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Today is #HolocaustMemorialDay 
, at least in the UK. 6 million Jews were executed by the Nazi regime, along with 11 million others. Today at 7pm there will be an online service to remember them.
The Nazis ended at the Final Solution, but they didn't start there.
, at least in the UK. 6 million Jews were executed by the Nazi regime, along with 11 million others. Today at 7pm there will be an online service to remember them.The Nazis ended at the Final Solution, but they didn't start there.
They started with roads. With social clubs for German workers. With companies that worked to serve the people, like Volkswagen, and with electoral reform.
Things like these don't happen fast. They trickle. Drip, drip, drip.
They happen in times of stress and uncertainty.
Things like these don't happen fast. They trickle. Drip, drip, drip.
They happen in times of stress and uncertainty.
Before the Nazis, Germany was a thriving and relatively progressive democracy, the Weimar Republic. Both men and women could vote! It was a place of thriving culture, the jazz scene was huge. Built on the wreckage of the ultra-conservative Prussian days, a bright new country -
- was emerging.
It's development was dashed by the great depression. The economy collapsed, and many blamed America. Lots of people were angry, and this was fertile ground for political change.
It's development was dashed by the great depression. The economy collapsed, and many blamed America. Lots of people were angry, and this was fertile ground for political change.
The moderate parties slowly lost ground, as people drifted into camps. Communists defined themselves as anti fascists, fascists defined themselves as anti communists. If you didn't pick a side, you were weak. In the end, Hitler's party never got more than 33% of the vote.
But in that economic chaos, he was someone who could see a way to build a path through, to rally people to his vision... with horrific results.
It's a pertinent lesson for our own time, which is similarly gripped by angst. People are increasingly looking for extreme -
It's a pertinent lesson for our own time, which is similarly gripped by angst. People are increasingly looking for extreme -
- solutions to our problems. It's a dangerous road to take, because you never know where your leaders will go. The best you can do is look at their personalities, not their policies, because once in government, policies can change in an instant.
