SLD
Contributor
Hitler and Trump - a comparison
I read an article basically saying how dare you compare Trump to hitler! Hitler was a genocidal maniac and Trump isn’t. The problem is that Hitler in 1933 wasn’t a genocidal maniac either. That came 8 years later in 1941 and only picked up in 1943, ten years after Hitler came to power.
Had you accused Hitler of being what he became in 1933, you would’ve been laughed out of the room. But the signs were there. No one recognized them. Will Trump do the same with undocumented immigrants playing the part of the Jews? Effectively try to exterminate 11 million people?
Most would say no. But I’m tired of predicting that Trump will moderate his behavior. He’s proven time and again to go beyond the bounds of decency. I would not put it past him to effectively implement concentration camps for undocumented immigrants and to round up both immigrants and citizens in such a campaign.
Will he go so far as to kill such people? I don’t know. I just know that the holocaust didn’t happen overnight. It was built via small steps at a time. Starting with a boycott of Jewish businesses shortly after Hitler took power and after he was able to secure a suspension of civil rights in March of 33.
But how did he do it? Simple. He used violence and the threat of it to establish himself as the one person who could bring order. And he did it without ever winning a majority in the Reichstag. His share of seats peaked at 44% in March 1933. He then just co-opted the other right wing parties. He managed to co opt the Catholics into his government through the concordat. He got the trade unions behind him via a promise to have a May Labor Day holiday that they had always wanted. He arrested thousands of communists and social democrats. He raided their offices with his storm troopers and simply looted their funds. He pressured other right wing parties to either dissolve or join him. He even threatened a blood bath against them if they resisted. Other leaders simply were murdered on suspicious circumstances. By July 1933 all other parties were outlawed.
He also ruthlessly purged every state and federal offices of any dissenters. But he didn’t stop there. He also took over every local club that you can imagine. Ladies clubs became subordinate to the party. Every single national voluntary association was brought under his control. By July 1933 the only two independent organizations were the churches and the Army. To save their jobs people joined the Nazis en masse. The Brownshirts tripled in size.
All non Nazi newspapers were brought under control or forced to fold. Journalist unions were placed under Nazi control - voluntarily.
Hitler consolidated power a year later in the Night of the Long Knives when he simply swept away the SA leadership having them shot without trial or mercy. He did that because he was threatened by Hindenburg and Field Marshall Bloomberg that if he didn’t the Army would take over. Such an action had never taken place in hundreds of years of German history, the out and out murder of hundreds of people, with no trial, no court martial, just line them up and shoot them. Yet it met with overwhelming approval by the German people. On July 13th, 1934, Hitler addressed the Reichstag, saying, “And every person should know for all time that if he raises his hand to strike out at the state, certain death will be his lot.” Anyone who dared to criticize was immediately arrested. And they loved him for it.
Could Trump do the same? Presently there are laws prohibiting the termination of public employees for political purposes. There are appeal rights through Boards and Courts that are supposed to protect federal employee rights. A significant change in the law would be required to implement his vision. Democrats would filibuster but Trump might demand an end to it and the Republican Party may fall into line. The threat of crossing Trump may be too much for them to resist. A complete repudiation of all civil servant protections though may be unconstitutional based on present rulings.
But Trump officials could effectively undermine those rights regardless. He could fire quite a few and expect the rest to fall in line. It takes money and time to file these claims. When you find yourself unemployed you won’t be able to pay an attorney even if you are likely to win. The mere threat of termination will undeniably cower many into line. It already does in fact.
Trump could challenge previous constitutional protections through to the Supreme Court. Those decisions are from the 80’s. None of the judges from then are around. The conservative court may indeed undermine some of those protections. But I think it would be reluctant to completely overturn them. I think even conservative judges will jealously guard their own power. I hope so.
The question then is whether he could undermine the 2026 midterm elections. Hitler used a lot of violence to destroy all other parties. He ransacked offices and looted funds and property. He jailed en masse opposition leadership. Trump probably can’t do that. People in Berlin supported Hitler. People in DC and Northern Virginia will take to the streets. Protests and resistance would be key to stopping him if he attempted to do anything that Hitler tried. Hitler had an organized paramilitary ready to do his bidding. Trump doesn’t. At a minimum any takeover will happen much slower than in Germany.
Control over the media is also difficult in a diffuse media. There wasn’t even television back then, much less the internet. Only radio and newspapers. Journalists voluntarily submitted their union to Nazi leadership. There are no journalist unions now.
But Trump could consider threatening broadcast licenses. He already silenced the Washington Post and the LA Times both of which are controlled by billionaires with other assets they need protecting. Expect them to continue to toe the line. The New York Times is not controlled by such but by its original family and it’s their only real asset. The Guardian is also independent.
But Trump may try to control them through internet access. He could force Google and Facebook to lower their rankings in search engines. What if he forced Zuckerberg to censor opposition newspapers by threatening antitrust action? Same with Google.
Can Trump have a night of the long knives in America? Maybe there’s a crisis, a manufactured one, and Congress refuses to act. Will he sweep in and arrest Democratic leaders, shooting some? Probably not. There’s no SS equivalent that would do his bidding. But we cannot be complacent. The only way to truly stop him is to protest him, to force him back and in cities throughout the country. The power of the people can be a sufficient deterrent. If he knows he will meet resistance, he will back away. Hitler was no dummy. He paid close attention to what people were saying and thinking. He modified his policies where necessary.
I don’t expect a true night of the long knives style coup. It’s more the slow roll of autocracy, like Putin. Perhaps he just lets open violence against his opponents to go unchecked and uses the power of the pardon or simply failing to investigate. He hopes others will fall into line. Will they? That’s a real unknown.
Will he ultimately turn to genocide, this time against 11 million “illegal” immigrants instead of Jews? I don’t think he would. But I doubt anyone was saying that about Hitler and the Jews in 1933. I think it is fair to compare the two. You can be offended. Fuck ‘em.
I will close this essay with a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer: "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." We may need his example to guide us in the years to come.
I read an article basically saying how dare you compare Trump to hitler! Hitler was a genocidal maniac and Trump isn’t. The problem is that Hitler in 1933 wasn’t a genocidal maniac either. That came 8 years later in 1941 and only picked up in 1943, ten years after Hitler came to power.
Had you accused Hitler of being what he became in 1933, you would’ve been laughed out of the room. But the signs were there. No one recognized them. Will Trump do the same with undocumented immigrants playing the part of the Jews? Effectively try to exterminate 11 million people?
Most would say no. But I’m tired of predicting that Trump will moderate his behavior. He’s proven time and again to go beyond the bounds of decency. I would not put it past him to effectively implement concentration camps for undocumented immigrants and to round up both immigrants and citizens in such a campaign.
Will he go so far as to kill such people? I don’t know. I just know that the holocaust didn’t happen overnight. It was built via small steps at a time. Starting with a boycott of Jewish businesses shortly after Hitler took power and after he was able to secure a suspension of civil rights in March of 33.
But how did he do it? Simple. He used violence and the threat of it to establish himself as the one person who could bring order. And he did it without ever winning a majority in the Reichstag. His share of seats peaked at 44% in March 1933. He then just co-opted the other right wing parties. He managed to co opt the Catholics into his government through the concordat. He got the trade unions behind him via a promise to have a May Labor Day holiday that they had always wanted. He arrested thousands of communists and social democrats. He raided their offices with his storm troopers and simply looted their funds. He pressured other right wing parties to either dissolve or join him. He even threatened a blood bath against them if they resisted. Other leaders simply were murdered on suspicious circumstances. By July 1933 all other parties were outlawed.
He also ruthlessly purged every state and federal offices of any dissenters. But he didn’t stop there. He also took over every local club that you can imagine. Ladies clubs became subordinate to the party. Every single national voluntary association was brought under his control. By July 1933 the only two independent organizations were the churches and the Army. To save their jobs people joined the Nazis en masse. The Brownshirts tripled in size.
All non Nazi newspapers were brought under control or forced to fold. Journalist unions were placed under Nazi control - voluntarily.
Hitler consolidated power a year later in the Night of the Long Knives when he simply swept away the SA leadership having them shot without trial or mercy. He did that because he was threatened by Hindenburg and Field Marshall Bloomberg that if he didn’t the Army would take over. Such an action had never taken place in hundreds of years of German history, the out and out murder of hundreds of people, with no trial, no court martial, just line them up and shoot them. Yet it met with overwhelming approval by the German people. On July 13th, 1934, Hitler addressed the Reichstag, saying, “And every person should know for all time that if he raises his hand to strike out at the state, certain death will be his lot.” Anyone who dared to criticize was immediately arrested. And they loved him for it.
Could Trump do the same? Presently there are laws prohibiting the termination of public employees for political purposes. There are appeal rights through Boards and Courts that are supposed to protect federal employee rights. A significant change in the law would be required to implement his vision. Democrats would filibuster but Trump might demand an end to it and the Republican Party may fall into line. The threat of crossing Trump may be too much for them to resist. A complete repudiation of all civil servant protections though may be unconstitutional based on present rulings.
But Trump officials could effectively undermine those rights regardless. He could fire quite a few and expect the rest to fall in line. It takes money and time to file these claims. When you find yourself unemployed you won’t be able to pay an attorney even if you are likely to win. The mere threat of termination will undeniably cower many into line. It already does in fact.
Trump could challenge previous constitutional protections through to the Supreme Court. Those decisions are from the 80’s. None of the judges from then are around. The conservative court may indeed undermine some of those protections. But I think it would be reluctant to completely overturn them. I think even conservative judges will jealously guard their own power. I hope so.
The question then is whether he could undermine the 2026 midterm elections. Hitler used a lot of violence to destroy all other parties. He ransacked offices and looted funds and property. He jailed en masse opposition leadership. Trump probably can’t do that. People in Berlin supported Hitler. People in DC and Northern Virginia will take to the streets. Protests and resistance would be key to stopping him if he attempted to do anything that Hitler tried. Hitler had an organized paramilitary ready to do his bidding. Trump doesn’t. At a minimum any takeover will happen much slower than in Germany.
Control over the media is also difficult in a diffuse media. There wasn’t even television back then, much less the internet. Only radio and newspapers. Journalists voluntarily submitted their union to Nazi leadership. There are no journalist unions now.
But Trump could consider threatening broadcast licenses. He already silenced the Washington Post and the LA Times both of which are controlled by billionaires with other assets they need protecting. Expect them to continue to toe the line. The New York Times is not controlled by such but by its original family and it’s their only real asset. The Guardian is also independent.
But Trump may try to control them through internet access. He could force Google and Facebook to lower their rankings in search engines. What if he forced Zuckerberg to censor opposition newspapers by threatening antitrust action? Same with Google.
Can Trump have a night of the long knives in America? Maybe there’s a crisis, a manufactured one, and Congress refuses to act. Will he sweep in and arrest Democratic leaders, shooting some? Probably not. There’s no SS equivalent that would do his bidding. But we cannot be complacent. The only way to truly stop him is to protest him, to force him back and in cities throughout the country. The power of the people can be a sufficient deterrent. If he knows he will meet resistance, he will back away. Hitler was no dummy. He paid close attention to what people were saying and thinking. He modified his policies where necessary.
I don’t expect a true night of the long knives style coup. It’s more the slow roll of autocracy, like Putin. Perhaps he just lets open violence against his opponents to go unchecked and uses the power of the pardon or simply failing to investigate. He hopes others will fall into line. Will they? That’s a real unknown.
Will he ultimately turn to genocide, this time against 11 million “illegal” immigrants instead of Jews? I don’t think he would. But I doubt anyone was saying that about Hitler and the Jews in 1933. I think it is fair to compare the two. You can be offended. Fuck ‘em.
I will close this essay with a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer: "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." We may need his example to guide us in the years to come.
