Fascism 1945
ELECTION INFORMATION: Minnesota related; and National information.
Just this morning I learned of the Army Talk #64 referenced in the photo below. The entire 8-page Fact Sheet is here: Fascism US Army 24 Mar 1945. The source is Heather Cox Richardson, who summarizes the below here. I would strongly recommend reading the entire eight page fact sheet. It is very enlightening.
Putting Facism on the table at this time is extraordinarily timely and pertinent. Our WWII adversaries were Fascist regimes. WWII was extraordinarily deadly including for the people of Germany, Italy and Japan.
The Fact Sheet was for soldiers. It was apparently the 64th in a series which began in 1943. The Fact Sheet publication date was about a month before Hitler ended his life (at age 56, April 30 1945); and just before Germany surrendered (May 7, 1945).
Mussolini, 61 years old, was executed Apr 28, 1945. Italy surrendered Sep 8, 1943. Japan surrendered Sep 2, 1945. Leader Tojo was hung Dec 23, 1948. He was 63. Hirohito, Emperor, was 44 at Wars end and not tried for crimes and died at 88.
For the U.S., Franklin Delano Roosevelt died of cerebral hemorrhage at age 63, April 12, 1945; and was replaced by newly inaugurated Vice-President Harry Truman, age 61.
The authors of the Fact Sheet, and the U.S. Army which published it in March, 1945, obviously had no idea whatsoever about 2024. But they knew very well the environment of WWII and days preceding. You will note in the booklet that they don’t come down hard on Russia or Communism or Stalin. That is because Russia was an ally, and had itself been brutalized by Germany. Russia and the U.S. were on the same side.
Today, people who know have sounded the alarm about the danger DJT promises if elected, and supported by Congress and Senate. What Fact Sheet 64 enumerates about 1945 is the same as what we can envision after 2024 if the Fascist candidate is elected.
Be forewarned.
Comments welcome. (I purposely include ages of the main actors above. It is surprising to me that they were all roughy the same age as the current major candidates for office in the U.S.)
POSTNOTE: Recommendation – not related to this post, but thought some of you might be interested. Saturday, we saw the new film Conclave. about the selection of the Pope. It is based on a novel, thus fictional, but as a lifelong Catholic I could identify with most every wiggle in the plot. It is food for thought. There was a good house, and everybody was paying attention. At least check it out. Suggestion: don’t try to find out how it ends till you see it for yourself. Novels aren’t real, but often are pretty reflective of reality.
COMMENTS (more at end):
from Molly: Dick, this is downright creepy/scary… arghh!
from Claude: Thanks, Dick. That attachment was so amazing that I shared it.
from Carole: Thank you. Heather Cox Richardson’s Letter is my morning go-to.
from SAK: What a coincidence your email arrived as I was about to listen to [this] BBC adaptation. It Can’t Happen Here – “based on Sinclair Lewis’ prescient 1936 satirical novel . . .” The picture on that page was taken during the “Pro-American Rally” held at Madison Square Garden, 1939. Using a search engine one can find many more pictures from that event & that time . . .
from Lois: Hi Dick – the article on Fascism was interesting – down to earth. It made me think about our democracy, lead to the Constitution and three rights – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thus, I pursued the meaning of the third and found this article in Emory U site. Good read for me and hope for you.
from Flo: Where we live, fascism is too often most promoted! It’s sickening, at the very least!
from Kathy: Thanks Dick. I heard Heather discuss. Definition sure fits today for what Trump seems to have in mind.
from Brian, some more film from New York City: Today we visited my niece Cally, and her brother, my nephew, Ben in NYC. He was up from Austin, Texas, visiting her. They had an arrangement to visit the United Nations building this afternoon. We offered to drive them there, and since we were there I decided to fly Simple Mavie the drone by the fascinating UN building! Here’s what the drone saw.
Re, the “Rally” at Madison Square Garden
Dick, Monday Oct. 28, 2024: The only portion of the Madison Square Garden “rally” I heard yesterday was a portion of Dr. Phil, on the TV downstairs, and that for only a short time (I didn’t watch any of it). At the same time, my spouse was meeting with our 98 year old friend who grew up in Nazi Germany and was near 19 when the Nazis surrendered. She has often recalled a 75 mile walk home, near starving, when she was finally released from her work. Her father, who refused to become a Nazi Party member, had been drafted – he was a road engineer – and if I recall they had last seen him around Christmas 1944. They believe he died somewhere in Russia, but this has never been confirmed. Our friend came to the United States in 1947 to marry her Gentleman Soldier who had been one of those who liberated her town. They were married 51 years. He died in 1998. I doubt that our friend watched the “rally”. I gave her an enlarged copy of the Army Talk 64 and may see her later today. Wednesday, Oct. 30: our friend read the Army Talk 64 and totally agreed with it. It precisely described Germany as she remembered it in growing up (WWII) years.
from Heather Cox Richardson, here.
from Joyce Vance, here.
from Just Above Sunset, here.
the Weekly Sift, here.
NEW: Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American October 30, 2024