Ukip has defended its Copeland by-election candidate after she received scathing criticism for claiming Hitler was a socialist.
Fiona Mills, also the party’s Cumbria chairman, compared the fascist dictator’s views in 1927 to modern-day socialism in a tweet she shared on Sunday night.
Mills retweeted a photo of Hitler with a quote attributed to him in 1927.
In Mills’ since-deleted retweet, she added: “I keep telling lefties Hitler was a socialist and they always deny it. Leader of the National Socialist Democratic Workers Party. Socialist.”
She later corrected herself, saying the party was the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, adding: “Still socialist though.”
A Ukip spokesman told the Huffington Post UK: “It’s true the Nazi party was a socialist party,” later adding the Nazis were also “vile and monstrous”.
The spokesman declined to comment on why Mills deleted the tweet, but vehemently defended calling the Nazis socialists.
Some highlighted that the quote, if it indeed was said by Hitler, was said in 1927 - six years before he became Chancellor - in a bid to propel him to power.
Her “ignorance” was mocked online:
There are questions around whether Hitler did speak those words, with some instead attributing the quote to Gregor Strasser, a prominent Nazi who grew the party’s membership in northern Germany and was later killed on Hitler’s instructions in the Night of the Long Knives.
Mills’ deleted tweet did not go unnoticed, with some asking whether her earlier rants had also been culled.
It is not the first time a politician has claimed Hitler was a socialist.
In 2013, Hertfordshire deputy police commissioner Dr Rachel Frosh resigned after sharing a similar post on her Twitter account, which she later deleted.
Frosh initially retweeted a post on January 31 that said “Dear Socialists embrace your inner Nazism” and had a picture of Adolf Hilter with a quote from 1927, before deleting it.
Debunking the myth that Hitler was a socialist
While it is true that Hitler was the leader of the NSDAP, calling him a socialist is misleading in many ways.
Making promises to seize power:
After the 1929 Wall Street Crash, millions of people around the world became unemployed and several major banks collapsed.
Hitler and the NSDAP seized this opportunity to promise jobs for the working class.
Hitler said whatever people wanted to hear so that he could secure power.
For example, in September 1930 Hitler testified that the NSDAP would pursue political power solely through democratic elections. He did no such thing.
Hitler hated communism:
The February 1933 Reichstag fire was blamed on the communists, although there is some skepticism regarding who was actually behind the attack.
In the days after the fire the activities of the German Communist Party were suppressed and about 4,000 members arrested.
Anti-communist propaganda was spread ahead of the March elections.
When Hitler tried to force the Enabling Act through the Reichstag, an act which essentially gave full control to the Nazis, he arrested all communist deputies and stopped several Social Democrats from attending.
Banning the Social Democratic Party:
The Social Democrats were the only party not to vote in favour of the Enabling Act in March 1933.
After Hitler gained full control over the legislative and executive branches of government, he began solidifying his power, crushing any remaining opposition.
The Social Democratic Party was banned and its assets seized.
Banning trade unions:
Hitler did not like trade unions. They were banned in May 1933 and their leaders arrested.
Some were even sent to concentration camps.
Trade unionists, communists and political opponents such as the Social Democrats were among the millions killed by the Nazi government after it seized control of Germany.