one of the most important considerations is to learn from history to avoid repeating its mistakes.

i think people think "it can't happen here" for many reasons, among them that hitler and nazi germany seem so over-the-top as to be consigned to a sick fantasy land, nothing we do here could be anything like that. focus on things like the odd mustache, the distinctive salute, the armbands, etc.

people forget that hitler appealed to peoples' pride and patriotism, something that sounds good anywhere.
people forget that they didn't use magic or fantasy equipment, they used ordinary tools, such as, well, a simple telephone.

we need such reminders.



*fyi, my mother was smuggled out of austria, through germany, and into belgium after the anschluss but before the invasion of poland. she was then smuggled out of belgium sometime during the 8 months between the invation of poland and the invasion of belgium. most of my relatives on that side of the family never made it out.

it was (and still is) a very sharp contrast, though, with my father's side. his parents each had 7 siblings, so i've got a crazy number of cousins and great aunts and once-removed this and that and so on. can't keep 'em all straight!

Too many have tried to "all lives matter" the Shoah. We need to make sure our descendants see even the office junk of that evil. They must see it and remember. And seeing even small things like this will remind them that this was a true, real, earthly evil that the world chose to ignore and turn its collective back on.

I agree.

Sadly, we just saw the "president" minimize the Holocaust. It is so disgusting to see anti-Semitism get such a platform as disgusting as it to see that shit come from this side of the fence.