Question

Why did Hitler acquire such a mass appeal? Did he improve German life?

Answer 1

He was a talented orator who knew what to say to the masses and how to say it. He appealed to the Germans' sense of nationalism, promised to make the country great again, and put everyone back to work which were appealing concepts.

In some ways, he actually fulfilled his promises -- he put millions of Germans back to work in massive projects and re-armed the country against the Versailles Treaty as the economy improved. The downside is that he had also become a virtual dictator eventually making the Nazis the only political party in Germany.

The price paid for that prosperity was a keen loss of personal liberties. If you spoke out against the Nazis, or their methods, you were considered an enemy of the state. The Reich told everyone what was permissible to read, what was acceptable art, and used the Jews as scapegoats, eventually dehumanizing them before sending them to the death camps.