by Robert M. Traxler
The title of Nazi is tossed
around liberally; voted for President Trump: Nazi, do not approve of abortion: Nazi, disagree with the latest politically correct concept: Nazi.
As a child living in post-World War II Germany, a military family member, I still remember the carnage, starvation and suffering the Nazis caused. Both my folks and in laws fought in WWII and taught me the Nazis were brutal folks, very brutal. I have a friend who jokingly refers to me as a Fascist Pig; the title of Fascist and Nazi are used so liberally we pay it little note.
Future generations studying the Nazis will say “you know, my grandfather was a great old guy but because he loved his country and believed in Republican ideals they called him a Nazi. My grandmother was a loving lady but because she objected to abortion she was called a Nazi. Perhaps Nazis are not so bad?”
A number of years ago a former citizen of East Germany told me of being raped at 11 years old by Russian soldiers and of seeing her father and mother murdered by Russians. She went on to say that after the war they never had enough to eat, but when Mr. Hitler ran things they were never hungry.
The use of a term Nazi should be reserved for the most vile, vicious, heartless people, but it has become a part of our colloquial dialog. The inhuman people who operated death camps, murder machines, gas chambers are equal to 49% of the American voters? Got to ask just how that works.
Americans who are suspicious of Islamic terrorists are called Nazis; a curious thing to say when more than 100,000 Islamic soldiers served in the Waffen SS, 13th Mountain
Division, among the last troops standing between the Hitler Bunker and the Russians. Also, because many Islamic nations adopted the Fascist form of government (called Baathists). The Nazi leadership were impressed with Islam’s teaching that to die in Allah’s name bought you a ticket to paradise. A large number of Islamic nations harbored Nazis who became leaders in government and military organizations; with a strong sense of anti-Semitism they fit in well.
The growth of Neo-Nazis (a fancy way of saying new Nazis) around the world is troubling; in one more generation the current stigma associated with the Nazis will be gone. After all, if grandpa and grandma were called Nazis, how bad could they have been? One more time the road to hell is paved with good intentions and unintentionally mainstreaming the National Socialist movement will come back to bite our progressive friends in the bottom.
A curious thing is the Nazis and Fascists were Socialists, Democratic Socialists not unlike the form of government Senator Sanders is advocating. Benito Mussolini, the father of Fascism, took traditional Socialism and allowed freedom of religion and nationalism. Religion and nationalism are viruses to a hard-liner Socialist, but the Italian people would not relinquish flag, country and God. Mussolini found a political winner in Fascism and Hitler, among dozens of others, adopted the concept.
I had a conversation with an anti-Semitic man from New York City who denied the Holocaust; his argument was that the German transportation system could not move the number of Jews they initially said died in the death camps. He was correct, the estimates of dead were reduced by two million, only leaving a mere six million dead. His argument was that if they lied about that, you can’t believe anything bad said about the Nazis.
Fascism is a concept that infected more than one hundred million normal everyday people. Educated, smart, diligent people, no different from you and me. Please be very careful in liberally using the titles, Nazi and Fascist.
