They didn't have the internet, social media or a hundred different ways of communicating with groups of like minded people back then. In the 1930s, the only people you talked to were the people you met in person.
Today we can talk, discuss, organize and vent with people all over the globe in real time. But it also means we are bombarded with too much information, disinformation, misinformation and complete nonsense.
It doesn't mean it's better or worse. It just means that it will be different. Whether that will be good or bad ... I don't know.
There’s a news article circulating that some Cincinnati citizens stopped their commute to take and burn a Nazi flag being waved around at a Nazi rally “demonstration” and effectively disbanded it while other Nazis cops were just standing by.
While the news and internet may try to push a narrative of hopelessness and inaction, there are acts of resistance being taken even if they’re not formally organized. Scraps of hope are still hope.
And the fact that we can communicate all that amongst ourselves means that we are all supporting one another against the far right.
The people in 1930s Germany fought a lonely fight because they thought they were the only ones. People, especially young people, today are more confident because they know there are allies everywhere in the world.
An dieser Stelle möchte ich schnell Erfolg von Lion Feuchtwanger empfehlen. War keine Schullektüre in der BRD, hätte es aber sein sollen. Ein wunderschönes, wichtiges Buch über die Entstehung des Nationalsozialismus. Ein historischer Roman mit dem Unterschied, tatsächlich in jener Zeit geschrieben worden zu sein.
The great thing today is communication and connection. I don't speak German and I am nowhere in Europe, I'm in the middle of nowhere in Canada, yet I can instantly translate and understand your message and answer back. And everyone that reads this can do the same if they wanted to.
Not just that, we also have an insight into global politics and ideas and movements and news and information. Yes much of it is confused, manipulated, or controlled but at least we have a lot of information and if we work it enough we can access the truth of things more easily than they did in the 1930s
Those poor people in that photo never had a chance because their world and their ability to connect with others around the world was so limited.
Die Demo in unserer Stadt gestern war ein richtiger Reinfall. Waren zwar viele Leute da, aber es wurde kaum gesungen und gerufen, die Demo ist kaum in die Gänge gekommen. Letztes Jahr war besser bei weniger Leuten. Aber unsere Schilder waren cool!