3 August 1934

I say my goodbyes to Paolo and his family; I will definitely stay in touch with them!  I now aboard another train which will take me to Nazi Germany.  I don’t know how I am supposed to feel about traveling to this area of Europe.  Great Aunt Gladis, please give me strength as I endure this next adventure.  From what I have seen in the news, Nazi Germany is a stable country in terms of their economy but some violence that the Nazi Party has caused is a little terrifying.  Paolo and his family invited me to stay with them in March of 1933, and I’ve been with them since.  It was very nice to come home after each day of adventure to a home cooked meal and a lovely family!  My journey to Nazi Journey was supposed to start on July 1^st, 1934 but Paolo and his family felt it would be wiser for me to stay another month.  “The Night of the Long Knives” occurred on June 30^th, 1934 and at least 85 people were killed.  It would have not been a good decision to travel to this part of Germany the following day.  However, another innocent occurred in Germany two days ago, August 1^st, but I insisted that I go now or I never will.  German President Hindenburg passed away on August 1^st and Hitler started to give himself more power.  In my final few weeks in Italy, I did research of what to expect when I traveled to Nazi Germany.  In 1930, an election was held in Germany and the Nazi party had gotten more than 6,000,000 votes! They were now the largest party in Germany.  In 1933, the Nazi Party lead by Adolph Hitler became official because of its size in numbers; and Hitler is named Chancellor of Germany in the same year.  To some Germans, Hitler was a breath of fresh air.  Hitler had a vision to recover Germany from the economic Depression and end unemployment.  His action plan to end unemployment was providing men with food, clothing and a job called the “Brown Shirts.”  (Sturm Abteilung)  As the Brown Shirts were increasing, the Nazi Party continued to grow.  Two large German companies funded the Nazi Party – IG Farben and Krupp Steel.  They believed that Hitler would be a profitable leader.  Both Hitler’s past and his current actions are top headlines in the news.  Hitler has amalgamated the positions, President and Chancellor after the passing of President Hindenburg.

As my train pulled into the station, I saw thousands of ‘Brown Shirts’ marching through the streets with the Nazi Swastika displayed on their arm bands.  As I stepped off the train and walked into the streets of Germany, the mood has drastically changed compared to Italy only a few hours ago.  The mood was somber, tense and dark.  As I continued to walk, it is evident that no one wants to make to make eye contact with one another.  And other than the brown shirts, the streets seem to be deserted by civilians.

The Night of the Long Knives still has thousands of Germans in fear of what could perhaps happen overnight. 

From what I have noticed, in my opinion, Hitler is a very angry man and I fear for what’s in store for Germany in coming years.  I am very tired from my travels, I am off to bed.  I already miss Paolo and his family, I will write them tonight. 

This is for you Aunt Gladis, all my love!