ABSTRACT
To many Germans who advanced to positions of prominence and authority with the advent of the Hitler regime, the experience must have had an occasional sense of unreality at times. The speed with which Germany was transformed from a nation trying to recover from war, infl ation, and depression into a country with a thriving economy and renewed international prestige, was very impressive. Many outside observers, however, pointed to the oppressive measures that were being introduced into German life by the dictatorial regime. Others choose to overlook the persecution of political foes of National Socialism, and the brutal treatment of racial and religious minorities, as the price to be paid for economic recovery. For Ernst Wilhelm Bohle, whose earlier prospects for a successful career in business or government had looked bleak in 1930, Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist movement proved a blessing.
