Similarities Between the Holocaust and Current American Politics
I’m not trying to be dramatic here, but I see some similarities between the current political climate, the unrest, and some of the things being said by some politicians, particularly Trump and those groups who support him, that are very similar to what led up to World War II and the Holocaust. Just hear me out.
At the time when Hitler and the Nazi party were gaining power, there was a lot of unrest in the country. Germany was severely defeated in World War I, and things still weren’t going well for Germans. Hitler, as we know, was a very dynamic speaker, and he appealed to the people by promising that he could restore the country to its former greatness. You know, “make Germany great again?”
Hitler made some promises to the people in exchange for their support. They included restoring the country as a world power, restoring the economy, putting an end to political instability, and putting an end to violence. Sound familiar? Granted, both parties have addressed these things either directly or indirectly, but the candidates approach things in very different ways.
Harris talks hope, moving forward, and about what everyone deserves, and how the government needs to do better to make sure people have what they need, that Americans need more help. Trump, on the other hand, points fingers and attaches blame and states that the only way to fix things is to get rid of certain people, programs, etc. Harris is additive. She talks about what she wants to add to help Americans live a better life. Trump is subtractive, talking about everything and everyone he’s going to get rid of, so things will get better.
At the time Hitler was gaining power, less than 1% of Germany’s population was Jewish. As we all know, Hitler hated, persecuted, and murdered Jews throughout Europe, as he advanced, but before concentration camps, gas chambers, and the Holocaust, there were accusations, hatred, propaganda, and a severe pressure on the general population to conform. People were urged to hate Jews. The proclaimed inferiority and nastiness of Jews was taught in schools. Propaganda and lies were everywhere.
While Jews were the focus of the hatred being nurtured and spread, there were other groups who were also targeted. Over six million Jews were murdered by the end of the war, and an additional six million people belonging to other hated and targeted groups were also executed, including gypsies, the disabled (recall that Trump reportedly told his nephew that disabled people should just die), Slavic people, especially Poles and Russians, Blacks, communists, socialists, Jehovah Witnesses, gay men (I’m sure all members of what would eventually be called the LGBTQ+ community had there been the terminology), and Catholics. They were killed, because they were different, and it was said that they were a plague and a drag on society and didn’t deserve to live, as other people did.
Swing the spotlight back to today. Trump and those who support him have persecuted so many, including people who are “woke,” immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, non-Christians, minorities, teachers, childless women, women who seek abortions, doctors who provide services they are opposed to, parents of children who are different (trans), and the list goes on and on. Basically, the object of their ire amounts to anyone who is different than what these groups consider as normal and acceptable.
What stands out especially in this comparison are immigrants who have been lumped into a group which has been repeatedly and erroneously described as violent criminals, rapists, and mentally insane, and Trump guarantees to get rid of them. Mass deportation based on Eisenhower’s Operation Wetback, which did not stop illegal immigration, included legalAmericans who never should have been included in the roundups, and resulted in many deaths of those who were taken to the interior of Mexico and dropped off without any resources, including food, water, and shelter. They were packed into trains, buses, ships, and planes, not unlike the Jews who were shipped off to concentration camps. Like cattle. And, Trump guarantees that if we get rid of all these people, our lives will be better, our homes safer, our country greater, and our problems will be solved. Does this sound familiar?
Trump and his followers often say any problems illegal immigrants suffer are their own fault, their own doing. Without getting into the reasons behind why someone might be desperate enough to break the law and enter the country illegally, seeing pictures of children put into cages, families being separated, and the desperation so clearly on the faces of these people shouldmove a person toward compassion, sympathy, and empathy. I’m not saying to dismiss the fact that they are here illegally or even to let them stay, but I am saying that there should be an element of sorrow involved when you see people in these situations, and I have never heard one inkling that Trump has felt that. I don’t want someone like that in charge of the country.
Harris talks about bringing back and giving more power to the American people and strengthening personal rights and freedom. Trump talks about taking more power for himself. Project 2025 lays it out for him and for anyone else who cares to read it, including replacing non-Trump supporters with those who are Trump loyalists in government jobs and taking power away from the other branches of the government and giving it to the executive branch, or Trump, cancelling the checks and balances that were put into place when the country was founded. Trump wants total power, just like Hitler did.
Historians say that the Holocaust happened due to both active and passive participation. There is so much anger and accusation out there coming from Trump and his supporters, including Christian nationalists, MAGA people, and others. Project 2025 is full of ideas that take rights and freedoms away from other people, that control and force people to do things they don’t believe in or want to do, that marginalize and condemn people who are different than they are, and Trump is their choice for President to get these things done. Doesn’t that say something about the man?
I write about this, because I don’t want to be a proponent in passive participation. I don’t hate Trump, MAGA people, Christian nationalists, conservatives, Republicans, or anyone else. I don’t hate anybody. I don’t want to see any of these people come to harm, but neither do I want to stay silent and passive regarding what they want to do and who they want to persecute.
What Trump is saying, doing, and wants to accomplish is wrong. What Christian nationalists are trying to do in this country is wrong. What White supremacists in this country are trying to accomplish is wrong. And I see a lot of similarities between the time leading up to the Holocaust and now. I see a lot of similarities between Hitler and Trump (didn’t Trump have dinner with a neo-nazi and Kanye West, who admires Hitler?). I think it’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure it doesn’t progress any further, and that the attacks on people are stopped now, before they escalate any further and get out of hand.
Just like they did before the Holocaust.
Komentáře