Andrew Katz
1 min readJul 10, 2021

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Remind me, who was on the front lines opposing the Nazis rise to power? Great Britain? France? They had their own fascist parties to contend with. The USSR? Again, no.

Hitler was not revered in the US. Prior to WWII he was respected for bringing Germany out of its worst economic crisis. National Socialism was seen as bulwark against the spread of Bolshevism. Yes, many corporations did business in Germany, such as GM or IBM. Time Magazine's [then] Man of the Year epitomized the leader with the power for good or ill in the coming year. Given the influence of WWII on world history & the 20th century I would consider him a strong contender for Person of the Century (though I believe Churchill would be a better choice). That isn't honoring him.

The American people were well aware of the Nazis anti-semitism & brutality. Krystallnacht was notorious here. Though at the same people Americans were still united against intervening in yet another looming European war. Given our experience in the Great War, it's hard to blame them. American anti-interventionism is probably a classic example of being wrong for all the right reasons.

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Andrew Katz
Andrew Katz

Written by Andrew Katz

LA born & raised, now I live upstate. I hate snow. I write on healthcare, politics & history. Hobbies are woodworking & singing Xmas carols with nonsense lyrics

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