Okay...so I've decided to attempt a research post.
I want to learn more about the rise of Nazism in Germany. On social media, I've heard people compare what's going on in the United States to 1930's Germany. I believe these people know what they're talking about. But I want to learn more—get a deeper understanding.
I'm starting with the Weiner Holocaust Library and their Holocaust Explained website.
Well...before I begin I should mention that my research posts are usually quite wacky. I go off on tangents, blab on and on about myself, go on unrelated rants, etc.
So if you're looking for something more...normal...I suggest just scrolling through and clicking on one of the links I'll provide. Or backtracking back to Google (or whatever search engine you used)
I say that like I totally don't care if you click away from me. But in all honesty, I'd really love it if you stayed.
I did some quick reading and skimming on the Weiner library before beginning this post.
In answer to my question from my last post. Yes, economics played some role. You know what else, they say played a role? The conservative elite teaming up with some other group to fight the political left.
I forgot what the other group was. I shall look later.
Back to economics. They list the American stock market crash as one of the main causes of strife...and also the first world war.
When I saw that thing about the political left...I pictured my parents being very skeptical if they saw that. They despise the political left as well. I don't think they'd be happy if I pointed out that they had that in common with Nazis.
So...that made me think: wait is the Weiner library left-wing? Is it like a thing where left-wing people say that Nazis hated the left and right wing people claim Nazis hated the right?
Now...I'm thinking probably not.
Because it's the far-right that has that Nazi connection.
I mean not that there's no antisemitism on the left. But the Nazi-flavor of antisemitism is right wing...as far as I can remember.
* * *
I'm consulting Lord Wiki about the Wiener Holocaust Library. He says it was founded by George Soros and is located in the basement of a pizza restaurant.
No. Not really.
It was actually started BEFORE the Holocaust, in 1933. At that point, it was just looking into the Nazi's persecution of the Jews. It was a bureau taking on the task of keeping Jewish communities and governments informed about what was happening. Then later, it became a library about what DID happen.
It's located in Russel Square in London.
I'm addicted to Google Maps, so I'm going to have to look this up.
This is what I mean about tangents. I'll probably end up doing a whole damn post on the street that has this Holocaust library.
It seems Russel Square is a park of some sort.
The street view photo is from December 2021. There are three people outside, near the curb. They all wear masks, and they're talking to each other. I don't get the sense that they went to the library. I'm not sure even if the library was open. It probably was pandemic-closed.
No wait. I get my years mixed up. December 2021 was post-vaccine days. So the library was probably open.
I realized this when looking at the time machine. I went back to July 2021 and the library had changed their window promotional sign. I was wondering why they'd change the museum sign if they were closed. And then I realized it was December 2020 when the majority of people were not vaccinated.
December 2021 is actually when Tim and I got our booster.
Does anyone else get confused about the pandemic years?
Obviously I'm not the only person in the whole world. BUT....just wondering if someone reading this feels the same?
Playing more with the time machine....
The area around the library looks quite busy in July 2018.
October 2015 looks like it could be October 2020. No one is there.
There's a blind woman walking by in September 2012, AND...exciting! There are people on the steps of the library. It looks like they want to go in.
In October 2008, there's a traffic light that was, for some reason, removed between then and 2012.
* * *
I'm done playing with Google Maps.
Now Lord Wiki is telling me about Alfred Weiner. He was a German Jew who had a special interest in antisemitism.
Note: I saw someone on Twitter saying that the term "special interest" should only be applied to autistics. I personally think that's bullshit. So...whether Weiner was autistic or not, I'm saying he had a special interest.
Uh...this made me feel a little...something: After Kristallnacht, they relocated the library to the UK.
If I didn't have alexithymia, I could probably tell you exactly what I was feeling.
I'll just say it's a mixture of sadness and uneasiness.
Let me back up.
Before moving the library to the UK, they had moved from Germany to Amsterdam. The they is Weiner and a a Dutch Jew named David Cohen. Cohen did work for Jewish refugees.
While Weiner had been relocated to Amsterdam, his wife and daughters were captured by the Nazis. Sadly, his wife ended up dying, but his daughters survived and eventually joined him.
Reading more...
The library used to be on Devonshire Street. It moved to Russell Square in 2011.
Oh! So the 2008 street views on Google were before the Holocaust library was there.
Lord Wiki says that the website I had been reading before—The Holocaust Explained was written for school children. That's good. I read somewhere that if adults want to learn something complicated, they should read info geared towards children. At least start there. I strongly agree with this advice.
* * *
Now I'm going to start reading The Holocaust Explained's explanation of how the Nazis rose to power.
Germany was a loser in World War I. People were unhappy about this and started to turn to extremist parties. The Kaiser of Germany lost power and went bye bye. The party that took over was the Social Democratic Party, which was left wing.
Because Germany lost the war, they were left with the responsibility of paying for the war. This entailed a loss of 13% of their land, and that land held a significant amount of their coal and iron industries. They were also required to limit their military and pay reparations.
Germans weren't happy with this punishment....which was called The Treaty of Versailles, by the way. I've heard of that but wouldn't have known what it referred to. Well, I probably knew at some point...way back when.
Anyway, the left-wing social democratic party signed the treaty. The right-wing opposition parties were pissed off about that.
Annie (our cat) is whining at me for some reason. So I shall continue this later...probably tomorrow.
* * *
I'm back!
It's the next day.
Hopefully, I'll be able to get some research and writing in before one of the cats wants something...or my bladder does.
Okay, so after the war, shipments to Germany were blocked by the winners of the war. This means there was a sparsity of resources. This makes me think of two things in the current storyline: A) the shortages we're seeing (baby formula, tampons, airplane rides) B) the fact that we are fighting Russia with sanctions.
And now we get to the part where the left gets to wear the devil headband. The German Communist party held some uprisings. Or one uprising? It was called The Sparctacist Uprising.
Now before we know whether an uprising actually deserves the devil headband, I think there are two things that need to be asked. A) How much violence and destruction occurred B) Were there valid reasons for the uprising.
I think both questions are important, but I think B is more important.
There's a difference between revolting against centuries of exploitation, rape, murder, and discrimination vs. a revolt based on the lies of a narcissist and his sycophants.
Anyway...see going off on a rant tangent.
I'm not going to take the time to research judge the Communist uprising. But maybe I'll come back to it someday. Or it will come find me.
* * *
Okay....learning more about German politics post World War I.
It was a Democratic system called The Weimar Republic. Prior to that, German's government was known as the Second Reich.
Aren't the Nazis the Third Reich?
I'm guessing the Reich is a non-Democratic system.
Lord Wiki is helping me out here.
He says the Reich was a monarchy. I think that's the word I was looking for (in my brain) a few moments ago.
Then Germany became a Republic...which is sort of Democratic.
I got some right-wing people riled up awhile back by referring to the United States as a Democracy. They wanted it known that we are NOT a democracy. We are a Republic.
I'm not 100% sure what we were supposed to be...I mean what the founding folks had desired. But I did think most of us wanted to lean as far as we could towards a democracy. It turns out that's not true.
Anyway....
As I said before, it was the Social Democratic Party that won the election. But since they didn't have a 50% win, they had to form a coalition with two other parties—The Catholic Centre Party and the Democratic Party.
Now I'm reading about the ways of the new Democratic government...pre-Hitler days.
Anyone over twenty could vote. Like the United States, there was a Federal system where the country was divided by states and states had representatives.
Okay. Wow. I'm reading stuff that reminds me very much of what's been happening in the United States.
In these coalitions, each party had different aims which often led to disagreements on policy. These disagreements made it difficult for the Reichstag to govern.
And
These tough economic and political circumstances made people susceptible to extreme political views.
I wonder if they had the issue we have...where Republicans in Congress vote against helpful things for the sole purpose of damaging a Democratic presidency. Yes, they will give other reasons for voting No..and I don't think there's any absolute proof that sabotage is their intent. But it definitely seems that way.
I've questioned whether the Democratic politicians have sinned in the same way...or if they would. Maybe. But they did vote for pandemic relief even though Trump was the president who would sign it into law.
I've asked myself before....what would make me turn away from the Democrats. One would be having a very corrupt and narcissistic leader like Trump. The other would be if a Republican president and Senate started trying to give us stuff progressives have wanted...like single payer health care, paid family leave, high speed rail, etc...and the Democrats voted against it...solely because they didn't want Republicans to have a win.
* * *
Germany had major, major inflation problems. Hyperinflation.
On top of the inflation, they were required to pay reparations. They asked the Allied Forces (the other team) if they could take a break from paying, so their economy could recover.
The Allied Forces said no.
Would history have been different if the Allied Forces had said yes?
A part of me thinks they should have given Germany a break. On the other hand, maybe there's the idea that if you give leeway...if the punishment is not severe enough, it sends the message that war is okay. Are reparations just a punishment? Or are they also supposed to act as a deterrent?
Also. I'm wondering if part of the no came from the Allied Forces themselves needing the money.
Germany actually reached a point where they were simply unable to pay the reparations. Not only did some of the Allied Forces say that no is not acceptable...some of them (France and Belgium) invaded Germany and stole/took over factories? The idea being they would get their reparations...somehow.
Germany factory workers went on strike. The French and Belgium brought in their own workers. Things got quite ugly.
Violence.
Prices rising even more.
It makes what's happening in the United States seem much less awful. I mean...economic-wise. NOT bigotry and violence wise.
* * *
Next in the story....
Germany elected a new leader in 1923—Gustav Stresemann from the German People's Party. He was pro-paying-back-reparations. He wanted to improve international relations with the idea that if they improved, then he could maybe renegotiate the treaty.
Stresemann must have been popular enough to get elected. I'm wondering if he was elected by a very thin majority or was it a fair-size majority with a very vocal minority?
The Holocaust Explained says his paying-reparations-back plan was very unpopular. Did the voters not realize he planned this? I'm just wondering how he got into power if he had unpopular ideas.
I'm guessing it was like the United States where one side loves the government's plans and the other side absolutely hates it.
Interesting....
Stresemann's plan for a revised reparation program worked. It was actually an American economist who came up with the plan. That was called the Dawes plan, because the American's last name was Dawes.
The plan sounds vaguely familar to me.
Not only did America make reparations a bit more gentle, they also loaned Germany some money.
Germany's economic situation improved and also their international relations. These better days occurred between 1924-1929 and were known as the Golden Years.
Ah....
1929.
I can guess where this is going.
But first let's learn about the happy and not so happy stuff of the Golden Years.
The happy stuff sounds nice. More hospitals and schools were built. Wages increased while hours decreased (cool!). There were cultural advancements. The Holocaust Explained website mentions the Art School Bauhaus as an example.
I'm curious if there are other cultural things?
The BBC has a website about German art in the Golden Years. Trends in cinema included "unrealistic sets", exaggerated acting, small sets, low budgets, horror, crime.
Some famous movies made during the time: Nosferatu and Metropolis. The BBC lists others, but these are the ones I've heard of.
I saw Metropolis in a film class...maybe Nosferatu as well?
Anyway...
As I mentioned above. Not everything was happy in the Golden Years.
Unemployment was an issue and farms were struggling.
Still...things were relatively good.
Until the Stock Market crashed.
Oops.
* * *
I'm thinking this post is probably long enough.
So I'm going to stop here and continue on in a new post.
For an index of my Nazi-related posts, click here!
The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts
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