I’ve got a bunch of albums that I could pick a photo from for today’s post. Shots from Berlin, Budapest and elsewhere in Europe that suffered under the jackboot. But I liked this one, taken in Auschwitz in 2013. It offers a bit more hope than some of the others.
Today is about remembering the past, in the hope we don’t repeat old mistakes. It’s been made clear over the last year that it’s going to be tough getting this message across to a lot of people.
Maybe I can be of help. For the record, there’s a brutal wannabe authoritarian waiting for a nod of approval in every country. Just biding his or her time. Waiting for the right moment to make an entrance. There always has been and always will be.
But being told to stay home during a pandemic in order to prevent hundreds of thousands/millions of deaths isn’t likely to be the sure sign of his or her arrival. And the next fuhrer is unlikely to be Bill Gates or Dr Fauci.
If I were to have a wild stab in the dark, I’d suggest you need to watch out for the ones who spend years undermining the media, demonising sections of the community and insisting that the only way they could ever lose an election were if it’s rigged.
If one of those ever go on to try and overturn an unfavourable election result, going so far as to incite supporters to storm government buildings, then that’s the one. There’s your fascist. Almost definitely. Y’all got that? We all agreed? It’s a no brainier right.
Oh, and after all of that, if you’re one of those still supporting the fascist, then please take note that you too are a fascist. Quit whining. You’re not losing your freedoms. You actively tried to strip them away from others.
Maybe spend some time looking at the faces of people who passed through Auschwitz. Millions of poor souls who perished in the most terrible circumstance, in the most hideous conditions. Every one of them died because someone, long ago, pointed a finger and for no reason other than their own bigotry declared ‘they are to blame’. It all starts with a few choice words.
And the 1930s version of you, saluted and cheered. Don’t kid yourself otherwise.
I’ve read thousands of books but two books I couldn’t finish were about the atrocities at Auschwitz and Bergen, I can still see the images in my mind from all those years ago…
Biden doesn’t want a civil war on his hands so you can see him going the softly softly route.. his work and that of Harris appears almost insurmountable. I can see him being inclusive and trying to include the tattered republican remnants in going forward but without their support I can see the US economy tank and they will bring us all down.
I’m not one for polemics but the one who will remain nameless has excised republic from the Republican Party and both he and his family will have to be held accountable and never be allowed to hold office ever again or we will see renewed fascism on a grand scale.
LikeLike
The one who should remain nameless has, sadly, changed the political and news landscape from ‘differences of opinion’ to ‘difference of reality’. Even previously intelligent folk have had their inner bigot awakened and have followed him into the Abyss of Stupidity, where they’ve had any remaining good sense and decency beaten from them. It’s been the most astonishing thing to watch.
They defend Bad Man Orange, seemingly unaware that you could move their script back 80/90 years and use it to stick up for that poor, misunderstood Austrian chap, Bad Moustache Man.
By the by, I blame the (now corrected) spelling error on Soros and Gates. Because….why not?
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are times when our fingers dart hither and thither and new words are created on the fly, these are just moments where you can proofread and still miss the error. An optical delusion perhaps. I have typed stuff without looking and found utter gibberish later accepted yet a simple error underlined..
That strange house painter’s brother worked at a well known hotel in Dublin as a porter. I don’t know if he joined his brother’s war effort or not!
Regarding lies, falsehoods and untruths it completely baffles me how well educated intelligent people could be sucked into that whole shambles. I’m still flabbergasted at the whole drama of it all! It beggars belief, maybe having lived in different places inures one from obvious bs either way the lemmings are passing away in droves which is terribly sad.
LikeLike