Posted on 12/31/2011 12:17:31 AM PST by nickcarraway
When University of Chicago professor William Dodd assumed the post of U.S. ambassador to Germany in 1933, he hoped for an undemanding position that would allow him spare time to write a book.
At the time, few in the United States or Europe considered then-Chancellor Adolf Hitler a serious threat, and few expected him to remain in power long. Dodd was no exception, says Erik Larson, author of In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin.
Having studied in Germany as a college student in the 1890s, Dodd began his term as ambassador with "a predisposition to like the Germans and to like Germany," Larson tells NPR's Jennifer Ludden.
He arrived in Berlin, Larson says, with "almost a deliberate desire — deliberate objectivity, let's say — to view things as objectively as possible, without prejudging."
But over the subsequent four years, the Dodd family grew uneasy as they watched Hitler consolidate his power and impose increasingly severe restrictions on Germany's Jewish population.
Matters came to head as Dodd clashed with the Nazi Party and the State Department and eventually resigned over the failure of officials back home to recognize the threat the Nazis posed.
I love the NPR’s lack of acknowledgment of the Executive Order in Chief. If the tool get’s a second term they’re the first to go when they have to show their id on every corner and throw their fit and scream for a lawyer. Dumass’ writ large.
I fail to see how a simple overview of a book about the pre-war conditions in Germany, needs to somehow draw parallels to current events - or re you refering to NPR in general?
But over the subsequent four years, the Dodd family grew uneasy as they watched Hitler consolidate his power and impose increasingly severe restrictions on Germany’s Jewish population.
I was simplisticaly comparing Hitler’s actions to our current situation.
The National Defense Authorization Act is a case in point.
I got it. And I agree. There is a substantial chunk of incongruity in this article because so many people did not read the encroaching signs — then and now.
And despite the lack of uniforms (except for the SEIU) what’s really the difference in attitude between Germany’s SA in Hitler’s early years and say and a typical roomful of Obama voters? A lot of people were attracted to the NAZI movement in the beginning because so much of it was social policies, the flags and uniforms may have already started, but nobody took them seriously at that point.
Heck, if you think about it... Did Hitler’s antisemitism start big, or did it grow slowly over a period of years? And, let’s be honest about this, there is a large segment of the Liberal population that is antisemitic, which they mask using sympathy for the Palestinians.
History is repeating itself, at this stage in the cycle, anyhow. Whether we will continue downhill into the very bad stages that are manifestly on the horizon, or we break free with another Reagan revolution — the next election will decide.
A don’t think we’ll get another chance before the situation gets so bad that even replacing a President won’t stop the slide.
Yes, the end-game is now in play. But it’s not political, its religious. The religion that the true founders of this country ran from is making it’s final play, using a barbaric culture as it’s spear-head. God help us because these people are the ultimate savages.
You lost me. What religion were the founders running from?
The Pilgrims and the Quakers left Britain to escape the Church of England. That church seems pretty toothless now.
Catholics and Jews fled all of Europe to come here for religious freedom and were part of the founding generation.
So you have me at a loss as to your meaning.
America has become a primarily secular population. Nothing more dangerous than a man/woman who believes in nothing. Theyll do anything on a whim.
...”History is repeating itself, at this stage in the cycle, anyhow. Whether we will continue downhill into the very bad stages that are manifestly on the horizon, or we break free with another Reagan revolution — the next election will decide.
A don’t think we’ll get another chance before the situation gets so bad that even replacing a President won’t stop the slide”...
Sadly, unless God himself acts to stop it, I believe we are destined to repeat Nazi history and worse. Evil has triumphed in America in our politics, in our media, and in academia..Affluence for too long has allowed it to take hold in a very diabolical way. Unfortunately, when people are too comfortable and do not have to worry too much about the basics, they get bored and then, they get into trouble from the pleasure seeking. Drug use, also, I believe, is a huge factor. Drugs cause people to feel untouchable and powerful. When large numbers of them in the ruling classes and in our institutions act on those feelings of invincibility, they have no compunctions about overturning our laws “helter-skelter,” and that term will end up being the fate of the majority of us if things do not change and change quickly. I hesitate to say these things, but I have seen a lot and I have been a student of human behavior..The lust for power is an evil thing and if not stopped will end in great mourning. Having said all this, I still have hope that the God I believe in and serve will act if enough of us pray and do whatever else we can to make our views known and to help our neighbors who have already begun to suffer greatly. Evil may triumph for a season. However, we know what happens at the end of the story.
Or, they can be driven to do anything if the right pressures are applied by someone a little more influential or a little more hard-core than they themselves are.
That is exactly what is happening. It’s an old tool.
Brandt Hardin (BrandtHardin) wrote:So basically, he is saying that if Hitler were alive today and living in Madison he would be an NPR supporter and a member of OWS.Hitler was just a misunderstood artist. Rejection is the most brutal of human conditions and young Adolf underwent the metamorphosis into the monster of our historical lore by his rejection from art school. See him his happiest and read all about it at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2010/02/happy-little-hitler.html
I don’t find that hard to believe at all.
Were you raised on Jack Chick tracts?
Great link, thanks.
You fail to see how a leader consolidates power and progressively erodes the constitutional safeguards against tyranny relavant? Really?
I read “In the Garden of Beasts,” and found it interesting; I learned a lot about pre-WW2 Germany that I did not know.
More interesting here were the comments; they also told me a lot - about the ones making the comments.
As Julius Caesar is supposed to have said to Cleopatra, “Always listen to your women (no sexism intended, just quoting). They will tell you much - about themselves.”
I have just started to read Mein Kampf which was written in the early 1920’s-one can see a pretty strong thread of
antisemitism through out the book.
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