This post has no commentary or opinion. It is all fact. It is very bare-bones material I am researching to compile into a nonfiction book, American Gestapo, that will be a follow-up to my last book, fiction-based-on-fact, Soft News. I would like to preface my report by saying I spent more than two years living in Germany as a military dependent, and some of my ancestors are from that country. I found the Germans very friendly, likeable, hardworking and although tremendously practical, fun-loving at the right time.
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Some people are trying to change history. Today we are only going to deal with one aspect of this: Germany immediately prior to World War II.
There have been recent news stories quoting historians who say the Holocaust never happened. Textbook “revisionists” engaged in Holocaust denial refer to their work as an historical re-examination of history, updating it with “newly discovered, less biased information.” It is an academic approach that says historical accounts have not been properly told. To check out these facts, simply type “Holocaust denial” or delve into the work of Henry Rousso- a respected Frenchman who works as director of research at the French National Scientific Research Center and is considered a top expert on the World War II era.
History currently shows that in the late 1920s and early 1930s, economic times in Germany were tough; people were losing jobs; had little to eat; and newspapers were afraid to speak out for fear of offending those in power.
As the economic crisis became a Great Depression, a “savior” who promised much to the masses came to power. The media loved him. Just check your history. All he did was in the name of justice and change. Germany was cultured, filled with music, art, laboratories and universities.
The Germans were hardy, hardworking, and patriotic. Hitler had only been appointed Chancellor of Germany four weeks when he was invited by President von Hindenburg to lead a coalition government. But time passed and elections were upcoming.
On the evening of Feb. 27, 1933, six days before an election was scheduled that could have changed the balance of power, a huge fire broke out. It became known as the Reichstag Fire and was the reason used by those in power to put military law on the streets. It was (of course) said to be the only way to protect the people from harm.
Immediately following our “Reichstag Fire” (Sept. 11) The Patriot Act was put into place supposedly for those very same reasons. Have you studied it? I suggest you do. If certain portions of it are enforced, any law enforcement agent (from any branch, whether your local sheriff or DC SWAT team) can invade your home or business without a warrant. All they must say is “He (or she) might be a terrorist.”
The text of the German Decree, officially called the Verordnung des Reichprasidenten zum Schutz von Volk und Staat (Order of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State) is available in your library and on line. Its Article 6 states that it went into effect the moment it was posted.
The decree resulted in military power that took over the streets. Killing sprees. Genocide. Turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors. Concentration camps. Rounding up of all Jews and any others who opposed their tactics; scientists; great thinkers; philosophers; writers; journalists; photographers- anyone who wanted to speak out or report the truth.
This was not something that happened overnight. It had been building. All the elements were present and simply had to be enforced. As they are here in the United States of America today. Simply read The Patriot Act for yourself and decide.
No event in human history has been studied as thoroughly and carefully than the Holocaust. Thousands of thesis and dissertations papers have poured over all of the evidence, from anecdotal testimony to captured German war documents. Virtually every historian with a PhD in European History agrees that millions of Jews were systematically exterminated by Nazi Germany. One can no more “revise” this fact than one can revise the existence of gravity. Captured German documents alone account for enough evidence to convict Nazi Germany of mass genocide in any civil (not Islamic) court. You can suggest that 5.6 million Jews were killed, instead of six million. But, you cannot deny that millions of innocent Jews were murdered. The Wansee Conference planned the killing. Nazi concentration camp records prove that it was carried out.
Whenever we stand up to those who deny or minimize genocide we send a critical message to the world. As we continue to live in an age of genocide and ethnic cleansing, we must repel the broken ethics of our ancestors, or risk a dreadful repeat of past transgressions. We know from captured German war records that millions of innocent Jews were systematically exterminated by Nazi Germany – most in gas chambers. These facts have been proven repeatedly through countless thesis and dissertation research papers. Virtually every PhD in the world will stake their career on the veracity of known Holocaust facts. Despite this knowledge, Holocaust deniers ply their mendacious poison everywhere, especially with young people on the Internet. Such deniers have only one agenda – to distort the truth in a way that promotes antagonism against the object of their hatred, or to deny the culpability of their ancestors and heroes.
Museums and mandatory public education are tools to dispel bigotry, especially racial and ethnic hatred. Books, films and presentations can reinforce the veracity of past and present genocides. They help to tell the true story of the perpetrators of genocide; and they reveal the abject terror, humiliation and degradation resulting from prejudice. It is therefore essential that we disclose the factual brutality and horror of genocide, combating the deniers’ virulent, inaccurate historical revision. We must protect vulnerable future generations from making the same mistakes.
A world that continues to allow genocide requires ethical remediation. We must show the world that religious, racial, ethnic, gender and orientation persecution is wrong; and that tolerance is our progeny’s only hope. Only through such efforts can we reveal the true horror of genocide and promote the triumphant spirit of humankind.
Charles Weinblatt
Author, “Jacob’s Courage”
http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/
Yeah, but the senator who voted against the Patriot Act remained in office, and was re-elected three years later. Also, we’ve had TWO elections since our little Reichstag Fire, one of those won by the incumbent only because his opponent threw away a great opportunity in a fit of incompetence, the next one won by a candidate who had publicly praised the only senator who voted against the Patriot Act. Its not as big a difference as if the KPD had displaced Hitler in an election, but we’re in much better shape than Germany was in 1933. Analogies generally don’t get us far close to the truth.
If certain portions of it are enforced, any law enforcement agent (from any branch, whether your local sheriff or DC SWAT team) can invade your home or business without a warrant. All they must say is “He (or she) might be a terrorist.”
Which portions? (Please be specific with your citation. As in, title, chapter, section, subsection, etc.)
You are right on, Mr. Weinblatt. I am going to look up your book today. I think you might enjoy my latest, “Soft News” as well. Perhaps we can simply swap comp copies. The subject matter is certainly important enough to continue discussing so that it is never forgotten.
As for Ye of No Name- Please check out The Patriot Act: Sec. 501-508 “Removing obstacles to investigating terrorism” carefully. Also Title 10 (Misc.) Section 1005- First Responders Assistance Act
And my personal favorite- the one that gives the President the rights of a Dictator- (and puts everything and everyone under his whim) Section 106 Subsection C, “Presidential Authority.”
My Best- Penny Fletcher
Thanks for the info. Having read the provisions you cited, along w/ the relevant portions of a section-by-section CRS report (*) re. the Patriot Act (*), here are my thoughts:
1. Re. Title V: The first two sections deal authorize DOJ & State to offer rewards for information re. terrorists/terrorism. Sec. 503 permits collection of DNA samples from persons convicted of a “federal crime of terrorism”, “a crime of violence”, or a conspiracy to commit either. Sec. 504 clarifies that FISA doesn’t prohibit intelligence officers from coordinating w/ law enforcement officers in counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigations. Sec. 505 permits disclosure of communications, financial, & credit records in counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigations under the same standards applicable to ordinary criminal cases. Sec. 506 expands the Secret Service’s jurisdiction to encompass “access device fraud, false identification documents or devices, and any fraud or other criminal or unlawful activity in or against any federally insured financial institution.” The last two sections permit disclosure of educational records & info from NCES surveys, under court order.
2. Sec. 1005 authorizes $25 mil annually in federal grants for state & local training of first responders.
3. As for Sec. 106…not sure what you’re talking about by “Subsection C”. The section in question appears to deal w/ freezing or confiscation of property belonging to foreign nationals and/or foreign countries. Not all that different from the (pre-1933) Trading With the Enemy Act, actually. Not sure how that equates to “giv[ing] the President the rights of a Dictator”.
Although the above provisions do strike me as expansions of federal and/or executive authority, ISTM that – even in the aggregate – they don’t add up to an American Enabling Act.
(*) See http://www.club.cc.cmu.edu/pub/wikileaks/wikileaks-crs-reports/RL31200.pdf
Also http://www.club.cc.cmu.edu/pub/wikileaks/wikileaks-crs-reports/RL31377.pdf
Thanks for your interest in my Holocaust love story, Jacob’s Courage. You can read some of the reviews here: http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/. A syllabus is here: http://www.jacobscourageaholocaustlovestory.blogspot.com/. I also have a blog where I post some essays here: http://cweinblatt.blogspot.com/.
Please contact me at csw2@bex.net. If you are interested in posting a link to one or more of my pages here, I can send you the e-review copy of Jacob’s Courage. Just provide an e-mail address.
I enjoy your blog and plan to continue to read it regularly. Keep up the great work!
Chuck Weinblatt
MI-
Just read the whole document. Everything we need for a dictatorship is in there., I did three one-hour radion shows taking calls on it last year at twww.themicroeffect.com. I wrlote thisblog from those notes. Sorry if any subsections are not exact. I have SO much freelance work I am not going to split hairs on this blog. Just Google the $#@! thing and read every line of it.
Penny
Penny – Based on your reply, I assume you’re accepting my analysis of the provisions you cited. As you have provided no additional citations, your assertion, that the Patriot Act is the latter-day equivalent of the Enabling Act, would therefore appear to be unsupported. I see no reason why the burden of proof should be on me to _disprove_ your assertion, when you have yet to provide sufficient evidence to support said assertion.