Hitler was not an atheist:
"What we must fight for is to safeguard the existence and the reproduction of our race...so that our people may mature for the fulfillment of the mission allotted it by the creator of the universe...Peoples that bastardize themselves, or let themselves be bastardized, sin against the will of eternal Providence."
Mein Kampf


Ron,
Why would an atheist regime treat its people any better than a deist regime? Both force people to accept a belief system whether they want to or not. Each punishes or at least penalizes anyone who strays from the norm.