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Many, I fear. Too many people have never learned, or *have* forgotten the major lessons of Nuremberg, -- and they aren't all high school kids who think the Civil War had something to do with Hitler. Many are older respected writers or teachers, in their own sphere of influence, who just "don't want to go there." It's past history, not relevant to modern times, and many feel that there's a certain hysteria attached to any harking back to that time, and its long shadow over our current politics.
My father fought in WWII, and all my life I've read and heard that the downfall of the Germans was their inherent character deficiencies which led them to be unthinking followers. Looking back to that era, it's easy to say that because, as with this film, the horror of what happened is distilled into a few hours of film that sums up the major points of that era.
Paying attention to that era (and especially through a film that does not allow much room for denial) is a little like finding a monster under the bed. Better not to look. If you don't look, maybe the monster is not there. That was then; this is now.
I read Sebastian Haffner's book, "Defying Hitler," a few years ago, and in that personal memoir he recounts the *slow* descent into tyranny that happened while he lived in his land of birth. He was a German jurist, married a Jewish woman, and got out and went to England while he still could.
Here on DU, and in other venues, too many people want to put their hands over the eyes and just let that particular sleeping dog lie. But it was only 60-80 years ago, from the beginnings in the '30s to the war in the '40s, and many people are still alive who lived through it all. Try telling them that what happened back then is not relevant today.
I find it interesting that Leni Riefenstahl is mentioned in that short clip you've posted. She was someone who was interested in film. She was good at what she did. Whether she acted as Hitler's documentary filmmaker out of real support for him, or whether she could not say no, in fear of her life, she acted to further his agenda.
Years ago, I read the book "Spandau," written by Hitler's architect, Albert Speer. Like Leni Riefenstahl, he had a passion in his life -- architecture. From prison, later in life, as he was doing much soul-searching, he wrote that he wanted his name to live in the realm of architecture, and when Hitler took him on, he put aside his deepest feelings about what the man was and began designing the monumental architecture that was to serve as memorial to Hitler's reign, which would last a thousand years (modestly put). In time, though, he became Hitler's armaments minister, and was involved with the use of slave labor toward the end of the war.
In those times of peril, essentially good people were swept up in the maelstrom of war and tyranny and the personal madness of one charismatic leader. Defiance was dangerous, and most good Germans (they were as good as we are, as a people, in my opinion) just tried to lie low until the storm passed. Too many, like our Tea Partiers, were fanatically devoted to Hitler's cause -- not that they really could likely have articulated exactly what the cause was, except hating others.
Now, we are being counseled to circle the wagons, put aside our concerns and our deeply-held democratic principles, and engage in party loyalty just this one more time, to keep the devil we know in place, and the more frightening devil that is scratching at the window, out. There is a certain wisdom in that counsel, and it's coming from the likes of Bernard Weiner, who posts here, and other luminaries. But Mr. Weiner appeals to our inherent intelligence in his articles, rather than engaging in divisive "with us or against us" rhetoric which is the stuff of the schoolyard bully. If we Democrats are simply a mob that needs the stern instruction of those who would be leaders, we are lost already.
I have been amazed to see that meme take hold (here on DU and out there in the country at large) that suggests that input from concerned citizens who have toiled long in political fields, and are intelligent enough and old enough to have earned some respect, when expressing their alarm over our loss of our freedoms, and with regard to the limp-wristed performance of our elected Dems, are said to be whining because they "didn't get all they wanted." The frequent references here to people "having a tantrum" when they post comments that express those concerns, speak to the level to which our political discourse/dialogue has sunk.
Demagoguery, whether through speech or the written word, is a signpost pointing to an America where too many have forgotten the lessons of history, of Nuremberg, and the very important issue of The Power of One. When joing forces with a crowd, integrity demands that the individual dissect the message being promulgated, and make a personal critical decision about whether to follow -- or not. Many times in history, a leader or a party has managed to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. When someone with historical memory offers wise perspective, and dares to complain about the deficiencies in our current leadership, they should be honored, not lectured and demeaned to the point of going away.
The person who first invited me to DU (and gave me my name, PuebloKnot) wrote to Obama with his last post (or among the last posts here) that the Nuremberg Chalice was now at his lips. That man no longer posts here. And his voice was one of the most intelligent and passionate about our beloved country.
Take away voices of dissent and you have a compliant mob.
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