I have finished watching the 10 episode documentary Hitler’s Circle of Evil and it was truly a fascinating journey. So interesting in fact that I look forward to seeing every episode again as I re-watch them with friends equally interested in history.

One of the aspects of the entire Nazi Germany history that this series had laid out in a clear manner is how important the people surrounding Hitler were to what happened.

From the very start of the movement through its transformation into a personality cult and onwards into a juggernaut of evil it was more than the hateful evil fuck Hitler responsible. Throughout the process he was surrounded by people who performed critical roles that shaped the ideology, energized the members, and brought the murderous cult to power.

What truly jumped out at me was how few of the people that held these powerful positions had any real competence or qualifications for their posts. To the man each chased individual ambitions, some petty and prosaic such as Goring’s looting of artistic treasures for his homes while others pursued their conspiratorial feats into mass murder. What not one of these men seemed to possess was a sense to duty to the country. Oh, they all professed a great love for their country, but their actions time and time again demonstrated their base, selfish, and evil objectives.

The fish rots from the head and Hitler was the center of the corruption. The inner circle was one of his own making and one that reflected his twisted views and hate filled perspective. For the members of the inner circle power flowed from their direct and personal relationship to Hitler, as those relationships waxed and waned so did their influence. I find it curious that these vicious, scheming, and treacherous men who moved so confidently against one another were simultaneously craven ‘yes men’ unable to tell their adored and feared leader ‘no.’

It is that relationship, cruel men who cower and bootlick; paying the source of their power for false flattery that fascinates me. It is the system that provided a platform for genocide and wars of aggression not simply the product of one madman’s maniacal delusion. Had there been strong institutions staffed by people not driven by personal, petty, purposes the entire Nazi government would have been impossible. Of course the Weimer Republic never had the chance to develop those deep institutional cultures and in the collapse of the German Empire the vacuum was filled with men and parties intent on power and money.

As a writer of fiction and a student of history the lesson that it is never just one man is a terribly important one. When I create worlds for my stories or when I look at governments around the world it will be important to keep it mind it is never just one person it equally vital to know who they surround themselves with, who is in their inner circle.