Copyright © 2020 The purpose of this article is not to incite, but to educate; not to politicize, but to inform. History is cyclical. Why? Perhaps it is in the human character, buried deep within our DNA. Or we believe if we eradicate the past, somehow the ghosts will stay buried. We are experiencing this momentum on our town squares, in our classrooms, within our curriculum. Restricting knowledge in any form is a dangerous path. It can't happen here is a tired cliché. Anything can happen anywhere at any time. Even in the land of liberty. Let's take a walk and see what we discover. If this image offends you, good, it is meant to. This symbol should shower you with disgust, fear. Banishing these Third Reich items from the open market is short-sighted. They need to remain center stage, reminders of past mistakes, of what can go wrong when humanity fails, in the hope we never fall into such ignorance again. The first thing a totalitarian regime does...is confiscation of history Lack of focus ruined his days. Insomnia destroyed his nights. Paul von Hindenburg remained seated in the presidential chair listening to the chamber's chatter. His weariness wasn't just from the day, or the week. His fatigue was from aging. His lifetime commitment to God and country in his military and political careers should have gifted him a comfortable bed. Now in his eighties, he was too old to fight, too forgetful to negotiate. Where were the young idealists who could secure Germany's future? Eyes half closed, he stared at the ambitious man before him. Here was an unwanted shadow promising the country hope but portending destruction. His devil's stare spoke volumes. He had grown into a political force impossible to deny. How blind the masses were. From the Nazi book, Deutfchland erwacht, translated as Germany Awakens, 1933. Illustrated with photographs by Heinrich Hoffmann. Heinrich and Adolf were close friends. The photographer and his wife owned a photo shop. One of their employees was a young girl named Eva Braun. His entry was paved with mayhem and chaos, feeding on a populace who misread his intentions, his ascendancy assisted by his bullying paramilitary, SA, nicknamed Brownshirts. Germany's streets were filled with organized looting, burning, murder. How could this behavior benefit anyone? All who defied him were crushed. A mass hysteria protected zealotry. And there the president sat, the only pawn to Hitler's bishop. Hitler & President Paul von Hindenburg. Adolf Hitler had publicly supported President von Hindenburg, even though the president had defeated Hitler in the 1932 presidential election. But this setback didn't dissuade the future dictator. It empowered him. He recognized the feebleness before him. It was an advantage, not a setback. The ruse continued. Photographs captured their time together in cordial companionship. But look closer, especially at the insincerity in Hitler's smile, the disgust on von Hindenburg's lips. In private Hitler seethed. He manipulated and connived the democratic system until von Hindenburg was mired in a political box. Nurturing the moment to fruition, Adolf Hilter seized power on Paul von Hindenburg's grave, rebranding himself as Führer. In that instant democracy died along with individual freedom and liberty. Something about this scenario sounds so familiar... Adolf Hitler may have been crazy, but he was no fool. He knew exactly what he wanted. He defunded the police, reforming the organization into the Gestapo. The group was given unchecked powers. They could do what they wanted to whomever they wanted as civil liberties evaporated. The unthinkable became mainstream. False criminal charges abounded. Cold-blooded murder equalized all who resisted. Reason was trashed as mania was awakened. Defenseless, the citizenry cowered. With parliamentary rule compromised, the only way out was escape. But it was too late. Now there were no choices, only directives. The old political trick of scapegoating, refocussing the population on selected groups, was alive and well. The Jews were the primary target, but many more fell into this category. Bordering nationalities, gypsies, anyone the Third Reich deemed expendable. A trick as timeless as tyrants. Hitler's SA, the Brownshirts. His early band of thugs beat Hitler's path to absolute power. Once gained, Hitler compromised, or "defunded" them in what history calls - Night of the Long Knives. It can't happen here? America, are you reading the graffiti? Freedom of the press and speech were banned. The news was fake, contrived and twisted to support Nazi dogma. A contrary viewpoint guaranteed loss of job. Vanishing input accelerated systemic stalemate. The slightest comment against Nazis could end up in imprisonment, or an early grave. Political correctness became de rigueur. Personal envy, hate, and vengeance fueled this dilemma. I am going to turn you in was on the lips of every warmonger. Old vendettas reappeared as neighbor turned against neighbor. Families were destroyed by differing political opinions. No one could talk about the issues. Even children were encouraged to speak against their parents, or Turn Them In. Hey America, how was your Christmas last year? Or Thanksgiving? The Burning of the Books, May 10, 1933, a Hitler-Jugend sponsored evening. Where books are burned, in the end people will be burned. Adolf Hitler also banned the Boy Scouts. The only alternative for young men, and women, became the Hitler-Jugend, Hitler Youth. The youngsters camped, exercised, and learned all the skills necessary to join the German army when they became of age. But these camps had a greater purpose. Indoctrination. While the children marched for their future, subversiveness followed each footstep. Nothing neutralizes a country like removing children from their homes, dehumanizing the family unit. If a child resisted the call, other active members had the license to beat them, without consequence. It was institutionalized insanity. Still today, one of their commanding performances was book burning. Again, this was not a spontaneous action, but a carefully planned orchestration. Students met with their teachers to decide which books should be destroyed. Those not supporting their viewpoint, of course. Thomas Mann. Ernest Hemingway. The Holy Bible. All those villanous volumes representing open thought, an essential ingredient in a free society. On May 10, 1933, in cities and towns across Germany, a book burning ritual was held. There, on town squares, amid cheers and joy, literature was lit. There was one comfort. It was a cool evening, the warmth felt inviting. Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I fear no evil... August 1, 2020. Portland, Oregon. Protestors burn Bibles and the American flag. The crowd, youthful. The mood. Festive. Evil rests furtively, disguised under the best intentions. And so, the world continues to revolve. This bouillabaisse we call home has weathered so many storms. Still, the framework of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights protects us all. Beware the person promising rewrites. There is no one alive today who is qualified to touch these remarkable documents. In this, there can be no compromise. Doors open at 8 AM. Auction starts at 9 AM. PA AU1265L [bb]
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and confiscation of culture.
Author Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran.Eve of Destruction
The eyes have it.He Who Casts the First Stone
Phone Berlin! You can't say Master Race
July 13th, 2020. Opinion Editor Bari Weiss resigns the New York Times citing bullying by her colleagues who did not accept her published viewpoint. Get it? She was the Opinion Editor.Where do the Children Play?
German poet Heinrich Heine, 1821