Dad You Were Right, The Holocaust Can Happen Again

The usual reaction when there is any comparison to NAZI Germany is to say “don’t go there”, but I will.

I am the son of 2 Holocaust survivors. My father’s entire family was killed in concentration camps. My mother’s family except for one of her sisters, who left Poland in the early 1930’s, were also killed.

My parents came to the United States in 1950 and I was born here in 1952. In my house growing up there was an undertone of fear. This was generated by both my parents who always lived telling me, “Do not think it can’t happen again.” When I insisted that we live in the United States and told them in typical 60’s arrogant teenage style, “No way could the persecution of people happen here.”

Years later I realize that I should be taking a more detailed look at what I thought was my parents’ paranoia.

Historic comparisons in many instances start small. In 1920 few in Germany thought that the NAZI party would become the ruling party of Germany in the 1930’s. In 1923 the Nazi’s staged an attempted coup known as the Munich Putsch. While unsuccessful it was a signal that Nazism was a force that needed to be paid attention to. Is it wrong to compare the January 6th insurrection to this failed coup?

By 1932 the Nazi party had gained enough traction to garner 30% of the vote. In 1933 Hitler was made Chancellor of Germany. In 1938 Kristallnacht occurred. This was the night that Jewish homes, hospitals, schools, businesses were attacked and destroyed. Over 250 synagogues were demolished as were over 7,000 Jewish businesses. 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.

Does any of the following sound familiar? The Nazi party believed in Aryanism. This was the belief that if you weren’t of Aryan descent, you were a lesser class person, restricted in the ability to vote and were not wanted in Germany. Remind you of the white supremacists in this country who scream “Jews will not replace us”, or harass Asian Americans and other minorities, put restrictive measures in place to control the vote of minorities so one party can control the government?

We cannot ignore QAnon and pray and hope it disappears. We cannot ignore government leaders who describe the January 6th insurrection as just a normal tourist day in the capitol. We cannot say that attacks on a Pittsburgh synagogue is a rare occasion and do not need to be concerned by what it signifies. Can we stand by and not realize that the voter laws being instituted in states is really intended to restrict people’s ability to vote?

I wish my Dad was here so I could apologize for not listening, as I should have, because he was right It can happen again.