style="overflow: hidden; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; border: medium none;">When the Nazis came to power in 1933, few Germans foresaw the depths of barbarity into which their country would sink. Germany was the nation of Beethoven and Goethe, of Kant and Hegel. Its people were among the best educated and highly cultured in Europe – it seemed inconceivable that they would tolerate a vulgar thug like Hitler for long.