So, I was contemplating cults of personality this week for… reasons, and of course considered the ultimate cult of them all, Adolph Hitler and the rise of the Nazis. Was there really that much spontaneous adulation of the man going around? At a rally, sure, all their buttons are being pressed by Goebbels but – as our old movies show – did the highest-ranking members of the OKW literally could not enter or leave a room without the stiff-arm salute and a guttural, “Heil Hitler!” to, I dunno, remind them who their boss is? Did either Lutheran or Catholic families sit down to dinner and end the blessing with a hearty HH instead of an Amen?
Are there any contemporary reports from the period which detail they everyday life of your ordinary German that mentions this? Just how popular was this Hitler guy, anyway?