Kershaw states in no uncertain terms Hitler's disdain for the masses. However, Hitler's conclusion that the Marxist "world-view" was essential antipodal to the future of Germany, and that the Nazi movement was the only power capable of defeating Marxism systematically. Kershaw cites many examples where Hitler's derogates the masses, yet Hitler understood their power, and seemed to grow emboldened from his interactions with the masses. I know these are two slightly different uses of the word 'mass' but it is interesting to note that Hitler was able to distinguish between the abstract masses whom he disparaged and the literal audience whom he captivated.

Hitler's appeal to the masses (in the abstract) lay in his vision for Germany: Volksgemeinschaft, that equivocal 'national community' based on "racial purity and the concept of struggle" where "the building of a new spirit for the great future struggle of the people could be undertaken." These ideas were not new, but it was his belief in the absolute, zealous commitment to this goal where the 'ideologue and the propagandist came together', as Kershaw so aptly puts it.

The devotion of followers like Hess, Goebbels, and a few anonymous party members that Kershaw notes on pages 294-295 use language I can only describe as religious. Phrases that stick out to me 'unconditional belief in absolute rightness in the mission of the Fuhrer', 'fulfilment of a mysterious longing', 'desire to set them free' are reminiscent to me of accounts of religious experiences. The cult of the Fuhrer allowed the mystery of the figure of the leader to both inspire people and cause them to wonder and romanticize about the future. "Romantics, neoconservatives, those fixated on the mythic glories of the past, despairing and resentful of the present, dreaming of a heroic future, could all find hope in a coming 'great leader,' a national redeemer." (295) To me, this perfectly sums up the type of people who became easily influenced by the cult of Hitler, and were drawn into the fanaticism and zealousness that allowed the Nazis to gain a solid base of support.