Germany 1933 - 1936
Hitler Reviewing SA On May 13, 1931, the International Olympic Committee, headed by Count Henri Baillet-Latour of Belgium, awarded the 1936 Summer Olympics to Berlin. The choice signaled Germany's return to the world community after defeat in World War I. 

Two years later, Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany and quickly turned the nation's fragile democracy into a one-party dictatorship. Police rounded up thousands of political opponents, detaining them without trial in concentration camps. The Nazi regime also put into practice racial policies that aimed to "purify" and strengthen the Germanic "Aryan" population. A relentless campaign began to exclude Germany’s one-half million Jews from all aspects of German life. 

Hitler reviews 35,000 Storm Troopers (Sturmabteilung--SA), members of the Nazi Party's paramilitary wing. February 20, 1936. USHMM Photo Archives
Chancellor Adolf Hitler was the leader of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party -- the Nazi Party. Many Germans hoped Hitler would bring order to a nation plagued by economic depression, social unrest, and political instability. Hitler’s brand of fascism combined several elements: extreme nationalism, militarism, racism, and antisemitism.
Photograph #87892
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