When Hitler and the Nazis gained power on January 31, they held a fraction of the seats in the Reichstag. Their political opponents thought Hitler needed them and naively thought they could therefore control him. But this was like thinking one could open Pandora’s box and let out two or three Furies. Hitler knew his opponents were divided and couldn’t unite against him. He would play them off each other brilliantly and would consolidate his power with breathtaking speed and a calculating ruthlessness for which no one was prepared. On February 3, Goebbels wrote in his diary: “Now it will be
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