Ahhh, the old "Nazis were socialists" argument. Here we go, let's do some explaining... https://twitter.com/AnankeAion/status/1110115355614162945

You have the right to an opinion, however, not all opinions are equal.
For example, when Debating the causes of WW2, a person may argue that the treaty of Versailles, The Economic Crash, or the American Departure from Europe were the cause...

No one, however, who says that it was caused by space lizards is taken seriously. This is how you sound when you say the Nazis were socialists...

"But they were called the National Socialist German Workers Party!?"

Yes, however the Nazis were not socialist in any real sense. National Socialism was it's own doctrine entirely. It was often inconsistent, and wholly opposed to Socialism in it's very essence...

Let alone the fact that much of Nazi propaganda did not accurately reflect their ideology and thoughts [1], even in early Nazi party Politics, Hitler was vehemently opposed to the left and refused unequivocally to establish Nazi Trade Unions [2]...

"But Hitler said 'we are Socialists, the mortal enemies of capitalism'"!?

No, he in fact did not. The quote is misattributed to Hitler, but was actually said by Gregor Strasser [3]...

and included the quote which reflected his personal beliefs [4], but made him almost unique among the Nazis, who feared the left and mistrusted intellectuals...

Hitler and Otto Strasser (Gregor's brother, who shared similar beliefs) argued about ideology regularly, with Hitler stating on one occasion in 1930:

"That word 'socialism' is in trouble...I have never said all enterprises should be socialised...

"...On the contrary, I maintain that we might socialise enterprises prejudicial to the interests of the Nation. Unless they were so guilty, I should consider it a crime to destroy essential elements in our economic life..."

...[there] is no reason for granting the workers a share in the profits of enterprises that employ them, and more particularly for giving them the right to be consulted" [5]...

Can you imagine Corbyn or Sanders saying that workers have no right to the profits they generate for their employer, and no right to have a say in their rights?...

"But Hitler had a programme of Nationalization didn't he?!"

Well, sort of. Hitler actually stated that his economic position was driven by "not the theory, but the performance of the economy" [6]...

His entire economic outlook was driven towards investment...BUT that investment was in war, not people...

Schacht (President of the Reichsbank) had a particular problem with Hitler's incoherent obsession with investment in the military, stating on 29th Nov 1938: "the standard of living and the extent of armament are in an inverse ratio." [7]...

Hitler himself stated that every penny of investment should be considered based on how well it serves Germany's rearmament programme [8] and in April 1933 gave the army direct control of it's own budget [9].

It is a push to imagine Corbyn committing to rearmament like that...

The problem almost entirely revolves around the misconception that "Socialism" just means "government interference in the economy", which would make most European countries Socialist. As I'm sure you agree, they are not...

...Back to the Nazis: They allied themselves with Conservatve and Catholic parties in order to purge the left. 1.5.33, Hitler held a Nazi Rally for Trade Unionists...and then purged them the following day, putting huge swathes of their leadership into concentration camps [10]...

...By 1939, the majority of concentration camp inmates were 'asocials', mostly unemployed people [11] who are always traditional targets of the far right...

Of course, much of their scapegoating was also aimed at Jews, and papers like 'The Stormer' would regularly print largely fabricated and overblown "reports of sex scandals...

involving Jewish Men and Non-Jewish German Girls." [12] Which is almost a mirror image of the modern far right and followers of Tommy Robinson...

What do the experts say?

If you won't take it from me, take it from Richard J Evans and Ian Kershaw, the two top Historians on Nazi Germany.

They were never socialists. The same way that Fish Fingers have never been Fish's fingers...

Backed up by Evans and Kershaw:

"in reality they were never socialist anyway" -Evans, RJ. 'The Third Reich in Power' (Penguin 2005), p.410...

"it would be wrong to see Nazism as a form of, or an outgrowth of Socialism.”
- Evans, R.J. The Coming of the Third Reich (Penguin 2005), p.173

"Hitler was never a socialist"- Kershaw, I 'Hitler 1889-1936' (Penguin 1999), p.448...

And some references I used in the rant:

[1] Szejnmann, CCW. 'National Socialist Ideology' in 'A Companion in Nazi Germany' 4th Ed. (John Wiley & Sons 2008), p.80

[2] Kirk, T. Nazi Germany (Palgrave MacMillan 2007), p.22

[3] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hitler-nazis-capitalist-system/

[4] https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fG_oAAAAIAAJ&lpg=PA87&ots=SwuyWM8bJH&dq=“Thoughts+about+the+Tasks+of+the+Future",+by+Gregor+Strasser&pg=PA91&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=“Thoughts%20about%20the%20Tasks%20of%20the%20Future"%2C%20by%20Gregor%20Strasser&f=false ...

5] Noakes and Pridham, 'Nazism- The Rise to Power 1919-1934' (University of Exeter Press 1998), p.66

[6] Noakes and Pridham, 'Nazism- State Economy and Society 1933-39' (University of Exeter Press 1998), p.70

[7] Noakes and Pridham, 'Nazism- State Economy and Society 1933-39' (University of Exeter Press 1998), p.84

[8] Evans, RJ. 'The Third Reich in Power' (Penguin 2006), p.337

[9] Evans, RJ. 'The Third Reich in Power' (Penguin 2006), p.339 ...

[10] Evans, RJ. 'The Third Reich in Power' (Penguin 2006), p.13

[11] Evans, RJ. 'The Third Reich in Power' (Penguin 2006), p.90

[12] Evans, RJ. 'The Third Reich in Power' (Penguin 2006), p.145 ...

...so no, the Nazis were not Socialists.