In your notes, write a bulleted list of important facts about Hitler's rise to power in Germany.

A photograph of Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler reviewing SS troops at a parade in Nuremberg, Germany. Everyone present is wearing some variant of a Nazi uniform with swastika arm bands.

Source: Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler review SS troops during a Reichsparteitag (Reich Party Day) parade in Nuremberg. [Photograph #05459], United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Adolf Hitler was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers or Nazi Party. He was named chancellor of Germany in 1933. After a suspicious fire in the Reichstag, the government declared a state of emergency in which decrees could be issued without the permission of the Reichstag. During this time, the Nazis used propaganda to spread their goals to the German people.

With the death of the German president Paul von Hindenburg, Hitler assumed the office of president. At this time, his titles included president (head of state), chancellor (head of government) and Fuehrer (head of the Nazi Party). The army swore an oath of loyalty to him, and he was now above the laws of Germany and able to determine policy on his own. He had become a dictator.

Nazi Symbols and Uniforms:

A Nazi flag: It is a field of red with a circular white center that has a black swastika imposed on it.

Source: Flag of Nazi Germany (1933-1945), de: Benutzer: Kookaburra, Wikimedia

Lightning bolt seig runes used by the SS as unit designations and collar tabs on SS uniforms.

Source: SS Hausflagge, Fornax, Wikimedia

A photograph of German soldiers being decorated. These soldiers are wearing SS uniforms with SS collar patches, belt buckles and helmets with swastika insignia.

Source: Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Lerche-46-02, Frankreich, Ordensverleihung an Waffen-SS

An SS uniform belt buckle. It has an eagle with its wings outstretched grasping a swastika in its talons. Surrounding the eagle is an inscription reading

Source: Пряжка 822 38 SS "Meine Ehre heißt Treue"., Zac allan, Wikimedia

A photograph of an SS officer in his black uniform with SS collar patches, German medals, and a cap with the Totenkopf, or Death's Head emblem on it.

Source: Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1985-011-21, Ernst Johann Tetsch, Wikimedia

The infamous SS Death's Head logo worn by all SS officers, NCOs, and enlisted men on their caps and on some uniforms. It is a skull and crossbones unique to the SS.

Source: Totenkopf, Husnock, Wikimedia