Hitler was quite popular in Germany in the early years of his rule. He got sacks of fan mail and drew crowds wherever he went. Documentarian Leni Riefenstahl’s films of the Nuremberg Rallies were hugely successful.
In 1936, the Olympic Games were held in Berlin, and the Nazis used the occasion to showcase the “new Germany.”
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Fanfare
Opening Theme
“Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla” from Das Rheingold
Composed in 1876 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.
Closing Theme
Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.
In the vein of “great minds think alike” Stalin commissioned the great Soviet movie director Sergei Eisenstein to make a movie about the Russian Revolution for the 10th anniversary in November 1927. After he completed the movie but before it was released Trotsky was exiled from the USSR and became a non-person. Eisenstein was told to rewove Trotsky from the movie. He didn’t have a lot of time, they had finished filming and he was on deadline. The movie was cut from 168 minutes to a little more than 60. One copy of the original did turn up in Sweden in the 30s and it has been preserved. I saw it when I was a college student (as part of a course) in the 60s. I think I fell asleep during the show.