Politics - News Analysis

Anne Frank’s Step-Sister Shares Memories of the Holocaust and Compares Trump to Hitler

We want to note two things right up top.

One, it is very dangerous to compare anyone to Hitler. It is so extreme and has become the modern example of the worst of humanity. Comparisons, in our minds, cheapen the memory of Hitler’s victims. After all, our Jewish family members that perished in World War II would certainly argue that “No,” Donald Trump is not like Hitler. So we must be careful in making the comparison.

But second, the comparison is incomplete because the U.S. government had stronger institutional strength to contain Trump’s worst impulses. We have very little doubt that had Trump led a Russian-style government or a Saddam-style government, he would have been every bit as cruel as Putin or Saddam. While it is true that Putin and Saddam have certainly oppressed their citizens to the point of prison and worse, with the Kurds as the best example, they didn’t approach Hitler’s abuses. Only Stalin is in the same context.

We see Trump as capable of Putin-Saddam abuses but held back by the consequences imposed by American institutional strength. And, let’s face it, one cannot acquire that amount of power without a willingness to risk one’s own life. Trump wasn’t willing to risk his life. He wasn’t even willing to “risk” jail – he just figured that he’s never been caught and jailed before, why start worrying now?

The Daily Beast published an interview with Eva Schloss, a Holocaust survivor and the stepsister of Anne Frank who talked about the similarities between Trump and Hitler:

Trump wasn’t just against the Jews — he was against the Mexicans, and many others.

“He was a racist. Full-stop, he was a racist. His son-in-law is a Jew, and his daughter converted to Judaism. You know, he’s said so many silly things. I’ve compared him to Hitler. I even heard that he studied Hitler’s speeches and things like that, so he obviously admired Hitler and just copied him with his anti-Semitism. The Muslims are hated as well.

“This is what’s so wrong in our society — white supremacy. We should all treat each other as equal. We’re just one human race — different colors, different religions, different opinions, but all human beings who should have the same opportunities and should be measured equally.”

On those observations, we couldn’t agree more. Remember, almost 250 years of institutional strength held Trump back from his worst impulses. Without those? Scary to contemplate.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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