Dear Editor:
People have asked: “How did a nation that produced some of the world’s top philosophers and composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, etc. ever vote for Hitler?”
Well, it was the same reason as why people are rallying behind Trump: emotion not logic.
I am not excusing Hitler or the Germans, nor saying that Trump is the same.
But Germany was in rough shape, wrecked after the First World War, people were starving, cities were bombed, inflation was phenomenal. My mother-in-law said that it took a suitcase of money to buy a loaf of bread, and she rushed out to buy some food before the price escalated further.
Crime was rampant, reparations were sucking too much out of the country to let Germany recover.
So along came Hitler who said, “I’ll make Germany great again.”
Does that line sound familiar, substitute: “I’ll make America great again?”
Hitler said, “We need a return to law, order, and employment. We will quit paying those stifling reparations.”
I saw one of his early propaganda films in the original German (which I understood) at the Kelowna Film Society long ago.
I think that maybe the movie was from 1933. Hitler looked like Mr. Nice.
Smiling portly older women and cute children brought him flowers, which he graciously accepted.
He promised to promote peace and cooperation among nations.
He said that he would establish order and help provide employment again, stop inflation, restore people’s spirit and health.
Lots of vigorous young people in good shape were shown exercising.
There was none of his raucous screechy shouting. He had a horrid accent, akin to listening to extreme Brooklyn English.
Instead, he sounded reasonable. Yes, Mr. Nice was going to solve all Germany’s problems.
Few people had read his boring, repetitive book, Mein Kampf (My Struggle) or they would have known what was going to happen to the Jews and other “undesirables.”
At first, he didn’t talk about them, but they were in his book.
Trump does talk about his perceived “undesirables,” the Muslims and Mexicans, and as you have heard, he has said that the families of ISIS members have to be killed, too.
If this irrational man is elected, the U.S. will be in for lots of trouble. So will Canada.
Trade policies with Canada could change markedly because Trump thinks that other countries are sucking money out of the US.
Would a wall actually be built along the Canada-U.S. border?
Trump would probably push for this because he has insinuated that we are exporting terrorists to the States.
We likely would experience much more friction with the USA if Trump were elected president.
Would some Americans move to Canada in protest?
I hope that we won’t have to find out!
Marilyn Hansen
Summerland