I've lived in Mtn Home since 1989, so that's...hold on...I'm thinking...WOW! Exactly 25 years! Boy, I think I can almost declare myself an Idahoan. But my family is British and I grew up in Louisiana around lots of other Brits so I still think I'm a little bit of a mutt. Those of you who have been around awhile may remember when I used to blog all the time. My opinions weren't very accepted and there was always an issue because I work for the county. That really wasn't fair because I NEVER blog at work! And I am still entitled to my opinions and thoughts about city and county issues, right? However, it stirred a lot of pots and those pots certainly can make a lot of noise! Since I'm a writer, I took what I wrote in my blog seriously so I spent a lot of time researching things which got exhausting to do when you're not even get a paycheck for it. So I stopped. That was a blessing to many! However, to this day, I still have people stop me and ask me why I wasn't blogging and t! hey missed it. I've missed it. Mainly because there are so many issues that come up and I have no voice except around my friends and I'm sure they are tired of it.

Road to Destruction-Part 3

Posted Sunday, September 27, 2009, at 11:04 PM

Kristallnacht

During 1934, called the "Blood Surge", old scores with other political and youth leaders outside their beliefs were beaten and killed, including the Catholic Youth leader. Junior Gestapo Agents were appointed and they were used to keep order and target anyone who spoke out against Hitler. One young teen, for example, turned in his father for calling Hitler crazy. His father was arrested and the boy was promoted.

In his book Mein Kampf, Hitler stated that "...a less well-educated, but physically healthy individual with a sound, firm character, full of determination and willpower, is more valuable to the Volkish community than an intellectual weakling." Athletic events were more important than academics, therefore the weak were rooted out quickly.

Particular emphasis was paid to the subject of history, which was rewritten to emphasize Nazi themes of racial struggle and German pride.(familiar?) Teachers were so afraid of saying the wrong thing and being reported therefore losing their jobs. (familiar?) They became so timid and taught as instructed therefore causing the standard of education to be lowered. Jewish teachers and students were weeded out of schools. What emerged from the Hitler Schools were athletically superior youth with a below average intelligence, completely indoctrinated with Hitler teachings of superiority. By 1936, all Catholic and Protestant schools were abolished. Christian holy days were ended. Christmas and Easter were replaced with pre-Christian Yule or Solstice celebrations. (Can't deny this sounds familiar?) Prayer was removed from all schools. (no prayer?)Even more interestingly familiar is that Teachers were forced to denounce any affiliation with a religious group.

The Hitler Youth pressured all children to join to such a degree that many joined out of fear for their lives. The country witnessed on April 20, 1936, 10 year olds standing in front of Hitler as they chanted their allegiance with these words: "In the presence of this blood banner which represents our Führer, I swear to devote all my energies and my strength to the saviour of our country, Adolf Hitler. I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God." Oh no! Children chanting praises and oaths to their leader! Surely, that would never happen here.

By December of that year, Hitler made it a law that all children at age 10 would be "educated physically, intellectually and morally in the spirit of National Socialism" though the Hitler Youth. Any parent not allowing their child to join Hitler Youth were subject to heavy prison sentences so the numbers of youth grew to 6 million.

September 1938, Hitler praised the youth and said, "You, my youth, are our nation's most precious guarantee for a great future, and you are destined to be the leaders of a glorious new order under the supremacy of National Socialism. Never forget that one day you will rule the world!" It was 2 months later that the horrible "Night of Broken Glass" occurred. Over 25,000 jews were taken to concentration camps after the men and young boys tore through the Ghetto, desecrating religious symbols, beating and killing resisters and stealing everything they could find from those Jewish citizens. And that horrible night showed exactly how easy it can be to transform a nation of civilized people into the monsters of the Third Reich.

All Hitler Youth chanted and sang songs of praise to their leader. They prayed daily to him as their God. By 1939, over 7 million youth were indoctrinated. Any remaining children not enrolled, faced being taken from their parents and placed in orphanages until they agreed to join. They had no choice and Hitler himself declared that after the indoctrination or so-called training, these children "will never be free again as long as they live."

Over 7 million young people's lives were altered forever. That is the end of this sad tale. I offer this history lesson and you decide what it means to you. I know that the Iranian President wants to tell the world that this never happened. And many would like to argue about what I have written. But what you can't believe is that anything I wrote here was not honest-to-God truth. I didn't fabricate this history lesson or skew it in order to make it seem like something it wasn't. All I did was pass on the true facts of history. America and other free countries denied what was happening there because like all good people, we want to believe that it couldn't happen. But it did! And we must learn from it. We must remember that stain in history just as we must never forget the lives lost on 9-11 or in the war against terrorist being fought. It is the fight for freedom. WE have to pay attention and stop thinking that good people can't be bent towards evil because we can. Everyone can be turned against what is good. That is what I am trying to say.

Comments

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Bush and Nicolai Caecescu had things in common. Caecescu was a cruel and evil man who enslaved Romania. You can draw similarities if you look hard enough at anything.

-- Posted by twilcox1978 on Mon, Sep 28, 2009, at 8:24 AM
Hey Kim you ever been to Germany or Austria, if not and you get the chance and spend some time over and tour those countries you can see alot of Hilers left overs on what he did to people and the empire he build for himself, Hiler had so many places to hide from everyone and his death camps are just un-real.

-- Posted by Eagle_eye on Mon, Sep 28, 2009, at 2:25 PM
Interesting tidbit, church attendance in Europe is only about 19% where as in America it is closer to 40%. The Czech Republic and Austria are estimated to have 50% of their population be non-believers. That had to have some bearing on that situation.

Hitler was not a socialist. That is beyond debate. Read "The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler" or "Mein Kempf" and one will know that he had no interest in leveling the playing field. Regardless of the color or shape of something, the motives are what is important. Hitler felt that people needed to return to an older way of life. One that rewarded fervor, decisiveness, passion, and loyalty. Logic, reasoning, and questioning of life around you were to be discarded being that he felt these types were a barrier to progress.

It was tragic and it seems that Germany has moved on from it. Eastern Europe seems to have not recovered from the Stalinist times though.

-- Posted by twilcox1978 on Mon, Sep 28, 2009, at 3:00 PM
I would love to go see Germany. I'm not sure that my heart could handle it though. I have had some very good German friends in my life and they are forever haunted by what happened. There were many people who treated their families like they were criminals. My compassionate side just fights with my "darker" side over this. Because these young people had no choice and they were bombarded with it, brainwashed into believing what that evil man talked about was right. Though free-will is still in play here, I can't help but feel that they couldn't be totally responsible. At the same time, there are plenty of murderers in prison who had awful childhoods with terrible abuse, yet they are still guilty for what they did. And I know many many people who have had abuse and trauma yet they turn out to be great people and wonderful parents. I would be very interested to read about how these Hitler young people coped after the war. What happened to them? How difficult was it to get rid of that type of brainwashing? Were there professionals put into place for them? I will have to see what I find. If anyone has something they've read that addresses that, I would love to know about it. Actually, there are others who faced this, those brought up in the south with racist parents or the young people in extremist Islamic families. Or boys brought up with men who hate women? Or those with parents involved with a cult?Psychological damage is so hard to overcome.

-- Posted by kimkovac on Mon, Sep 28, 2009, at 6:41 PM
Kim,

I appreciated the time and attention to the facts that you provided in your research of Hitler's rise to power. I share your concern of President Obama's "star power" and the celebrity influence he has on our society. I have to wonder how many people voted for him based on his popularity with no personal knowledge or understanding of his position on the issues. I do struggle, however, reconciling the social worker/advocate in me and my conservative roots when it comes to some of Obama's ideas.

Living in Germany was like a 5 year sociology lesson-- a fascinating and humbling experience. It is a beautiful country with rich history (there is more to German history than the last 70 years, remember) including its deep-rooted traditions of food, wine and beer. What was striking to me is, as you mentioned in your recent comment, the deep scar of remorse and for some of the younger generations, shame over the "sins of their fathers." Hitler used his power of verbal persuasion and charisma to get people to buy in to his promises of honest work and a better way of life. Anything had to be better than what most Germans had at that time. People bought in to the perfect world he described when they saw the jobs he created with the huge autobahn projects. German citizens had a reason to feel proud of themselves again and in their work and as a result it became easier and easier to do and believe whatever he said--he was a man of his word, in their experience. It would have been difficult then to prove otherwise, I suppose.

I will never forget a jolt of reality I experienced one Saturday at a flohmarkt (flea market) in our village. My husband (who was active duty Air Force at the time) and I were looking at some antiques on display when an older German man walked up to my husband and pulled out his Third Reich ID card and boasted about his time in service. It was a bizarre moment and neither my husband or I knew how to react. It was also a strange sight at this flohmarkt to find a framed photo of Hitler with his mustache blacked out with duct tape; we were told that it is illegal to have a full picture of Hitler on display in public (hence the duct tape).

-- Posted by Bluebird77 on Mon, Sep 28, 2009, at 8:53 PM
I remember in "Road to Destruction Part 1", you said you weren't calling anyone a NAZI.

In "Road to Destruction-Part 3", you've asked several times if certain incidents sound "familiar".

That's about as subtle as a guy saying, "I'm not calling your mom a *****, I'm just saying she has sex with guys for money."

How long will it be before we see "Road to Blackfoot-Part One?

-- Posted by DaveThompson on Mon, Sep 28, 2009, at 8:59 PM
My point in writing about Hitler Youth was not to call anyone a Nazi. As stated, I simply pointed out that there are things that happened in history that were not paid attention to until it was too late. And to point out quite clearly how easily innocent things on the surface can be used to gain power over desperate people looking for a saviour. It happens in so many ways, but the Nazi's showed it so profoundly. America has it's shame to bear as well. I just wanted to remind myself and others who read what I write that we must always be aware. That we can't become so focused on our own needs or our own little world. We must learn lessons from the mistakes of the past and keep it from ever happening again.

Thank you Bluebird for sharing your experience. I appreciate it very much. I know that the Germans are good people and hate what happened in their history. And how blessed that you were given the opportunity to experience Germany as a great nation. I envy you.

-- Posted by kimkovac on Mon, Sep 28, 2009, at 9:55 PM
So kim, do you consider Canada, England, France and Isreal Fascist run countries? Just curious,...

Oh, did you know that some of our hard earned taxes are sent to Isreal to pay for their Universal Healthcare? Strange right?

Again just curious about your thoughts on other countries with the oh so horrible socialized healthcare, etc,........

-- Posted by censored on Mon, Sep 28, 2009, at 11:21 PM
Hitler's own words:

"The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press-- in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during the past years." "The National Government will regard it as its first and foremost duty to revive in the nation the spirit of unity and cooperation. It will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built. It regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life." ~ ADOLPH HITLER 1933

Sound Familiar?

-- Posted by censored on Tue, Sep 29, 2009, at 4:42 AM
Censored, your posting of Hitler's words was great. I posted before that Hitler started his power by telling people what they needed to hear in order to gain their trust. ONce he did that, then his true nature began to shine. He did exactly the opposite, getting rid of the church influence and breaking up all families. He knew that he had to destroy the power of faith and family. He was the prime example of how brilliantly a person can destroy a nation of people. He was not alone, though. There have been many before him and there are many since.

What do I think of my homeland, England and other countries? There has been plenty of reports from Socialized medicine to support the reasons that it is not what we want. As much as I am against this form of government, those countries are not my concern. Let their people decide what they want their gov't and healthcare to be. I care about my country and my healthcare. If our freesoms are taken from us, we have only ourselves to blame. (Time 7:05)

-- Posted by kimkovac on Tue, Sep 29, 2009, at 7:05 AM
What you are not seeing is the fact that right/conservatives/christians what have you, have more in common with hitler then you care to admit. But that's cool, keep up the charade so you people can keep the contentious attitudes swirling so nothing will ever be solved.

Bazooka: you people need to come up with some fresh put-downs. You guys are beginning to sound like robots with limited word strings programmed into your memory holes.

Quote!? That's all you people do is quote. Beck says something and you ramble it off like it's scripture. That is blindness,...

-- Posted by censored on Tue, Sep 29, 2009, at 10:18 AM
I try not to get on the bandwagon with all the others who enjoy criticizing how Obama is handling our problems like Healthcare, Iran and Afghanistan and etc. I seen something on the evening news tonight NBC that has me confused.

Maybe Beck has already talked about this as it's about Puget Sound the area where he is from. I wouldn't know as I don't watch his show.

Some of the stimulus Money was used to create 40 jobs for fishermen to dive down and retrieve old fishing gear from commercial boats. The idea was to help save our planet by freeing the little creatures like King Crab from the nets so they can continue on to a productive life span.

I know the green people will embrace this however I am thinking that maybe just maybe we could of spend the money in a better place.

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Tue, Sep 29, 2009, at 7:43 PM
Beck is just a mouthpiece. His credibility is of no importance being that he crosses the line into impassioned, illogical ranting that simply fills up air space.

Back to the point, our isolationist past is the impetus for this discussion happening. Any other nation would know better than to draw parallels. At even the slightest hint that things are not reverting back to isolationist America of the late 1800's everyone panics and thinks that the walls are falling down and our democracy is over. This kind of reminds me of Chicken Little.

-- Posted by twilcox1978 on Tue, Sep 29, 2009, at 10:48 PM
"His credibility is of no importance being that he crosses the line into impassioned, illogical ranting that simply fills up air space."

I can name a few of these that blog here as well!!

-- Posted by mhbouncer on Tue, Sep 29, 2009, at 11:34 PM
Stimulus money, be d-a-m-ed. It was just another way for all of these congressmen to get their pet projects for their states through without an uproar. This stimulus bill was marketed so fast and quickly using desperation and fear like a door-to-door fire alarm salesman. Just like heavy sales tactics, they used numbers and stats to prove their points when those things can be skewed so easily. Take the continued quote from Obama and others as an example, "$14,000 people lose their insurance every day" While I researched where they came up with this number and found that it was (a stretch at best)numbers from Dec. 08 to Jan 09. They take how many people are unemployed and usng a formula-decide that a percentage of those not working would have lost their insurance. The unemployment rate differs and there is no way to know if every single person who is unemployed lost insurance or not. Many would still be covered under their spouses, teens covered by parents and could have insurance that is not connected to their job, such as Tricare. Since the numbers of unemployed have changed, they still haven't changed that quote. 14,000 people was a false statement based on numbers and deciding what percent of that number they would use. However, Obama telling the people that 14,000 lose insurance every day, scares and gets people to believe the need for support of his healthcare. You do the math. Since Jan 31, 2009 to today at 14,000 a day=how many who have lost inurance? Impossible! (Time: 7:00am)

-- Posted by kimkovac on Wed, Sep 30, 2009, at 7:00 AM
You are right. There are a few (myself on occasions) that miss the mark and are simply ranting. I am sure that Hannity, Savage, Beck, etc. have good points but they are just mouthpieces. They have to make money as well. If not for their research staff they would be just as clueless as most.

-- Posted by twilcox1978 on Wed, Sep 30, 2009, at 10:23 AM
I don't just get my news from NBC I watch many different news channels, accept I don't watch Glen Beck or others like him because they are tooting their own horns to get ratings and of coarse to make themselfs rich. Even Glen Beck doesn't always get it right !

If you are "confused" MsMarylin, it's because you GET your news from NBC.

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Wed, Sep 30, 2009, at 10:36 AM
In short, I dont take any television host's words as gospel. They are opinions just like everyone elses.

Of course, he does things on TV that are a bit over-the-top for shock value. If he was deliberate, objective, and judicious no one would know that he existed. You cant blame the guy. He has a talent and there is his niche.

About Kim's post. Everyone fudges numbers. Every politician is inaccurate. One cant be perfect. They are being wildly optimistic but that is what the public wants to hear. I am fine with being told bad news if it is right. That's life sometimes. Americans usually dont like to hear cold hard truth.

-- Posted by twilcox1978 on Wed, Sep 30, 2009, at 7:56 PM
I confess I have seen a little of Glen Beck's show when I am flipping through channels and fall upon his show and watch him for about 5 minutes. I don't like his facial expressions or his body language. He does this to presuade people to go along with what he is saying. I don't see the newscasters on NBC CBS ABC or CNN having to do this to keep an audience. And why is it that Fox according to you is the only news show that gets it right? You can't tell me that all the others are getting it wrong. I have seen different film bites of the same thing like the march in D C and each channel shows it a different way.

Glen Beck has a best seller doesn't mean that because he sold a lot of books those that bought the book believe in what he is writing. I buy books to read and don't believe everything I read.

If you got the talent to write anyone can write a best seller. There's a book series about vampires written by Stephanie Meyer and she sold so many books they have made 2 movies from her books. Now I have read her books, but I don't believe in Vampires. lol !

What Glen Beck should do is have a panel of guests on his show that have different points of view and see what happens. Then I might watch his show longer then 5 minutes.

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Thu, Oct 1, 2009, at 10:15 AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/world/middleeast/02nuke.html?_r=1&hp

-- Posted by DaveThompson on Thu, Oct 1, 2009, at 9:04 PM
FYI, I checked FOX news (http://www.foxnews.com/index.html)and as of 03:12 GMT, they had still not posted a news story covering todays agreement in principle

-- Posted by DaveThompson on Thu, Oct 1, 2009, at 9:14 PM
Updated link to the NYT story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/world/middleeast/02nuke.html?ref=world

-- Posted by DaveThompson on Fri, Oct 2, 2009, at 5:50 AM

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