Twitter account memorializes Holocaust victims turned away from America in 1939

I used to tbink this was a low point for the US. But now the bar has been lowered significantly.

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It just illustrates that some learn from past mistakes, others don’t…

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Indeed.

Germany’s supreme constitutional court has rejected a proposed ban on a far-right party accused of neo-Nazi links because its members are deemed too ineffective to pose a real threat to democracy.

Also:

Far-right “Combat 18” militants have managed to set up structures in several German states despite a nationwide ban, German media have reported. Still, authorities do not see grounds to launch an investigation.

What’s the worst that can happen? It’s just a fringe element.

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Thanks for making my point. I don’t think banning political parties is an instrument a democracy should implement willy-nilly.

Btw you forgot to quote the paragraph corresponding to header in the DW article. Unintentionally I guess…

Federal security services and prosecutors keep the group’s activities under observation, according to the report. At the same time, the prosecutors’ office sees no grounds to start an investigation on the issue.

Voting a racist Warmonger for head of state? Voting to leave an organization that provided stability, peace and prosperity for more than half a century?

[quote=“FFabian, post:12, topic:93916, full:true”]
I don’t think banning political parties is an instrument a democracy should implement willy-nilly.[/quote]

Nor do I. Until recently, Germany hasn’t been willy-nilly about banning neo-Nazi parties and going after right-wing militants. That because they recalled the last time the democratic establishment deemed a right-wing ultra-nationalist and racist party “too ineffective to pose a real threat” and recalled the last time they let fascist militants form chapters around the country without launching criminal investigations.

So we agree, it seems that Germany, like America, doesn’t learn from past mistakes.

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Not at all. You changed the Topic. As the topic are refugees: Quick do tell me who banned a religious group (and suggested that a special register is needed for the same group) recently and who took over a million of said group in?

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The topic I was working off of was your statement that “It just illustrates that some learn from past mistakes, others don’t…”, which I think you’ll agree applies generally in the world’s current toxic atmosphere of anti-immigrant bigotry and right-wing populism. America not taking in refugees due to religion like it didn’t during the St. Louis incident is certainly one example. I just provided a helpful and related current example from Germany.

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… and I think I refuted your assertion. Perhaps you should go an read the article you quoted again.

Disenfranchisement of human rights on a massive scale is a recent trend in the USA where the Immigration Ban is just the tip of the iceberg: death penalty, torture, mass surveillance, secret courts, militarism, extrajudicial killings, police violence etc

I do think regarding those aforementioned issues there is a disparity visible.

I did read the article, and no you didn’t refute my assertion regarding not learning from history at all.

The first part of my assertion is that, given earlier circumstances, West Germany and later unified Germany was wise to ban neo-Nazi and other far-right ultra-nationalist parties and militias, lest they see another warmonger who rejects international co-operation and engages in the death penalty, torture, mass surveillance, secret courts, militarism, extrajudicial killings, police violence etc come to power again.

The two articles support the second part of my assertion, that the postwar view now seems to be going out the window in German government circles, allowing some nasty right-wing populist and anti-immigrant parties back into the political mix.

But hey, if you think that all the German government needs to do is observe cells of fascist thugs and not investigate them, I’m sure it’ll work out just fine, just like it did during the Weimar Republic.

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Berlin banned “Combat 18” in 2000, while also banning its mother organization “Blood & Honour,” the neo-Nazi association active all over Europe.

Several weeks later, the police raided a far-right gathering in the central state of Thuringia, reportedly arresting four members of the “Blood & Honour Südthüringen” organization.

Federal security services and prosecutors keep the group’s activities under observation

Btw Combat 18 / Blood & Honor is no political party.

Twitter’s kind of fun right now. I’ve been on there for a little while but it’s only recently I started getting it.

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Which is why I keep referring them as right-wing or fascist militias. As opposed to the NPD, which is a political party.

My view of the fascist militias is that, even more than in 2000, they need to be actively investigated rather than just observed. The current atmosphere of anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe and the emboldening of bigots there due to the victory of their comrades in the U.S. means that they’re about to crawl out from under their rocks again.

And unfortunately, this time parties like the NPD and AfD will be able to provide a channel for them to express themselves in elections and insinuate themselves into the political life of the country.

This resurgence of right-wing authoritarianism and its attendant bigotry is an international problem. Since 1945 Germany has taken a leading role in pushing back due to its unique experience of fascism, but recently its resolve seems to be wavering.

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Possibly a misunderstanding. The Verfassungsschutz (among others) is responsible for “observing” terroristic groups. “Beobachtet durch den Verfassungsschutz” (observed by the Verfassungsschutz) is a fixed/common term and means “investigated”. The Verfassungschutz is known for its tendency to infiltrate such groups.

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I can definitely see confusion over translation here. I hope the German government now moves to actively prosecuting these militias out of existence before it’s too late.

So powerful. Pay attention America.

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They still do from time to time. Hotel Rwanda was a similarly chilling reflection on “we could have helped stop this horror and didn’t.”

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My name is Michael. I am jewish.

 According to my family history, my grandmother and her family came over to Canada on one of the last boats from Europe.   The next boat full of Jewish refugees were turned back because Canada developed a "none is too many" attitude, and they were killed.

When I heard about this Muslim ban, I got furious and I remember my grandmother's story and  know I should do something to help people in the same boat.

Being jewish means nothing if you do not remember what happened to us in the diaspora and use that to strengthen your resolve to fight persecution and make the world a better place.
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A third of my wife’s family is Paraguayan via Panama from a journey like this. At least everyone didn’t turn their backs.

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Quick story, hopefully relevant. My son’s best friend, who lives in a Southern US town, had a debate in his 8th grade class. Let’s call his friend Tahoe because I’m still reading romance novels for research to hopefully write my own some day and you wouldn’t believe the names. Anyway, Tahoe has a German mother and an American father and he’s been raised on both continents.

The debate was about the confederate flag in the US. Tahoe’s opponent was Vicious (seriously, another name I’ve encountered during “research”).

Vicious: I display the confederate flag to honor my forefathers.
Tahoe: My forefathers were Nazis. We don’t honor that flag.

So succinct, from my son’s 14-year-old friend. The Confederate flag, the swastika, whatever Trump is waving – We. Don’t. Honor. That.

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