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The prevalence of political corruption in Nazi Germany is studied. An overview of corrupt practices in pre-Nazi Germany emphasizes the connection between democracy & corruption. The emergence of an anticorruption campaign alongside the National Socialists party's rise to power during the mid-1930s is discussed. However, the Nazi state's fervor for controlling corruption was checked in all but the most egregious cases of corruption by Nazi officials. In fact, it is argued that Adolf Hitler recognized the importance of political corruption to keeping the different factions in the National Socialist party together. Various acts of corruption committed by Nazi officials against Jewish business owners during the 1930s are noted. In addition, Nazi leaders accepted bribes from individuals imprisoned in WWII concentration camps. Several conclusions from the study (eg, the existence of universal corruption in the Nazi system) & recommendations for future research are offered. J. W. Parker

In diesem Beitrag wird untersucht, ob die vom Nationalsozialismus im Dritten Reich häufig beschworene "Volksgemeinschaft", mit der als Zielvorstellung für die Bevölkerung einerseits Gleichheit, andererseits Aufstiegschancen für jeden Tüchtigen propagiert wurde, einen Niederschlag fand in der Rekrutierung der Angehörigen des SS-Führerkorps. Untersucht werden die Ausbildungs- und Berufsdaten von SS-Führern, die 1939 mindestens im Rang eines SS-Untersturmführers standen, und deren Vätern. Die Analyse der Daten zeigt, daß der größte Anteil des SS-Führerkorps aus der unteren Mittelschicht stammt. Die Arbeiterschicht stellt rund ein Viertel des SS-Führerkorps, womit sie zwar gegenüber ihrem Anteil an der Gesamtbevölkerung unterrepräsentiert ist, jedoch muß in Erwägung gezogen werden, daß dies gängigen Thesen der Rekrutierung von Eliten aus einem sehr eng gefaßten Kreis von zumeist Oberschichtangehörigen oder zumindest Angehörigen der oberen Mittelschicht zuwiderläuft. Verglichen mit der Verteilung von Bildungsabschlüssen in der Gesamtbevölkerung ist festzustellen, daß das SS-Führerkorps über eine deutlich bessere Ausbildung seiner Mitglieder verfügt. Insgesamt wird deutlich, daß im SS-Führerkorps eine erheblich größere Heterogenität der Sozialstruktur zu finden ist, als klassische Elitetheorien es erwarten lassen. Ohne den propagandistischen Äußerungen der Nationalsozialisten naiv zu folgen, kann der Schluß gezogen werden, daß die Rekrutierung des SS-Führerkorps einige Merkmale der Verwirklichung egalitärer Chancengleichheit für den sozialen Aufstieg enthielt. (ICF)

Compares reciprocal relations between the totalitarian regimes of the USSR under Joseph Stalin & Germany under Adolf Hitler, & examines how they influenced & reacted to each other. A review of 20th-century history draws on German, French, & British studies by Ernst Nolte (1987), Francois Furet (1996), & Eric Hobsbawm (1994), respectively, stressing ways they complement/contradict each other. Historical turning points in the duration of both regimes are examined, along with the role of democratic states in their rise & fall. It is argued that Germany's national socialist regime served to prolong the existence of Soviet communism, & they each viewed the other as both a model & source of anxiety. Ways in which an ideology of antifascism helped to legitimize communist regimes are examined, along with an exploration of the impact of Hitler & Stalin's regimes on the present-day states where they were once in power. Future prospects are explored in light of the complex nature of current Eastern European political systems. J. Lindroth

An examination of the origins of Soviet communism & national socialism focuses on Franz Borkenau's (1940) account of the emergence of totalitarianism in modern history, arguing that concepts of totalitarianism not only have a place in the interpretation of modernity, but that the dynamics of both regimes can be viewed as responses to crises involving economic characteristics of Western modernity. Borkenau's analysis of totalitarianism as a response to structural conflicts is evaluated, & suggestions are made for revising his conception, arguing that the progression of communism into a comparably stable social system negates Borkenau's view of the dynamics of totalitarian regimes as primarily negative. The evolutionary potential of communist regimes is compared to a similar potential in national socialism, & differing imperial patterns in Germany & Russia are examined. Germany had no national socialist ideology comparable to Marxism-Leninism, nor was Adolf Hitler's regime the result of a revolution. However, the defeat of Germany in WWI represented a structural revolution that demanded the creation of an alternative. J. Lindroth