Albert Speer, was the Nazi illusionist who designed a "cathedral of light" and other delights to distract the beleaguered Germans into believing in their "Aryan superiority" under the guidance of their beloved Fuerer. Speer played to both sides of the isle and claimed to have intended to poison Hitler in 1943, and later during the Nuremberg Trials, he persisted in denying any knowledge of the official Nazi policy of destroying Jewish people to extinction.
But I take exception to Speer's contention that it was "the mob" that "determined the theme" for the destruction of my relatives in Poland and not carefully crafted orders of the duly elected government of Germany. Here's why I respectfully disagree with the premise. Speer, friend and associate of Hitler friend and associate of Hitler from the start of the rise of Nazism, shifting the responsibility for mass-murder which came to be known as genocide when it is selectively targeted. The cleaver and educated Speer, unlike Hitler, was born into prestige and money. And despite his pivotal role in the rise of Nazism, he blithely and cleverly shifted blame to the "mob" of hungry of dissatisfied Germans. This a tactic, presented to Americans after his capture, resulted in his life being spared at the Trials, while other in official positions in the Nazi regime were sentenced to die.
The "mob' was aroused, and murder was sanctioned by those in command. Their hatred was further empowered by clergy in sermons on Sunday contending that all Jews were Christ-killers and deserved revenge killing. The notorious blood libels, and hundreds of years of Church-sanctioned persecution, culminated in this horrific event which has become the hallmark of all things wrong with humanity.
Hitler was democratically elected in 1933 and worked his way up the ladder into a position of absolute power and control with the assist of willing hands. His architect and partner, Albert Speer, achieved the position of Minister of Armaments during the Third Reich, yet denied for years, thathe had any knowledge of the institutional murder of millions of civilian Jews, Roma, homosexuals and political opponents. When Speer was arrested in Glucksburg Castle in 1945, and heavily armed allied,troops burst into his private rooms take him away., he is quoted as saying: “So now the end has come... That’s good. It was all only kind of an opera anyway.”
What kind of entertainment for the masses is America undergoing these days since the rise and fall of our very own supreme leader? How far will this mass delusion continue before "the mob" can reconcile the truth from manufactured "alternative facts"? As it stand now, the "perfect storm" is gathering momentum, and finds itself at our doors, in our schools, distressed shopping malls, in our courts and the Capital!
Remember Goldilocks and "the big bad wolf" threatening to "huff and puff and blow the house down", even as Grandma-ma cowers in her bed. I say this with a heaviness which belies the lightness of a child's story. After all, it's our children and seniors who are most vulnerable. And those with illness, mental and physical. And not just our children, but those strangers at the borders, 100 millions stateless individuals worldwide, seeking shelter from the storm.
Albert Speer, was the Nazi illusionist who designed a "cathedral of light" and other delights to distract the beleaguered Germans into believing in their "Aryan superiority" under the guidance of their beloved Fuerer. Speer played to both sides of the isle and claimed to have intended to poison Hitler in 1943, and later during the Nuremberg Trials, he persisted in denying any knowledge of the official Nazi policy of destroying Jewish people to extinction.
But I take exception to Speer's contention that it was "the mob" that "determined the theme" for the destruction of my relatives in Poland and not carefully crafted orders of the duly elected government of Germany. Here's why I respectfully disagree with the premise. Speer, friend and associate of Hitler friend and associate of Hitler from the start of the rise of Nazism, shifting the responsibility for mass-murder which came to be known as genocide when it is selectively targeted. The cleaver and educated Speer, unlike Hitler, was born into prestige and money. And despite his pivotal role in the rise of Nazism, he blithely and cleverly shifted blame to the "mob" of hungry of dissatisfied Germans. This a tactic, presented to Americans after his capture, resulted in his life being spared at the Trials, while other in official positions in the Nazi regime were sentenced to die.
The "mob' was aroused, and murder was sanctioned by those in command. Their hatred was further empowered by clergy in sermons on Sunday contending that all Jews were Christ-killers and deserved revenge killing. The notorious blood libels, and hundreds of years of Church-sanctioned persecution, culminated in this horrific event which has become the hallmark of all things wrong with humanity.
Hitler was democratically elected in 1933 and worked his way up the ladder into a position of absolute power and control with the assist of willing hands. His architect and partner, Albert Speer, achieved the position of Minister of Armaments during the Third Reich, yet denied for years, thathe had any knowledge of the institutional murder of millions of civilian Jews, Roma, homosexuals and political opponents. When Speer was arrested in Glucksburg Castle in 1945, and heavily armed allied,troops burst into his private rooms take him away., he is quoted as saying: “So now the end has come... That’s good. It was all only kind of an opera anyway.”
What kind of entertainment for the masses is America undergoing these days since the rise and fall of our very own supreme leader? How far will this mass delusion continue before "the mob" can reconcile the truth from manufactured "alternative facts"? As it stand now, the "perfect storm" is gathering momentum, and finds itself at our doors, in our schools, distressed shopping malls, in our courts and the Capital!
Remember Goldilocks and "the big bad wolf" threatening to "huff and puff and blow the house down", even as Grandma-ma cowers in her bed. I say this with a heaviness which belies the lightness of a child's story. After all, it's our children and seniors who are most vulnerable. And those with illness, mental and physical. And not just our children, but those strangers at the borders, 100 millions stateless individuals worldwide, seeking shelter from the storm.