Wednesday 20 February 2019

geheimtreffen vom 20. februar

In order to raise funds for the election of the Nazi Party ahead of the early March general ballot and secure the two-thirds chambers majority to pass Enabling Act legislation (Ermächtigungsgesetz—formally called the “Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Reich”) and block its defeat, and give the party chancellor Adolf Hitler the plenary powers to pass laws without involving the tedious and meddlesome Reichstag, party officials held a secret meeting with some twenty prominent German industrialist (IG Farben, Opel, Siemens, various coal magnates, bankers and defence executives) on this day in 1933. Over two million Reichsmarks were contributed and made payable to a trust established by the party, and while the role of big business financing was undoubtedly crucial to the Nazis seizing power, it is also unclear if donations were completely voluntary.