Adolf Hitler is assassinated upon his release from Landsberg prison

[WolfBear]

What if Adolf Hitler is assassinated upon his release from Landsberg prison in 1924? This seems like a good time to kill him considering that he appears to have had no bodyguards with him at that point in time, no?

Frankly, I could see the Nazi Party imploding and breaking up without having Hitler as glue to hold it all together. The crucial question, of course, would be what a Germany and a world without Nazism would have actually looked like. And what kind of penalty would Hitler's killer get? The death penalty for murder or something milder due to his good intentions?

 

[stevep]

What if Adolf Hitler is assassinated upon his release from Landsberg prison in 1924? This seems like a good time to kill him considering that he appears to have had no bodyguards with him at that point in time, no?

Frankly, I could see the Nazi Party imploding and breaking up without having Hitler as glue to hold it all together. The crucial question, of course, would be what a Germany and a world without Nazism would have actually looked like. And what kind of penalty would Hitler's killer get? The death penalty for murder or something milder due to his good intentions?

I suspect because a lot of the right supported at least some of Hitler's aims and also because it would be a murder of a political figure - albeit seen as a minor one at the time - its likely to be an harsh punishment.

In terms of the wider impact the Nazis probably fracture as you suggest and disappear as an issue. However of course they were meeting a demand - for a militaristic revanchist war of revenge against the victorious allies. Someone else is likely to emerge but possibly without being as bat-shit insane as Hitler and hence potentially more dangerous. Still likely to persecute Jews as a scapegoat but possibly not as murderous and also may be less into racial superiority crap and hence more willing to make allies. Would have to depend on the circumstances as to how things develop.

 

[WolfBear]

I suspect because a lot of the right supported at least some of Hitler's aims and also because it would be a murder of a political figure - albeit seen as a minor one at the time - its likely to be an harsh punishment.

In terms of the wider impact the Nazis probably fracture as you suggest and disappear as an issue. However of course they were meeting a demand - for a militaristic revanchist war of revenge against the victorious allies. Someone else is likely to emerge but possibly without being as bat-shit insane as Hitler and hence potentially more dangerous. Still likely to persecute Jews as a scapegoat but possibly not as murderous and also may be less into racial superiority crap and hence more willing to make allies. Would have to depend on the circumstances as to how things develop.

What about Hitler's killer? Do they have to permanently flee the country in order to avoid getting assassinated by German right-wing extremists? And who would actually accept them abroad? France? The Benelux countries? Switzerland? I mean after they get out of jail, if there's not going to be a death penalty for them for this act of theirs.

 

[Buba]

In terms of the wider impact the Nazis probably fracture as you suggest and disappear as an issue. However of course they were meeting a demand - for a militaristic revanchist war of revenge against the victorious allies.

It is wider than that. The NSDAP was an anti-establishment party, a revolutionary movement, attracting segments of the same protest vote as the KPD. Look at the lyrics of Deuthschland erwahe, Horst Wessel lied etc.
No/weaker browns = more/stronger reds.

 

[Buba]

I don't need to add "no WWII as we know it, eh?"

Maybe even no WWII at all. But you never know ...

 

[Cherico]

And nothing of value was lost