Learning about the Rise of Nazism in Germany (part 12)

 For the first post in my Nazi-Germany series, please click here.  

So....

My agenda for this post is to continue reading about the Nazis consolidating power on the Weiner Holocaust Library's website: The Holocaust Explained.

And I want to start looking at other Holocaust-related websites to see if they agree with The Weiner Holocaust Library's assertion that Nazis were right-winged.

That all being said, I will probably go off on various tangents and fall down various rabbit holes.  So who knows where we will end up.

* * *

On March 23, 1933 brought up the idea of The Enabling Law to the Reichstag.  

Edited to add: 11/25/2023:  Rereading this old post and have no idea what I meant by the above sentence.  Sorry to anyone trying to read this! 

* * *

Just remembered something.

I talked to Tim about this last night.

Sometimes when we talk about politics, Tim goes on a rant about how right-wing Jews will start caring about all the MAGA shit when MAGA starts going after the Jews.

I respond with skepticism.

Oh!  Now I remember.  I actually wrote about my feelings about this in one of these posts.  

Yeah. I know there are antisemitic MAGA people.  But I didn't feel antisemitism was one of their main themes.

Yesterday, I started rethinking things.

Because I suddenly realized that, with my reading lately about the takeover of the government by Nazis, I'm not hearing a lot about the Jews.  I'm hearing mostly about anti-communism. 

Tim asked something along the lines of was the anti-communism kind of a code for anti-Jewish?  Kind of like today, antisemitism can hide behind anti-Zionism or anti-Globalism (depending on whether the antisemite leans left or right).

I think that probably there was actual hate for communists, because of Russia...and not simply because communism was associated with Jewishness.

I know Hitler was antisemitic, and I read that the pre-Hitler Nazi group was antisemitic as well.

I'm thinking, though, that maybe they downplayed their antisemitism until they were in power and campaigned more on anti-communism.

After I started thinking this, I went to look at the dates of the big antisemitic movies.  Jew Suss and The Eternal Jew came out in 1940.  

When I was doing my research, I had wanted to concentrate on the RISE of Nazism.  Then I ended up on Propaganda and realized I had jumped ahead.  But I rechecked the dates just in case.  

None of this means that MAGA is going to definitely go full-force antisemitic.  I think they have their hate-hands full with homophobia, transphobia, and anti-socialism.  But....who knows.  

EDITED TO ADD: It turns out I was wrong about the Nazis not targeting the Jews during the rise-to-power days.  Spoiler alert: I learn this in the next post. 

* * *

Back to the Enabling Law.

Oh...it's just a minor thing. No big deal. 

It says only that Hitler could make decrees without getting the stamp of approval from the Reichstag OR the President.

I don't see how that might be a problem.....

The kind of funny thing is, 

Hitler had to get the Reichstag to vote to approve the Enabling Law.  That's a kind of poetic mix of democracy and dictatorship.

The DNVP (German National People's Party) a conservative party, supported the plan.  

I'm sure most of the Nazis voted yes.

The KDP (Communist Party) said no way!  But they had been banned from the Reichstag and couldn't vote.

The Nazi SS and SA put some of their opponents in Dachau, which I've heard of...but I did not realize it was the first concentration camp.  I mean I knew it was a concentration camp...just didn't know it was the first.  

Is Dachau in Poland or Germany?  

Just Googled.

It's in Germany.

I looked on Google Maps.  There are no Street Views, but there are photographs.

Hopefully, they won't decide to film Stranger Things part 5 there. 

 

* * *

There were more parties involved in the vote.

The Centre party supported Hitler after he promised to protect Catholic interests.  It's kind of like how Protestant Christians are willing to support Trump, because of their dreams of overturning Roe vs Wade  and how some Jewish people were willing to hold their nose and support Trump, because he promised to move the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

* * *

I just started thinking....

Did anyone consider that there might be Israeli's living in Tel Avis who were attached to the embassy?

I'm imagining this autistic Israeli who has a special interest in the United States and loved going to visit the embassy. And now Trump and his supporters messed all that up.

* * *

The Holocaust Explained says that the SPD (Social Democratic Party) were the only ones who voted against the Enabling Law.

The vote was 444 to 94.

I'm confused, because I thought the SPD had been kicked out.  

Or maybe their power was reduced in some other way?

Or maybe they were kicked out at a later time?

Okay. I had a talk with Lord Wiki.

He was helpful.  He says the SPD was banned in June.  That's a few months after the vote.  

* * *

Lord Wiki has a table of all the votes.

I don't usually link to Lord Wiki, but I will here, because it's interesting to look at the table.  

The Nazi Party...otherwise known as The National Socialist German Worker's Party gave 284 Yeses.

The Communist Party had 81 absences. I wonder why....

The Centre Party provided 72 yeses.

The DNVP gave 52 yeses.

The Bavarian People's Party gave 19 yeses.

The German State Party gave 5 yeses.

The Christian Social People's Service gave 4 yeses.  

The German People's Party gave 2 yeses.

The German Farmer's Party gave 2 yeses.  

The Imperial Agricultural League gave 1 yes.

The Social Democratic Party gave 92...NO'S.

* * *

I just went back to Conservapedia to see what they wrote about the Hitler documentary.  There was something about political parties that I don't think I transcribed yesterday.

Okay...but I just ended up reading their take on The Office. And it's pretty hilarious.

They say: Mockery of liberal ideology and political correctness in an office setting, without a liberal laugh track. The main character repeatedly encounters contradictions and absurdities as he tries to conform to liberal expectations. The show was most popular when its humor was conservative, and has declined in quality and popularity as its conservative humor has been diluted. Its later seasons were notably more liberal and offensive towards religion. Steve Carell played the main character for six years and was denied an Emmy Award by liberals every time despite being by far the funniest actor on television.

Anyway...I mean maybe it's all about perception. But I thought the main point of the show was mocking Michael Scott (Steve Carell).  I thought most of the humor came from him being well-intentioned but also a sexist and racist buffoon.  

* * *

As for what they say about the Nazi documentary.

I quoted some of it in the last post.  But what I saw and left out is part of this: 

[Left Wing Propagandists] claiming the Nazis were a "far-Right" political party when in reality they belonged to the far-Left (and only being slightly to the right of German Communists/Red Front at most).

How does that work?

Lord Wiki labels all the yes-voting political groups ( except the farming-related ones) as conservative.

The group kicked out were the Communists.

And the group voting no were the Social Democratic Party. 

Lord Wiki says the Social Democratic Party has Marxist origins. I think Marxist origins sounds pretty far-left.

It seems one would have to do a lot of cognitive gymnastics to be able to believe that a left-wing Party (The Nazis) kicked out another left wing party (the Communist Party) and was denied support from a third left-wing party (Social Democratic Party) but then was supported by several right-wing parties?

I guess one of the ways to do that is to say Lord Wiki is lying and to create your own island called Conservapedia.

* * *

Instead of getting into the next section on The Holocaust Explained which is about The Night of the Long Knives, I'm going to take a look at another Holocaust site or two and see what they say about the Nazis being left-wing or right-wing.

I'm looking at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum now. I've looked at it a little for an earlier post.  But I don't remember seeing their political take on it.

So far, I'm not seeing much on the rise of Nazism.  They have a timeline but they don't go into details about the politics.  

* * *

Ah!

I think I found it.  They have a section entitled "Hitler Comes to Power".

The USSHM says, The Nazis were radically right-wing, antisemitic, anticommunist, and antidemocratic.

That's two against one.

So far.....

* * *

I'm looking for websites that will provide me a good list of other websites.

This New York Jewish school, Touro University, has a list of international Holocaust sites.  

Oh! Actually they have multiple lists, and it looks pretty extensive.

So, I think I can rely on them for this little side project.  

* * *

In the next post, I plan to look at more Holocaust websites while also reading about the Night of Long Knives on The Holocaust Explained.

To be continued.....

* * *

Ha.  You thought I meant in the next post.  Didn't you?

Well, I did too.

BUT....

I started thinking that I shouldn't assume that Conservapedia is trusted and respected by all MAGA people...or at least not all Republicans and Conservatives.

It could be something that even most MAGA people laugh at.

So, now I have two new questions in my head.  

A) What percentage of MAGA people see Conservapedia as a valid, respectable source?

B) For those MAGA who see Conservapedia as a bit nutty for even their taste, would the viewpoint that Nazis-were-left-wing be seen as one of the less outlandish theories on Conservapedia?  

Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

Unfriendly People Heading to Melbourne, Table-Reads, Complicated Relationships, and Kelly Cahill

1. Dreamed that, I try venting to a random girl who's witnessed some drama between my dad and myself. She doesn't seem very interested or supportive.  She's not very friendly towards me and doesn't seem to like me. Still, I continue to try to be friendly.  

I see that she has a passport with her. I ask if she's going somewhere. She tells me she's going to go live in Australia. I act excited for her.  I ask more questions and learn she's moving to Melbourne.  I correct her on her pronunciation of Melbourne, which makes me feel like a know-it-all.

I feel some sort of mild compulsion to tell her about my Australia-obsession but end up keeping it quiet.

Later I think about the girl and realize I was jealous of her move to Australia. This surprises me, because I thought I was over being jealous of other people going to Australia. I decide maybe it bothered me, because I didn't like the girl. Maybe I'm bothered only by people I dislike moving there.  

There's a small chance I combined two dreams not connected. I'm not 100% sure that the girl going to Australia is the same girl who witnessed my family drama.  

I'm pretty sure, though. It SEEMED like the same girl. 

2. Wished I could get verification about whether I'm right or not, but that's kind of impossible with dreams.  

3. Started watching an episode of Home and Away.

4. Had an idea about what I feel is wrong with the dialogue in Adore, the movie I started watching yesterday.

At times, it feels like the actors are reading their lines for a read-through.  It's like they're reading the dialogue for the first time but are still able to put some acting abilities in it.

It's probably weird for me to say that, because it's not like I've watched many read-throughs.  

5. Saw that there are a lot of read-through videos on YouTube.

6. Watched a little bit of the read-through of The Office finale.

It made me a little teary-eyed even though I've really not watched the show (except for maybe a part of one episode)  But it's the last episode, and all these people are going to be soon saying good-bye to each other.

AND it's the whole end of an era thing. That tends to make me emotional.

7. Started to resume my watching of Adore.

8. Felt myself getting confused.

I keep forgetting which son goes with which mother.  

9. Thought that, although, it's not ideal for a woman to fall in love with her best friend's son; it works out well that there are two women, two sons, and two love affairs.  

If the boys are of legal age, I think they should just go for it. Yeah. It's strange. But if it makes all of them happy, why not keep on with it?  

It would be different if it wasn't a mutual thing. I think there'd be more anger and resentment.  

10. Remembered to consider Harold (Ben Mendelsohn) in the equation. He's the husband of Roz (Robin Wright). So she's actually cheating on him when sleeping with Ian (Xavier Samuel).  

11. Thought of it more and realized the relationships might not be an okay idea.

It's great if both relationships last, and both moms live happily ever after with each other's son. But it's likely there will be break-ups and heart-aches, and that's going to put a huge strain on the friendships.

12. Realized I'm being a hypocrite.

I've recently talked about how I don't think people should stand in the way of love. We shouldn't block love out of a worry that it might not last. We shouldn't block love just because we worry it can ruin friendships.

On Wonderland, Tim (Steve Beaumont) refuses to give his blessing to his friend Tom (Michael Dorman) dating his sister (Anna Bamford).  

Since I feel it was wrong of Tim to try to stand in the way of that relationship, I should be against Roz and Lil (Naomi Watts) standing in the way of each other's relationship.

UNLESS the sons are underage. I'm not sure of that point yet. They look to be older than seventeen, but I'm not great at estimating ages.  

13. Thought about the downsides of a young man being with a much older woman.

The main one is it might mean that making babies is out of the picture. But the same can be said for gay couples.

The other argument is that the twenty-year-old might be fine with the forty-five year old. But how's he going to feel when the forty-five-year-old is sixty five?

Well, yeah. He might lose the love.

From what I've read, though, most men prefer women in their twenties. So if a twenty-year-old guy gets together with a twenty-year-old woman, there's a fair chance he might lose interest in her when she's forty. He might dump her and seek out a woman much younger.  

14. Wondered if there's a certain type of man who prefers much older women. Are they more mature than other men? Less mature? Do they have mother issues?  Or could it say something positive about their relationship to their mother?

15. Thought that it might not have to do with the mothers...at least not in a general sense.  

16. Intrigued by a scene in the movie.

The two sons, Ian and Tom (James Frecheville), have an intense fight in the ocean. It seems like they might actually want to kill each other.

Their moms break it up.Then each of the moms stands by/comforts their boyfriend NOT their son.

That kind of surprises me.

17. Thought about how there are many times where people are caught in a fight between a relative and lover, or a relative and friend.    

For example, a woman might be caught in the middle of a fight between her husband and sister. Whose side does she go on? Is she betraying her husband if she takes her sister's side? Is she betraying her sister if she takes her husband's side?

What complicates things even further is when there's a double relationship.  I think I've seen it only in fiction. In Adore, it's two young men and two mothers. There, it's not just a woman choosing between her son and her lover.  Her situation is mirrored by her best friend.

There were two double-connections  on Coronation Street but not ones involving mothers dating each other's sons. Instead they had a sister and brother dating a sister and brother.Then there was also  a woman and man partnered while their sons and daughters are partnered.   

18. Imagined getting in a fight with one of my brother-in-laws. That's stressful enough.  But I think it would be much even MORE stressful if my sister's husband happened to also be my husband's brother.  

My sister would be mad at me, and my husband would probably be too. I'd probably get doubly attacked. (Triple including my brother-in-law!) 

19. Felt like my brain is spinning with lots of confusion.  

I'm also wondering if my comparisons are off. Maybe the situations on Coronation Street are very different to the one on Adore.  

20. Thought about how the fight didn't seem to cause much drama in Adore. The mothers seemed fine that they each stood by the other woman's son.  

What if they didn't?  What if Roz felt Lil's son was to blame?  What if she bitched Ian out for fighting with her son?  Then Ian might get mad at Roz for blaming him, and Lil too might get mad at her friend for yelling at her son.  

Or it could have been the opposite. What if Roz felt her own son was to blame? Then Lil might get mad at Roz for being mean to her boyfriend.

21. Saw that the movie jumped ahead two years.

I'm in suspense.

Are the two couples still together? Or did they break up?

22. Saw that the two sons are still friends at least.

23. Learned that Lil and Tom are still together.

24. Heard Jessica Tovey, from Wonderland, sing in the movie.  I think she has a lovely voice....well, unless she's lip-synching. 

I'm going to guess she's really singing.

Anyway, I have an idea what's going to happen. One of the guys is going to fall in love with her. Then the happy foursome is going to be shattered.  

25. Decided I like this movie a lot.

It's giving me a lot to think about.

I like the various themes and conflicts.

Right now I think it's going into a eden-lost kind of thing.

These four people have this strange, but idyllic, little clique. Now it's going to be broken apart by an outsider.  One woman will lose her boyfriend. The other woman won't lose her son, per se; but she'll probably be spending a lot less time with him. And the same goes for the other son in the story. He'll end up seeing much less of his best friend.   

26. Stopped watching Adore for today.

I'll watch more tomorrow. 

27. Watched the X-Files.

An alien abduction in Victoria was mentioned.

I wonder if it's based on a real story.

28. Googled and saw it's based on a true story. There are several websites that mention the alleged abduction of a woman named Kelly Cahill.

29. Clicked on a recent article, and saw that it was written in response to the X-Files episode.  

30. Learned from the article that the name Kelly Cahill was a pseudonym used to protect the privacy of the real woman.  Yeah...it's probably smart to use a fake name in that kind of situation.

31. Learned that the incident happened in the Dandenongs.

32. Wondered about the whole privacy thing, because she appeared on a show called Today Tonight, and she published a book about her experiences.  Oh, and she also became a keynote speaker at UFO conferences.  She did all that with a fake name?  

33. Started to watch a video  about Kelly Cahill.  

34. Wondered if the article had it wrong about her using a fake name.

It just doesn't make sense to hide behind a fake name but then make public appearances promoting your experiences.

35. Thought that Kelly Cahill (or whatever her name is) seems very believable when she tells the story.

That's not saying I'm convinced it's true.

But she definitely has me seriously considering it.  

36. Started to proofread this post and saw I contradicted myself regarding Adore.

In the beginning, I talk about how it makes things easier to have double connections in a relationship. Then later I talk about how these double connections make things more complicated.

Which past me do I agree with now?

Both!  

When things are going well in the little clique, these double connections can be wonderful. When things are going bad, I think the double connections can make things worse.  

It's kind of like the stronger the cohesiveness, the worse it hurts when pulled apart.  

Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

Happy New Year

I wasn't going to do a New Years post, but I miss writing in this blog. I know I've been posting, but I wrote all those last week before we left.

I have so much to say, but I will TRY not to make this super long.

1. We're having fun on our road trip. We visited my in-laws in Gainesville Florida. It's so nice for us to see beautiful parts of America. Fort Worth Texas is lacking in that attribute. Even my parents (who LOVE Texas) admit to this. We've also spent nights in Bossier, LA, New Orleans, Destin, FL, Mobile Alabama, and now we're in Lafayette, LA. Tomorrow we head for home.

2. I actually have A New Years Resolution this year. I usually skip all that. My resolution is an extremely typical one. It messed me up a bit in the past. But this time, I plan to go about it in a healthy and reasonable way. I shall try to avoid any extremes.

3. Until a few minutes ago, I did not see what all the fuss was regarding The Office. But I just watched a bit of an episode with Tim. I laughed so hard. Australia was mentioned in one of many hilarious lines.

4. On our road trip, we went to a tourist place called Silver Springs. I wasn't very impressed. I thought it was overpriced, and I didn't like that they were so strict about bringing in your own snacks. But they did have a saltwater crocodile and two Emus. I was excited to see some Australian animals, although I'd prefer to see them in Australia. I was about to write that I'd prefer to see them WILD in Australia. But for the crocodile....that's not exactly true.

5. I saw on the news that scientists have put tracking devices on some Great White Sharks. If one of them gets too close to beaches in Perth, the lifeguards are going to get a text message. I thought that was so funny.

6. There was a used bookstore in Mobile. I tried to find some treasures, but had no luck. They did have two Australian books, but I already have them (The Fatal Shore and Toad Rage) Crap!. Now that I think of it.....I read Toad Away, not Toad Rage. I should have bought the toad book. Oh well.

7. I actually had The Fatal Shore with me on this trip. I tried rereading it. Despite my obsession with Australia, I end up getting bored by that book. I daydreamed through most of the book again...except for the part that interested me the first time I read it. I LOVE the part about Alexander Maconochie. I've decided he's my hero...or one of them. Anyway, I've decided to see the book more as a reference...something to consult when I want information. For me, it's probably better as a look-in-the-index type book, rather than one to read straight through.

8. In the car, I got into one of my fairly frequent corny mushy moods. I thought about how this blog and Australia obsession has brought so many wonderful people into my life. The funny thing is, not all of them are Australian. It's sometimes just a matter of one person leading you to another person. I met a new American friend via an Australian blogger. And through another Australian blogger, I was introduced to an American blogger. Then through his blog, I "met" this fantastic woman from India.

9. We talked about one of you at lunch. It's not uncommon. For some of you who comment fairly often...you're household names in our family. I talk about you guys as if you're old family friends. Maybe it's because deep in my heart, that's what you are....or at least what I'd wish you to be.

I hope to meet even more awesome people in 2010. And I hope my current relationships with people will continue to grow and deepen.

10. For those of you who had a bad 2009, I hope 2010 is much better for you. For those who had a good 2009, I hope 2010 is just as good...maybe even better. I wish good health, happiness, safety, understanding, peace, wisdom, miracles, love, and laughter on all of you.