Article by Rabbi Michael Barclay in PJMedia
Nazi Comparisons
A criminal is wrongfully killed, and “peaceful demonstrations,” which are actually violent riots, break out nationwide. The flag of a radical and violent group is placed next to the national flag on government buildings. Out of fear of being canceled and losing business, individuals and corporations succumb to publicly supporting this violent organization. Mandated behavior is compelled upon threat of arrest by the political elite and leadership. Despite objections from parents, schools begin teaching an alternative “history” and embrace prejudice, anti-Semitism, and sexual permissiveness as part of the school curriculum.
A President overreaches and takes on “emergency powers,” which create an authoritarian regime that demands supportive behavior and calls any criticism “disinformation.” A new agency of the government is created to “fight this disinformation”… an agency that even has access to armed personnel. This new agency is led by a fanatic who is arguably delusional in their own self-perception and fully committed to stopping the dissemination of any information that is not part of the authoritarian narrative. And through it all the media is a willing accomplice, even striking against other media outlets that try to present opposing views.
Sound like a brief recap of the recent past in this country?
The challenge is that this is actually a description of the development of the Nazi regime in Germany almost a century ago.
If this scares you, it should.
What we have recently been experiencing is a direct copy of what brought and kept the Nazis in power and nearly led to the destruction of freedom in the world.
Like the death of George Floyd, Horst Wessel was the spark that Goebbels and Hitler used to motivate “peaceful demonstrations” that were in actuality violent riots funded and planned with the intention of gaining national power through violence and fear. In the same way that the Nazis pressured the German government to fly the Nazi flag next to the German tri-color flag, our State Department has done the same with the acceptance of the BLM flag being flown over federal buildings.
Teaching CRT, the 1619 Project, and values in contradiction to Biblical ethics is not the behavior of only current leftists. “After the Nazis came to power in 1933, they quickly passed new laws to make public education reflect and teach their nationalist and racial ideologies.” By 1936, 97% of German teachers were members of the National Socialist Teacher’s League and changed the school curricula to reflect Nazi values. Any teacher who disagreed lost their job.
Biden isn’t the first President to take on “emergency powers” to force the populace to follow the mandates of his handlers. Paul von Hindenburg, the President of Germany from 1925 until his death in 1934, under the pressure of his advisors, appointed Hitler the Chancellor of Germany in 1933. He then surrendered even more to Hitler and disbanded the Reichstag, the elected legislature of the German republic.
Yet another parallel is the advanced age and questionable competency of Hindenburg and Biden: Hindenburg was 84 when he seized this power and destroyed democracy in Germany. Even the agenda-driven Wikipedia recognizes how democracy was lost due to President Hindenburg’s seizure through emergency powers. “After the Reichstag Fire Decree, the Enabling Act of 1933 amended the Weimar Constitution to allow Hitler and his government to enact laws (even laws violating the constitution) without going through the Reichstag. Nazi intimidation of the opposition resulted in a vote of 444 to 94.”
But the latest actions of the DHS and Biden administration in the creation of the Disinformation Governance Board is an even more frightening step towards the fascism of the Nazis a century ago. It is almost identical in purpose and presentation to Joseph Goebbels’ Nazi Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment, which Goebbels originally wanted to call “The Ministry of Culture and Public Enlightenment”. Its purpose in the Nazi regime was to ensure that all media and education were controlled by the Nazi state, and it had the full support of the Nazi government to enforce its control.
Related: Biden’s New Disinformation Governance Board Is ALREADY Expanding Its Scope
There is nearly no difference between what the Biden administration and Mayorkas are creating and the Nazi agency that was run by Goebbels. The only difference is that Goebbels was an evil genius, and the proposed head of this new agency, Nina Jankowicz, is simply a self serving tool for her masters who has publicly asked the question of “who she has to f*** to be famous and powerful” and posted multiple videos of herself seeking attention. If there’s any comfort to be found here, it may be that she is a failed theater actress without the calculating brilliance of Goebbels.
As a Rabbi, I have always enjoined all people to be extremely careful about ever making any comparison of modern times with the true evil of Hitler, Goebbels, and Nazi Germany. But even the kind-hearted and compassionate person who always wants to see the best in people (a category in which I include myself) must now recognize these parallels and choose to become active in preventing the Nazis of today, known as “progressive Democrats,” from their quest for total power.
For those people who already embrace liberty and have seen and understood the parallels for a while, it is important that each of us become extremely active in stopping the path that the progressive Democrats want to take us down. With our time, energy, and finances, we must combat this agenda that so closely follows the Nazi path. We must financially support organizations like PJ Media, For United Solutions, The Children’s Defense Fund, the ZOA, and all organizations that are at the forefront of fighting against government mandates and censorship. We need to take control of local and federal government offices away from the progressive Democrats by supporting with both our time and money candidates on the NRCC “On the Radar” list. These men and women like Matt Jacobs, Annie Black, Jay Collins and others have been identified as being real contenders to flip seats in the House. Gubernatorial candidates like Lee Zeldin and Ron DeSantis deserve and need support from all of us, no matter where we live in this nation.
And there is one more task that each of us needs to do in order to wrest power away from the would-be Nazis of the 21st century.
Learn and be able to teach the parallels between the development of the Nazi regime and the pathway of the progressive leftist Democrats. Be able to cite the parallels to liberals and Democrats that you know. Most people, including political liberals, are good people who want a nation of peace and ethics. They simply are unaware and don’t know the similarities between the rise of the Nazis and the current situation. Without getting angry, teach them this history. Use the links and citations in this article and other pieces here on PJ Media to enlighten them about the realities and potential dangers facing all of us. Each liberal you affect with this information is a vote against the progressive Democrats and for a unified nation based on the shared values expressed in our Constitution.
It is dangerous for a Rabbi to compare anything and anyone to the Nazis, but if not a Jewish leader, then who can? It is difficult for anyone to stand against authority, but if we do not, where will be in a few years? What country will be left for our children? It is true that if we do not honestly remember history, we will be doomed, God forbid, to repeat it.
My prayer for all of us is that we have the courage and compassion to stand for what is right, be proactive in making a change for the better, and help others to see the necessity to reclaim the values, practices, and mutual respect this country was founded on.
https://pjmedia.com/columns/rabbi-michael-barclay/2022/04/30/nazi-comparisons-n1594179
