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Monday, September 19, 2022

The U.S. and The Holocaust of PBS

This powerful series is--as are all Ken Burns' documentaries--gripping and horrifying to watch.  The stories are monumentally heartbreaking.

Over and over, I see similarities between that era and our own rising anti-Semitism, racism, excessive control, banning of books that don't comport with the views of those who want to decide what children learn, a widely held espousal of eugenics, greed and murderous hate.

We may have long deluded ourselves that such a Holocaust can't happen here, yet just this week we have seen pictures of Q Anon followers saluting Trump, their arms held out exactly like followers of Hitler's. We've seen thugs in the capitol trying to take back the government for their leader who lost the election.  We've heard about refugees from Venezuela being lied to and flown to other states.

The three part series exposes many things I didn't know--for example, Charles and Anne Morrow Lindberg's sympathies for the Nazis.  Anne Morrow Lindbergh, whose book Gift From the Sea inspired American readers, believed that Hitler was "a great man." 



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