In a narrower sense, the phrase above refers to the Holocaust and antisemitism. But it keeps on evolving and has been used by the students of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, for example, to demand gun control after a gunman took the lives of 17 students and staff in 2018. I’m using it in this wider sense, as a reminder to stand up against violence, prejudice, and authoritarianism.
Maybe the fact that I was born in Germany in 1946 has made me particularly sensitive to anything that smacks of fascism. And my flags are definitely up. Banned books. A propaganda machinery that would make Joseph Goebbels proud. Trans-gender phobia. Oh, any phobia an evangelical Christian might harbor: sexuality, refugees, homosexuality, socialism, free press. It’s interesting to notice that commie-fearing conservatives share many qualities with their communist counterparts; both groups are authoritarian and don’t value democracy.
Some people might think that banning books isn’t the same as burning books. That denying medical treatment to LGBTQ patients or transition-related care to trans kids isn’t the same as the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany or the possible murder of Dora Richter, the first known person to undergo gender-reassignment surgery. But it is the proverbial slippery slope, and these things happened because not enough people were sufficiently outraged to stop it earlier on. They just let it happen.
Recently I got an email from an old friend of mine who wanted to follow up about something I had written last July, Anti-Democratic SCOTUS And Fascism. I had mentioned that in my last year of highschool, when we were finally going to learn something about the Nazi time and the Holocaust, our teacher got sick. Is this similar to what is going on in some U.S. states now, outlawing and sometimes criminalizing teaching about slavery or racism, he wanted to know?
Do you know if Germany is still teaching about the holocaust? The supposed reasoning here is that children will feel that they personally are to blame and will feel guilt just for being white. How did you feel about what and when (grade level) you were taught?
Yes, the teacher got sick when she was supposed to teach about Nazis and the Holocaust. But it’s somewhat different from what is going on here, although I guess it has similar causes. I was in my 13th school year (that’s the number of years one had to go to school if one wanted to go to university) when our history class teacher was supposed to cover this topic. We had never before learned about any aspect of the recent Nazi time at school, ever. So, this was around 1964 or 1965, barely 20 years after the end of the war. The teacher got sick because she didn’t know how to handle this assignment. I think the grown-ups were simply too stunned to talk/think about it. Until the end of the war Germany was the greatest country in the world – or so they were made to believe. A really stupid notion, I bet there were many who didn’t buy into this, but I met people here who think the US is the greatest country in the world. All the MAGA-zombies buy into it, and their leader stokes that notion, just like Hitler did. EVERY pissy little nation has some people who think theirs is the greatest! Clearly, this makes it pretty obvious how dumb such a sentiment is. But some people believe it. Others ignore this.
And then in Germany, from one moment to the next, they were not the greatest nation but the pariah of the world, they lost the war, they were despised. So, they didn’t want to think about it, they tried to forget it, sweep it under the rug. And so much was in ruins. They tried to build everything back up as quickly as possible. Make it better than before. It was called the “Wirtschaftswunder” – the Economic Miracle.
My friend’s email caused something of an epiphany. I had NEVER found a truly satisfying answer for questions such as "HOW could you let this happen", and “WHY did you let this happen”, questions that plagued me ever since I learned about the Holocaust and the Nazi time. But living through our current political climate, now I know: it's because most people don’t like to think much and/or don't care enough. As simple as that! This was a rather shocking revelation.
I had always assumed that there must have been some special causes which allowed Hitler to rise. Some unique qualities in the minds of Germans and the sympathizers in other countries (there were plenty). The acceptance of authoritarianism was certainly one such quality; Germans tolerated the loss of civil liberties and the brutal suppression of any opposition. In the late Sixties I read Wilhelm Reich’s The Mass Psychology of Fascism, published in 1933 and promptly burnt by the Nazis. Reich claimed that the authoritarian family structure in Germany was the “reactionary germ cell” which supported and conserved the authoritarian, fascist state. This was the first acceptable answer to my WHY? and HOW? questions, although it wasn’t sufficient.
The missing part is rather shocking because it is so banal and common, not unique or special at all. The missing part is that people just let things happen. They don’t want to have their comfort zone disturbed, they don’t want to or can’t think of the consequences their complacency will have. Talk about awful…
It worries me, because presently we not only have to face rising right-wing authoritarianism in this country, but the repercussions of global climate change. And people don’t care; they keep eating meat because it tastes good, they keep flying around in private jets because it’s easy and fast, they keep throwing their empty soda cans out of the window when they’re driving down the road (at least here in New Mexico). Holy cow.
Should children learn about the evil and painful past of their country, or should they be protected from the truth because hearing about it might make them feel guilty? The better question would be, why SHOULD they feel guilty, when they had nothing to do with the past. Maybe this is some Christian notion, but it makes absolutely no sense to feel guilty for something you didn’t commit. Or maybe it has to do with an over-identification with the country one lives in, akin to nationalism. However, it is important to be aware of the history which is almost always ugly, no matter what country. Whether it’s slavery, the Cultural Revolution, Hiroshima, Stalin’s gulags, or concentration camps in Germany – it needs to be remembered. I believe German kids learn about the Nazi time and the Holocaust extensively.
Okay, I promise next week I’ll write something about some sweet animals. In the meantime, if you want to watch something lovely, check out the Decorah Eagles Cam in Decorah, Iowa – an almost six-weeks-old eaglet is getting bigger every day. What a delight to watch.
Thanks, Jessica, for the enlightening article. We need factual reminders and truth tellers to spur us on in this era of division and intimidation. Thank you also for the eagle cam ending. I lived in Decorah for 20 years and knew the people who set up the Raptor Resource Project. It is a wonderful success story both uplifting and inspiring.
another thing that puzzles me in addition to all those you mentioned above is why intelligent homo sapiens (the wise people) prefer to believe stories and myths instead of available and obvious evidence (facts and stuff) we either need to get with it or change our scientific name / that's really dumb