On the evening of March 5, 1933, the inhabitants of Oberstdorf, a Bavarian village some 100 miles southwest of Munich, began making their way to the marketplace, eager to hear what their mayor had to say about the federal election held earlier that day. The National Socialist German Workers’ Party (also known as the Nazi Party) had wrested control of the government; little did the villagers know it would be the last truly democratic election Germany would see for 13 years.
Among the crowd, there was a palpable sense of anticipation as everyone, warmly wrapped against the cold night air, waited for events to unfold. Many of those present no doubt chatted to their friends about the sight they had witnessed the night before, when, as a prelude to the election, numerous bonfires had been lit in the mountains: Nazi supporters had ignited a huge swastika formed of flickering flares high up on the Himmelschrofen mountain.
