suicide The young and quick witted did well Overnight they became free rich and independent It was a situation in which mental inertia and reliance on past experience were punished by starvation and death but the rapid appraisal of new situations and speed of reaction was rewarded with sudden vast riches 1 Many felt they were in an endless loop of economic stress which led to their search for a new government At the beginning of 1930 Heinrich Br ning became chancellor In efforts to prove the reparations were unnecessary Br ning caused many bank establishments to shut down and the unemployment rate went up dramatically Members of the republic began to lose hope In many respects the atmosphere in Germany resembled that which prevails today in Europe as a whole a passive waiting for the inevitable still hoping to avoid it up to the last moment 2 On September 14 Nazis became the second largest party and Br ning was disregarded and attention was redirected to Hitler In April 1933 Hitler became chancellor Many were excited about this new way of governing and had a sense of faith in Hitler though they did not necessarily know what his intent was Hitler used propaganda through newspapers radios and books Germans found him charming as he was very persuasive and he had easily gained their trust through said propaganda Even some of those who became Nazis at this time did not fully realize what they were doing They might think that they stood for nationalism and socialism were against the Jews and for the pre 1914 18 status quo and many of them secretly looked forward to a new public adventure a repeat of 1923 Still they expected all that to take the humane forms usual in 1 Haffner Sebastian and Oliver Pretzel Defying Hitler A Memoir London Phoenix 2000 Page 56 2 Haffner Sebastian and Oliver Pretzel Defying Hitler A Memoir London Phoenix 2000 Page 91