2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: This is horrific. A nightmare. Please, God, deliver us from this Demon [View all]redStateBlueHeart
(265 posts)Partially inspired by the events of this election season. I began my research not being able to wrap my head around it; thinking how in God's name anything like that could happen, especially in a first world country. I wanted to understand what people felt about Hitler's rise to power and if anyone "saw" it coming. The short answer is that no one, of course, "saw it coming" in terms of gas chambers, enslavement and genocide...but a few people did identify him as a warmongerer from the beginning. It starts out with a charismatic figure peddling a populist agenda while stoking latent discontent, mistrust and rage.
I've read many first-hand accounts of Jews and non-Jewish Germans who lived in Germany before and after his coming to power, Kristallnacht and during the war...read about the Nuremberg Trials. After some time I realized it could easily happen again...here. And the authoritarians among us, who I feel are a sizable group, will welcome it with open arms.