Great article. As an American of Jewish decent, I am shocked at how much support there is within Israel for Netanyahu's policies (even though the man himself is quite unpopular). The peace movement (which I keep track of) is completely sidelined and derided. Reports of atrocities are not believed.
I went there on business in 2001 and the siege mentality there needs to be experienced first hand to really comprehend it.
Thank you, Seth! Happy to hear that. I write on this topic gingerly because it is not always straightforward what the reaction will be or if I will unintentionally offend people, given my excellent record in getting misunderstood.
Not a date explicitly but implicitly: "Weimar Germany didn’t just target Jews — it came for Roma, for gay men, for the disabled, for political dissidents, for anyone the state decided was less than." All of those actions were taken by the Third Reich, not by the Weimar Republic. Really Nazi or the Third Reich should be substituted for Weimar. The Republic died in 1933 when Hitler assumed the dictatorship.
This might be a quibble, but my late father fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and I inherited his life long study of the Third Reich, why and how it happened. In the early days of the Internet I continued that by helping to combat Holocaust denial which is still very much a thing.
Combating Holocaust denial is often fruitless because what you consider a reliable source doesn't match theirs, so evidence doesn't work. The simplest answer is perhaps that Germans aren't idiots — they'd defend themselves instead of silently accepting an embarrassing history.
It's not only for sentimental reasons: since 1952, the German government has paid more than $90 billion ($150–200 billion inflation-adjusted) in indemnification to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. Germany agreed to pay more than $1.4 billion to Holocaust survivors in 2024 alone.
Great article. As an American of Jewish decent, I am shocked at how much support there is within Israel for Netanyahu's policies (even though the man himself is quite unpopular). The peace movement (which I keep track of) is completely sidelined and derided. Reports of atrocities are not believed.
I went there on business in 2001 and the siege mentality there needs to be experienced first hand to really comprehend it.
A small correction, Weimar ended in 1933.
Thank you, Seth! Happy to hear that. I write on this topic gingerly because it is not always straightforward what the reaction will be or if I will unintentionally offend people, given my excellent record in getting misunderstood.
I just noticed your last sentence, but I couldn’t find any date mentioned for the end of the republic in the piece. Did I overlook something?
Not a date explicitly but implicitly: "Weimar Germany didn’t just target Jews — it came for Roma, for gay men, for the disabled, for political dissidents, for anyone the state decided was less than." All of those actions were taken by the Third Reich, not by the Weimar Republic. Really Nazi or the Third Reich should be substituted for Weimar. The Republic died in 1933 when Hitler assumed the dictatorship.
This might be a quibble, but my late father fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and I inherited his life long study of the Third Reich, why and how it happened. In the early days of the Internet I continued that by helping to combat Holocaust denial which is still very much a thing.
Apologies for the long winded reply :-).
Thanks for catching that mistake; I've fixed it.
Combating Holocaust denial is often fruitless because what you consider a reliable source doesn't match theirs, so evidence doesn't work. The simplest answer is perhaps that Germans aren't idiots — they'd defend themselves instead of silently accepting an embarrassing history.
It's not only for sentimental reasons: since 1952, the German government has paid more than $90 billion ($150–200 billion inflation-adjusted) in indemnification to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis. Germany agreed to pay more than $1.4 billion to Holocaust survivors in 2024 alone.