A "CHOICE" or a "TEST"??

Some Old Questions to be Answered

Readers of this Blog know by now that the most vivid memories of my life rest in that period between 1943 and 1945; days of World War II.  One item of memorabilia I treasure is a War Ration Stamp Book with my name on it (age 4, with unused stamps remaining). A question that haunted me as I began my studies in college was how, between the Wars, the German people and the German Jews; neither of whom were considered lacking in intelligence, befell their fates.  The German people lost their Democracy to a virulant demagogue, and the majority of German Jews remained in the country and subsequently faced annihilation, after more than a decade of clear warning.  Somehow, their denial of knowledge of events around them rang hollow. I've learned that anybody living in Germany during those years knew full well what was happening.  In the back of my mind rang the question: "could this happen here?".

Over the years I have met and talked with Holocaust survivors and Nazi immigrants to the U.S. concerning my questions.  None of them had clear answers, or seemed interested in knowing what went wrong.

I'm currently reading a couple of books that provide amazing insights into these questions: Gail Collins' As Texas Goes - How The Lone Star State Hijacked The American Agenda  , and Hitlerland, by Andrew Nagorski.  Nagorski shows, from memos, diaries, and other writings of artists, writers, diplomats, and very famous people, that a lot was known about what Hitler was up to from the early 1920s through his becoming Chancellor.  Collins shows how just about every bad thing that has happened to this country in the last 40 years has the thumbprint of a Texan on it.

Gang-style militias were a constant key to Hitler's rise.  The German Democracy was a Parliamentary System, which made it easier for strong factions to topple governments and spark new elections.  The KKK in the United States, an organization that was used as a model by Hitler, has morphed into underground militias in this country, and to political factions like the Tea Party.  They have adopted what Gail Collins described as "knee in the groin" politics and infiltrated the branches of our government.  There also has been a proliferation of "rogue" para-military elements within the branches of our government that are secretive and un-regulated.  Collins also shows that  close-to-zero-regulation is also a facet of Texas-style governance.  Both Hitler and the current crop in the U.S. successfully linked their activities to "big business" and wealthy donors.

By Nagorski's telling, the German Jews felt they were of a higher class than Hitler's thugs, and viewed themselves as innately German.  One-way affiliation can be a dangerous thing, it seems.

Stay Vigilant!

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