own convertible Volkswagen.
Most notably, the rebuilt German military displayed its full power in an enormous parade that lasted five hours and involved all three branches of the Wehrmacht, plus the SS. The event was organized (naturally) by Joseph Goebbels, who declared, in a still true statement:
Even those who are neutral or oppose us cannot ignore the strong impact of the events. Adolf Hitler’s name is a political program for the entire world. He is almost a legend. His name is a dividing line. No one on earth can remain indifferent to his name.
The 50,000 troops that marched through Berlin that day made sure of that; when some of these very same troops participated in the Invasion of Poland five months later, no one in the world could possibly remain indifferent to Hitler and his military machine.
