On May 8th, 1945, the Third Reich surrendered. Our local paper recalled an amazing event. Parallels?

[DFW]

When the American army arrived in the town where I now live, the commander was made aware of a war crime committed by local Gestapo and Düsseldorf police on April 6th. With the newly named mayor of our town, he heard the details about a war crime committed less than two weeks before our town surrendered. Ten men and one woman who were part of the forced labor force here were taken out to a nearby forest and summarily executed, their bodies crudely buried in the dirt. They had been from Russia, Poland and the Netherlands.

The killers had been identified by the population, and the American commander, instead of just jailing or shooting them (no idea if any of that happened later), forced them, with the town's population watching, to go back to the site of their crime, dig up the bodies of their victims with the bare hands, and help bury them in places of honor at the big Catholic church in the center of town. No doubt some or all were seething with hate as they did it, but the whole town was watching as they did, as was the American occupying force. They had NO choice. No one knows if any of them felt any shame or remorse. Since this happened some six weeks after their crime, I suspect not.

As an intentional bit of irony, the building that housed the local Gestapo HQ was turned into the Anne Frank Elementary School, where my own daughters attended over four decades later.

That these monsters felt they had the right to commit such a crime when it was obvious that the war would be over for them within weeks (and that they would lose), is just incomprehensible today. OR IS IT?

I look at the destruction and corruption being attempted by Trump's administration even now, when they know they might be facing hostile grand juries a year from now, and they just don't care. It just doesn't seem to bother them in the slightest that what they are doing is destructive to our democracy, our planet, our rights, and our health. How can this be so? Think of the Gestapo right here in my town that went out and executed eleven forced laborers when it was obvious that they would be called out for their crime as soon as the Allies took their town over. The Russians were pouring in from the East, so there was nowhere to run. And yet, they did it anyway.

So it will be with us and the Trumpanzees. They will leave our society in ruins if we let them, and they will face their fate without remorse if we prosecute them. Well, fuck it, so let's prosecute them anyway. Let's humiliate them like the Gestapo killers in my town were humiliated in 1945. Even if they don't care, at least future generations will see that WE cared. At the Anne Frank school, the kids who go there haven't the faintest idea what the name of the old Gestapo commander was. Nor do I. On the other hand, they ALL learn about the life of Anne Frank and who she was. It is said that the victors write the history books. I would be happy to contribute to the history books written about the sickening Trump years.

In the years after the war, the occupying forces kept a wary eye out to help with their damage control, of course, so that it really got done. If we are successful in de-electing Trumppence in November, the danger is not past. The forces of evil, from McConnell to Republican governors, to bought Republican state legislatures, to big money polluters to corrupt judges installed by Trump, will try to thwart a Biden administration at every step. I wonder who will keep a watchful eye over OUR damage control, so that it really gets done?

[Behind the Aegis]

1. Thanks for this. I was wondering when I read...

This German far-right lawmaker once called Nazi era mere ‘bird shit.’ Now he says Nazis’ surrender shouldn’t be a national holiday.

The same far-right politician in Germany who called the Nazi era mere “bird shit” in 1,000 years of German history said the day of the Nazis’ World War II surrender should not be turned into a public holiday, as per a proposal from the head of the Auschwitz Committee in Germany.

The statement by Alexander Gauland, who heads the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany faction in the Bundestag, has drawn sharp criticism from Jewish leaders and mainstream politicians in Germany.

Asked his opinion on the holiday proposal, Gauland told the German news agency RND that Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945, was not viewed in the same way by all Germans.

more...

I really am concerned with the last few months leading up to this election. There is WAAAAAAY too much damage which can be done.

[DFW]

3. Gauland is a despised POS here in Germany who is contending with splits in his own extremist party

It is true that May 8th is not a holiday here, and there is some justification for that. It would be sort of like the Japanese making August 6th a holiday. It is a day of remembrance--not one for the instigating nation to celebrate, but rather to contemplate.

World War II was, in part, made possible by unnecessary humiliation of Germany by the victorious allies after World War I. Marshall realized this, and instead, after World War II, decided it was smarter to make a new Germany from scratch rather than put bandaids on the old one.

As a side note, a classmate of my younger daughter once told me, over 20 years ago, that the worst thing the Nazis ever did to her (born in 1985, remember) was to make it impossible for her to ever feel proud to be a German. This, I thought, was an incredibly insightful observation from a 14 year old whose parents weren't even born when the war ended. The emotional wound cut very deep.

[Celerity]

8. Bjorn Hocke and Andreas Kalbitz are even worse

Der Flügel is a clear and present danger.

very easy to picture these two in full Sicherheitsdienst uniform

[DFW]

9. Those two are from the nut case wing for sure

The only purpose they serve is to keep the AfD divided

[Celerity]

11. I was quite happy to see Frauke Petry's Die blaue Partei go up in flames last year

[DFW]

12. The Corona virus will really play into these people's hands

The radical right LOVES unemployment, because those who can't find a job are often vulnerable to being told it's someone else's fault. It's what they want to hear, and makes them easy to recruit. It doesn't matter if it's Mexicans or "corporatists." As long as there's SOMEONE to blame, people will listen. The first one to tell them that convincingly takes the brass ring--the angry and the disaffected are your followers for life.

[Celerity]

13. +100000

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. You have seen the parallels most vividly and now we see them too.

Well done!

We will certainly need watchdogs keeping a close eye on our damage control. Otherwise, it just won't happen and will disappear into the dustbin of history.

Thank you for this most excellent post.

K&R

[DFW]

4. Our local paper ran a photo of the burial at the church

It was taken from a far-away rooftop by a Dutch photographer, who was himself an involuntary worker "recruit" from 1942 to 1945.

That's what reminded me of the event, an prompted me to write the OP. Sorry if it got a little long-winded!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. I don't think it was at all long-winded!

You gave historical details that really brought the story to life.

It was very well written!

[DFW]

6. I didn't count the letters

But I'm fairly certain it wouldn't fit in a tweet............

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. And that's a good thing, lol!

[JudyM]

27. No, it's very interesting. Thank you.

[uponit7771]

10. THIS !!! 👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽 "Well, fuck it, so let's prosecute them anyway." because its the right thing

... to do and makes sure people see there will be consequences for their stupidity

[Mr.Bill]

14. We should bury the corona virus casualties

on Trump's golf courses. In much the same spirit that Arlington National Cemetery is literally in Robert E. Lee's yard.

[Tech]

17. Taken through eminent domain. I think it would be apropo.

[ffr]

15. It's probably why tRump/McConnell are stacking the courts with unqualified buddies.

A year from now, they'll be asked to return the favor.

[DFW]

16. We'll just have to hope

Maybe the fangs won't release their poison if the glands supplying them are dry?

[bucolic_frolic]

18. I have doubts that it's repairable

You're right. A lot of holes in the law and even the Constitution have been gaped open. Recommitting to the Rule of Law, and plugging holes and reversing theft will create a lot of screaming. And the economy will be in a shambles. More consumption to create more jobs and you're right back where you started. Because the market was going to crash with or without COVID-19. War and unity are not natural to Democrats to say the least. Voters have to flip Congress and be patient with results.

Your analogy is exact, but this is Friendly Fascism that sparks less fear and less outrage. But it's the same old Nazis.

[patphil]

19. I was really taken aback by your comments on the Anne Frank Elementary School.

My daughter did a semester of study abroad from her college, and attended the Schiller Institute in Heidelberg, Germany in a building that was the Gestapo Headquarters there. The
Americans didn't bomb the building since they wanted to use is as their HQ when they liberated the city, which they did.
The building still bears the pock marks of rifle fire from the war. Scars that reminded all of the horrors of Nazi Germany.

Our nation will also bear scars of the occupation by the Trump crime family and his legislative and judicial collaborators for decades to come.

[Boomerproud]

20. Beautifully written post.

Tragic that those who need to hear those reflections the most never will.

[lastlib]

24. A most incisive epistle, DFW! On the money!

tRump has everything to apologize for, but will apologize for nothing! He must be publicly and brutally humiliated, and made a symbol of abject failure and evil, just as Mussolini was. Hanging upside-down form a public lamp-post doesn't sound like a bad idea in his case, but I would feel for the lamp-post and the rope.

[cojoel]

21. After the last Republican administration the criminal perpetrators got off easy

This time we must give no quarter. We must make sure this kind of thing doesn't ever come back.

[JudyM]

28. If only. I will continue hoping.

“Moving on” seems to be more appealing, though in the long run, as we’ve seen, far less pragmatic.

[live love laugh]

22. To them it's not "our" democracy--it's theirs alone and objectors don't belong

Fascism 101.

"It just doesn't seem to bother them in the slightest that what they are doing is destructive to our democracy, our planet, our rights, and our health. How can this be so?"

[Initech]

23. Here's the difference - the Nazis surrendered.

The Trumpsters will *NEVER* surrender. They have 3 24/7 news channels and a network of some 400 AM hate radio stations, *AND* the clergy, all spewing a carefully coordinated network of propaganda convincing them that they're right and everyone else who doesn't agree with them 100% is wrong.

Even if we win a solid majority in 2020 it's going to take a hell of a lot to untangle this complicated web that they've weaved. They're a cult, and a dangerous one at that. It's going to take a hell of a lot to deprogram that cult.

[DFW]

25. It's too big to be de-programmed against its will

Last edited Tue May 12, 2020, 02:29 AM - Edit history (1)

It will have be a gradual process in which its adherents slowly disengage on their own. This won't happen overnight, and it won't happen at all as long as the fascist media has free rein to indoctrinate as it pleases.

As in Germany, if we are to free ourselves of this cancer, even a free press can not be permitted to broadcast every lie and hate message it feels it can get away with. It is a perilous task to impede that, as any future right wing regime can call a station like MSNBC a liar as well, and shut it down if the laws permit that, and the presiding judge is in their pocket. Any legislature that tries to come with laws that can't subsequently be turned against them is walking on egg shells.

[rwsanders]

26. Bush/Reagan/Nixon all got by with their crimes because

subsequent administrations didn't prosecute to the full extent of the law for the "good of the country".
They are also trying to commit so many crimes and destroy so many laws and institutions, that it will take years to unravel barring interference. And of course there will be plenty of interference.

[CaptainTruth]

29. "Even if they don't care, at least future generations will see that WE cared." - Very well said.

[soldierant]

30. "Even if they don't care, at least future generations will see that WE cared."

And there you have it.
And "Future generations" today starts with those who will be born tomorrow.

Hell, I'm 74. And waiting and hoping to be able to see evidence that WE care.

[FrankTC]

31. Either It Never Happened or Those Other People Did It

First line of defensive denial: Nothing to see here folks. The holocaust is fake news. Jews invented that myth in order to justify Zionism. Lots of Nazis were very fine people. Likewise, liberals concocted the Steele dossier. It wasn't Russia, it was Ukraine. Coronavirus deaths are exaggerated by the lamestream media in order to make Trump look bad. He's doing a good job in difficult circumstances. Nobody could do any better.

Second line of defensive denial: Yeah, Ok, some Nazis were bad, but we're not them. As in the film The Nasty Girl (Das Schreckliche Maedchen), we all resisted. We were never on board with that holocaust thing. Liberals are conflating the Republican party with Trumpism. We're just standing up for the rights of the common man.

If American democracy survives the flimflam man and his wrecking crew, we'll need a Truth Commission (not too sure about the Reconciliation part) and ongoing efforts at de-Trumpification (de-Nazification), and even then the long-term prognosis will be guarded.

[DFW]

32. The Republicans will become the new East Germans

When the "socialist" state of East Germany (the DDR) was set up by the Soviets, the official line was that the Soviet occupied Zone had been cleansed of Nazis, and therefore no de-Nazification program was necessary. What the Soviets were doing, of course, was the same thing the west was doing--taking the lowest profile Nazis and using them for their own purposes in their respective new German states. Each had their truly non-Nazi figureheads, of course. Willy Brandt of the future West Germany and Markus Wolf of the future East Germany both fled the Nazis and spent the war outside of their reach. But the ranks of the nuts-and-bolts people were full of former Nazis. They were just too numerous for that not to be the case.

But while the West acknowledged their guilt and complicity and tried to make amends, the East just said "what Nazis? No Nazis here, nosiree!" And so, when the people of East German finally said "enough!" and a degree of free speech returned to the now-former DDR, what area of the new united Germany had the greatest percentage of rightist extremism? Why, the "socialist" east, of course. Instead of confronting them, the socialists preferred to sweep the name under the rug, and imitate them, instead. The Secret State Police became the Ministry for State Security. The Wehrmacht became the Nationale Volksarmee, keeping even the goose step and the uniforms, changing only the helmets and the insignia. All the latent neo-Nazi sentiment that the socialists never bothered to take decades to educate out of their people rose right back to the surface, and is now even legitimized. Before the Wall fell, there was a small movement in the west organized by an ex-SS officer, Franz Schönhuber, called, appropriately enough, "Die Republikaner." That fizzled and went nowhere. Now, there is a new movement called the Alternative for Germany (AfD), who has been much better at hiding behind the rules of Democracy, grating only occasionally against laws forbidding anything resembling Nazism. They have been gathering a frightening number of votes, especially in the former east.

When Trump and Barr are just unpleasant memories, the Republicans in the USA will do just as the East German Nazis did. Trump(Hitler)? Never heard of him. No fans of his in these parts. Just true patriots. No one HERE ever wore one of those stupid red baseball caps, no way, no how. Nope, not us. You must be talking about someone else, someplace else. Mexican strawberry pickers willing to work for $5 an hour? Love 'em! Briing them on!

[mountain grammy]

33. What a story..

the pure evil of it all and the humiliation of the killers, so rare, real justice. Also fine if they were shot later.

Trump is insane of course, so we'll get no justice and we're way too used to that. No justice, no accountability. Definitely time for that to change.

Then your last post in this thread about the Nazis in East Germany.. excellent post. Damn fascists never go away. Now I won't sleep well.

[DFW]

34. No, they never go away. But they do go into hibernation when the climate is hostile to them

A climate hostile to neo-Nazis is one under which a great majority of people can lead a decent life, but don't get complacent. A radical right has an easy road to power if people are either very unsatisfied or so complacent, they let anything happen, listen to anyone who is able to convince them that the bogey man is coming to take their comfortable lives from them. The Republican Party holds the lifetime achievement award in that category.

Hitler came to power during a time of real hardship, and Reagan came to power in a time of relative hardship. Eisenhower, Nixon, Bush (I and II) and Trump all came to power during relatively good times by convincing large numbers of people that somehow, someone was coming to take their lives away from them. First, it was "kommanists." Then it was "Willie Horton." Then it was the "libbruls." Now, it's Mexicans and towel-heads. The fact is that Truman, Johnson, Clinton and Obama left the country in pretty good shape (Vietnam notwithstanding), despite the fact that Clinton and Obama were confronted with a lot of economic damage control to contend with.

Actually, JFK/LBJ barely squeaked in, because Eisenhower didn't do such a horrible job--it's just that Nixon was such an odious figure. He had to have some serious work done on him to beat Humphrey in 1968, and even then, he needed his "Dirty Tricks Team" to pull it off. Nixon was so unsure of himself, he had his Watergate burglars doing dirty work that was totally unnecessary for his re-election in 1972, for which he was already a shoo-in. Instead of acting as extra insurance, they became his eventual undoing, leading him to engage in corruption so blatant that resignation was his only option when it was exposed.

Times have changed, of course. Republican corruption under Trump has far surpassed Nixon's, Reagan's and even Cheney's. Instead of feeling shame when it is exposed, they don't even bother to conceal it. Quite the opposite: they wear it proudly as a badge of achievement.

Only during Obama's time in office did the American radical right not go underground. McTurtle and his obsession with making Obama a one-term president, and then denying him every appointment he could, even the Supreme Court, as revenge for having been convincingly elected twice. Maybe THIS time, since Trump was SO bad and SO corrupt, they will take cover again for a while.

Either that, or they will somehow find a way to steal this election as well, and with it, seal the fate of the great American experiment to the point where January 20, 2017 will be listed in the history books as the end of it.