I know the basics, like teaching Nazi rhetoric to the Nazi youth and taking advantage of prejudices that already existed, but that's all I know. I'm writing a short story on someone living through the rise of the Third Reich and I want it to realistically show all of the steps that led to such fervent devotion.
I'm also curious because I have ancestors who survived the Holocaust (I'm Jewish) and as the old saying says, "know thy enemy."
Hitler took over during a very low point in the German socio-economic environment in the mid to late 1930's. The German people were looking for something or someone to help get them out of the severe recession that had hit their economy . Hitler's campaign was that anyone who was not pure German (Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, the deformed) were the ones creating the poor economic conditions. Specifically Jews because they were accused of handling all the money and sabotaging the economy. The economic conditions improved with his actions, and this started a German Nationalism movement that swept up the population, and created the Aryan race symbolism. As Hitler's campaign spread to all parts of Germany, to include being taught in school to the youth, the prejudices reached out to all non-Germanic races, and made them targets for violence, racism, and police actions.
Hope this helps.