Throughout the rise and fall of German fascism, perhaps no single factor was more crucial than the ingenious and brutal use of propaganda. Even during their rise to power from the mid-twenties on, Josef Göbbels and his lackeys were on a never ending search for more material to feed the ever hungry machine of deception and hate they had created. In early 1930, out of the violent death of a young man they created what would become the biggest martyr of the Nazi movement.
The Life of Horst Wessel
Horst Wessel, born in Bielefeld on 9th October 1907, was studying law in Berlin when he joined Hitler's NSDAP in 1926. He was fascinated by the action and brutality the Sturmabteilung, or SA, had to offer to young men. Fighting bloody battles against the communists in the streets of a capitol torn by political violence, this fascist militia was the paramilitary arm of the Nazi party. It seemed to suit him better than anything else. He quickly rose through the ranks of the organization and by 1929, he had given up law school and was a well known local personality. This, though, would cost him his life.
Assassination of Wessel
Although the circumstances of his death have never been entirely proven, the following is what is believed to be the most probable course of events adapted in most biographies such as on shoa.de. On January 14th 1930, his landlady, with whom he had gotten into a fight before was complaining about him in a pub known as a meeting point for communist fighters. Still enraged about the recent murder of a young comrade, Wessel seemed an appropriate target. A mob gathered quickly, led by street thug and communist party member Albrecht Höhler. When Wessel answered the knock at his door, Höhler shot him in the head with his pistol. What was intended to be a rough-up had turned into murder – Wessel died of his wounds five weeks later.
Aftermath and Martyrdom
Höhler was sentenced to six years in prison but was murdered by SA men as soon as the Nazis took power three years later. Although he wasn't paid any attention to while in hospital, the news of Wessel's death changed everything, prompting Göbbels to write into his dairy: “Just received the news: Horst Wessel died this morning. A new martyr for the Third Reich.” His funeral was performed as a huge party event and he was proclaimed a hero of the movement. Every year, the day of his death was made into a Nazi spectacle, places, streets and a hospital were named after him and the fight song he had written for the SA became a second national anthem, known as the Horst-Wessel song.
Modern Reception
Today, the song is outlawed in Germany and in 2000, his grave was dug up by left-wing activists who claimed to have removed his skull. He remains evidence of the power of propaganda and how a casualty of history can be turned into a myth that fueled the greatest threat to humanity we have ever known.
