Before election, watch PBS documentary, ‘Nazi Town, USA’

Published 1:30 am Sunday, February 18, 2024

In 2024, the year we may very well see the end of our republic, every American and especially every Trump supporter, should watch the PBS documentary called “Nazi Town, USA.” It chronicles the rise of the German American Bund in the 1930s here in the United States. The movement overtly supported fascism and Hitler, and was joined by tens of thousands of “patriotic” Americans.

As with Hitler’s fascism, the movement scapegoated Jews and other minorities. It openly promoted racism and white supremacy. As with the MAGA movement, it wrapped itself in the American flag and ostentatiously pledged allegiance to that flag and “the republic for which it stands.” But their interpretation of “liberty and justice for all” was limited to “white Christians.”

That this movement attracted so many Americans, most of whom believed they were true patriots, reveals the human vulnerability to the techniques used by Hitler and other despots as they rise to power: the appeal to a glorious past, the designation of an internal enemy (Jews, communists, immigrants, socialists), wrapping themselves in flags and symbols of patriotism, promoting extreme nationalism and demanding unquestioning allegiance to an all-powerful leader. “America First” and “Make America Great” were their slogans then. Literally. Ring any bells? It can happen anywhere. It is happening here, right now.

A few short years later, more than 400,000 Americans of “the Greatest Generation” would give their lives fighting fascism.

Please, especially if you’re a Trump supporter, watch this documentary at www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/nazi-town-usa/.

Ken Dammand

Tulalip