Early NSDAP images by request...

[lectronimo]

Hello Again Friends
Fellow member Bern was kind enough to request seeing some scans from my recent B/W collection, showing NSDAP activity before the Nazi's came to power. For this I am happy to oblige. Below are scenes photographed during the late 1920's / early 1930's. What is really interesting is that in some of the scenes, Communist members and flags can be seen together in the same image as NSDAP members and flags. This is strange to me. I though they were bitter enemies and would not have tolerated being anywhere near each other without brawling. Can anyone shed some light on this?



















Thanks for looking!

lectronimo

[BlackWatch1]

What is really interesting is that in some of the scenes, Communist members and flags can be seen together in the same image as NSDAP members and flags. This is strange to me. I though they were bitter enemies and would not have tolerated being anywhere near each other without brawling. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Great photos! I'm envious! Most 'Communists' were ordinary patriotic Germans who didn't care about ideology. Essentially the Brown Shirts and the Reds were the same people who had a common goal. That is why millions of 'Communists' joined the NSDAP including the SA after Hitler came to power. The fighting in the streets were instigated by the hardcore ideologues(usually Marxists) but the common German working man really only cared about food on his table for himself and his family. The NSBO is a good example of this crossover.

[Mil-Archive]

Great photos! I'm envious! Most 'Communists' were ordinary patriotic Germans who didn't care about ideology. Essentially the Brown Shirts and the Reds were the same people who had a common goal. That is why millions of 'Communists' joined the NSDAP including the SA after Hitler came to power. The fighting in the streets were instigated by the hardcore ideologues(usually Marxists) but the common German working man really only cared about food on his table for himself and his family. The NSBO is a good example of this crossover.

I recall an interview with an SA man where he mentioned a good friend he grew up with who was a communist. Unless I am getting stories mixed up I believe he also gave or got medical aid. Separate to that I remember reading about an incident where the very-early days NSBO striked with communists.

I think the above flags are probably just houses where the occupant was one way leaning or the other. If people live in high density housing on top of each other then you this is to be expected. If the communists had won the race to power then the nsdap flags would have disappeared, as it was the communist flags were the ones to vanish overnight once power was consolidated.

[Br. James]

Some great stuff here, friends! Many thanks to lectronimo for some exciting photos of the early days of the NSDAP, and to BlackWatch1 and Mil-Archive for some thoughtful and sensitive caption commentary on the relationship between the SA and the KPD during the Time of Struggle.

Br. James

[chrischa]

Great photos! I'm envious! Most 'Communists' were ordinary patriotic Germans who didn't care about ideology. Essentially the Brown Shirts and the Reds were the same people who had a common goal. That is why millions of 'Communists' joined the NSDAP including the SA after Hitler came to power. The fighting in the streets were instigated by the hardcore ideologues(usually Marxists) but the common German working man really only cared about food on his table for himself and his family. The NSBO is a good example of this crossover.

Hello

Yes, you’re correct.

Beefsteak nazis was a term to describe the elements of the SA and NSDAP who favoured the socialists aspect of the party. Brown on the outside red in the middle.

[lectronimo]

Very enlightening...

Thanks folks for expanding my knowledge base about the images I posted and the early NSDAP.

lectronimo

[Br. James]

"Beefsteak nazis was a term to describe the elements of the SA and NSDAP who favoured the socialists aspect of the party. Brown on the outside red in the middle."

Many thanks for reminding me of that term: Beefsteak Nazis -- brown on the outside and red in the middle! I love it!! The issue of the true understanding of two words in the NSDAP title -- National and Socialist -- became quite a confrontation during the Kämpfzeit and in the years up to the Night of Long Knives. The Strasser brothers were the chief advocates of the Socialist wing of the Party's political structure, while Hitler used Röhm and the SA to push for authoritarian leadership via the Party's Nationalist wing. The history of this crucial period in the NSDAP's political history makes for a wonderful read!

Many thanks, Chris!

Br. James

[Bern]

That's a very interesting fact. Did they have/use a German language translation of this term or was Beefsteak the actual word they used? Wikipedia just refers to Beefsteak.
Regards
Bern

[chrischa]

Glad I could help Br. James. It’s usually you helping us!

Hello Bern, no it would have been in German language.

Cheers
Chris

[Der Texaner]

Thanks for posting these pictures.

Joel

[dragnet]

Nice images and thanks for posting