KRISTALLNACHT
August 16, 2017
German factions of the Nazi Party worked for years in order to create a way to classify Jews in Germany, and in nearby countries, as something different and less than human. This program to separate, and then denigrate, an entire social group, like the Jews comprised, was a staggeringly successful campaign. One night when things became violent the thugs of White Supremacy swept through cities and towns across the entire country, breaking windows and entering Jewish residences of all kinds. The assaults were likened to the shattering sound of crystal breaking everywhere. The initial sweep was conducted at night. The German words of kristall (crystal) and nacht (night) were combined and became the now familiar word kristallnacht; understandable in the English language, at least to generations gone by.
Kristallnacht: Also known as The Night of the Broken Glass. On this night, November 9, 1938, almost 200 synagogues were destroyed, over 8,000 Jewish shops were sacked and looted, and tens of thousands of Jews were removed to concentration camps.
The act of alienating part of the Germany’s population and declaring the Jews less than human ultimately resulted in millions of Jews being executed, millions of Germans being killed in war and a stain being indelibly imprinted into and upon anything considered German on the planet.
The move against the Jews was considered to be racist. Color was a minor part of the description given to Jews. Their facial features were generalized and determined to be universal to the “race.” Religion was removed from any definition of being Jewish. The definition of a Jew had to be deeper. What we see in cultures across the world today is not much different. Through history the same kind of alienation has been attempted against others. The “Japs” in WWII, the “gooks” in Vietnam, the “Huns” in Germany and many more. Race is supposed to be indicative of color but it’s not really. Orientals are not really yellow. American Indians are not red, not all black people are black, and few white people are really white by any means. But racism is not really about the color of one’s skin. Race is a way to isolate an individual from another, and to also isolate a group. That isolated group then can be minimized, denigrated and eventually denied ownership in any number of ways that the people from another group victimizing them might want.
This new racism, like the old racism, is about competition and the generalizing of a competing segment of the population in order to get rid of those competitors. Race is not a truthful subject, and neither is this vastly cruel and harsh competition for ownership of everything on the planet. Racial, and other forms of competitive naming, excluding and even executing of other competing groups is never discussed as being just that. The group being denigrated or attacked is always considered to have caused the action being brought against it.
Allele Property Ownership stems from the word allodia, which in old English times meant “owned by the crown and free from such obligations as rent or services due to an overlord.” Everything early on was owned by the king or an authority similar to that. The ruling authority then passed on down permission for more common people under rule to hold properties for a fee. That process morphed into the phrase ‘fee simple,’ used today to indicate owning real estate free and clear from all other claims, except for those of debt holders and taxing authorities. This property system, extending over into almost everything a human being might use, hold, encounter or even be in or on, has permeated every civilized culture on earth. When you are born everything is already owned when you get here. Your ‘ownership’ of anything at all is determined by what property your parents and other relatives are going to cede, assuming you survive long enough to somehow gain your own property.
Racism, the kind being illustrated recently by what happened in Charlottesville, is an example of this kind of “typing” in order to exclude, designate and denigrate. White Supremacists (and they are not the only racist groups around), seek to gain more stuff of all kinds, by taking it from others who’ve been gotten rid of for a multitude of reasons, none of which include members of the denigrating and dominating group admitting anything close to truth. Racism is nothing more or less than an anthropological tool to ‘purify’ those in one power base or structure. “Purity” is always the haven of all racists. That there is no reality to such arguments has no meaning. It is their argument and they will kill you over defending what it is and isn’t. There’s an expression: “you can’t fix stupid.” There should be an expression that follows that, as well, “you can’t tell stupid that it’s stupid, or stupid will kill you.”
The next time you look at a member of a minority of any kind, from the disabled, to the poor, to belonging to a different “race,” remember your own reaction to any feelings you might hold as to what you might want or have, and what you might have more of, or any of, if others didn’t already have it. It is much easier in this grand competition of life to eliminate the competition, rather than to try to out-perform it. When you see a member of any other race, and racism is primarily a function of seeing, then think about the fact that if you are feeling negative about that person, or the group he or she might be from, then you may well be thinking either about what they have that you might want or that they might be after something you already have. The Germans minimized, denigrated and eventually dehumanized the Jews. Don’t ever forget that after they killed them they took all their stuff, up to and including fillings in their teeth.
Your Thoughts Below
Well James, it seems as though ‘our generation’ has come around and matured, or let’s hope most have, to the point of realizing all that ‘stuff’ we held as young men to be truth self-evident was merely a wisp of smoke soon blown away and reality replaced it, hard and fast. I wonder daily how the ‘young’uns’ of today will fair in the future. Will they fall quickly and quietly in the night or will they survive and move forward with a new look at this world and the variety of man in it.
Thanks Carl. Nobody does good in a combat zone. The technology has changed but the stories
coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan are little different than mine in many respects, if you can find guys and gals willing to
talk truth.
Semper fi,
Jim
Excellent commentary and on point. Thank you for this. Thank you for continuing to be always faithful to the ideals that are what this country is supposed to embrace. Semper Fi!
Thanks Jack, I do try to lay it down the way it is and the way I see it happening. Trying to come to results that make sense
when the society seems sometimes to have gone off the deep end is tough but worth the effort I believe.
Thanks for your kind comment and great compliment….
Semper fi,
Jim
Dam LT. you nailed that on the head. if people in this country don’t start waking up all that we fought for is wasted
The country has a lot of inertia so I think it will be all right, but
there is trouble not far up ahead if those polarization of extremes keeps being
illustrated more and more by a media that simply must have the viewers and will do
anything to get them.
Semper fi,
Jim
It has been well said, that History for each generation begins when they are born. My take is that this unfortunate truism is worsened by an education system occupied by one of those groups that feels its views and opinions are the only truth. Thus, all inconvenient histoical facts are ignored or bastardized to meet their world view. And without a true unbiased teaching of all history as it actually happened we have a citizenry ill prepared to deal with the inevetible collisions of cultures, and mores different from those imparted to them. In my experience I was, unfortunately for the students I was to watch over that day, forced to read a couple of sentences from a Texas 9th grade History book which I will try to recall now as accurately as I read it. “Napalm was used in Vietnam to remove jungle foliage so that the enemy could be seen.” James, you know the facts as regards the use of Napalm. I took the opportunity to tell those kids the truth about this weapon. To this day I pray I did not warp a fragile mind, but truth is truth, ugly or not.
We are in a long nasty fight for the Christian heritage of this nation, and to this day no one fears tell the darker side of Christian history, while hiding the insults upon mankind in the name of other deities.
May you be blessed to continue in your service to your community and Nation. Poppa
Intense and deep, as usual, Poppa. Yes, in the name of ideology and ‘what’s right’ and more, terrible things are done
in war with napalm being one of those things. Never designed to be herbicidal at all but portrayed that way…similar to
redefining torture to be some kind of mild discomfort or control device. We live on a spinning ball of deception, some of
the deception much worse than other deceptions. Thanks for pointing out that one again…
Semper fi, your friend,
Jim
I must admit that when napalm worked against the enemy I liked it although nobody wanted to go into an area where it’s been
successfully used.
Had a few patients danger close that made it to Clark. I seems in my memory most made a longer trip to places like Brook Army Burn Center in San Antonio. They moved our dialysis operation up to that Ward, but I didn’t quite get over sights and odors. Thanks for hearing my heart. Poppa
Thanks Poppa. For filling in with your heart!!!
Semper fi,
Jim
I grew up listening to Dad and Mom, Aunts and Uncles and a variety of friends, talk about what the Nazi did to people not Jewish, but a number of prisoners and some Nazi personal and all was horrible, stupid reasons. Even when I was in Germany I ran into Nazi sympathizers off an on the whole time I was there. But also most Germans were still wanting to apologize; usually we or I didn’t have a choice.
I heard about soldiers whose orders were to shoot the person if they failed to do what was assigned them.
I pulled Guard Duty one particular night I noticed a group of people walking on side of road they seemed
to take a lot of interest in the Army post eventually walking up to me wanting to know if they could look around.
I said no, they were not authorized, then wanted to know what was in the buildings so I said there was a large number of soldiers sleeping or relaxing in the area ,then they ask why I had a gun.
My Rifle is to keep out people that try to get in and harm those inside, you would shoot us for trying to get past you,
so I said in a heartbeat I would. It was WOW, no one told us we could get hurt or killed.
So I asked why they were there and asking the questions you were, they told me were part of the Bonner Mienholf gang
It was a collage graduate try to stir up trouble that talked them into going to all the Army post and cause trouble.
I talked them out of doing any thing as we soldiers were not taking jobs away from them and even
created jobs for citizens in there own country.
I still believe I prevented trouble in the area even, bluffing about shooting them as I had no ammo for my 16.
A week latter that gang tried at another base which ended poorly for them, I believe all got some jail time .
That is how easily people can be talked into or out of doing harm to others in the name of we are being depressed.
The Baader-Meinhof gang is back Bill, if you haven’t heard. Never went away entirely I guess.
I encountered some elements in Austria when I was CIA back in 1986. Little more than nasty
prank pulling college students with a decidedly violent bend to them then. They got worse, as you know.
Thanks for your personal experience and the story you just told on here. Fascinating…
Semper fi,
Jim
Definetly am going to repost this, In hopes it sinks in some groups of people
Thanks Jim, for the repost and for the support on this issue.
Semper fi,
Jim
Thanks for putting this here so that I could access it. I keep up with your “30 Days” and have commented a couple of times. I am pretty busy with life but usually find time to read at least 3 hr per day. Like I have said your writing is among the best. I have thought about asking on your “30 Days” comments did you have any of McNamara’s Morons in your company (I feel sure I knew two during my three years in the corps) and what do you think about “An Enormous Crime”? If you do not want to respond that is ok. If doning so gives you a bit of a break from the stress of “3o Days” I would like to know what you think.
Yes, I had several “project 100,000′ Marines in the company. That they could not read or write
wasn’t the biggest problem. So many of them were functionally disabled either emotionally or
intellectually. It was worse for them than for us because we did not always have the time to
keep them alive. And that didn’t feel very good for the rest of us either….
Semper fi,
Jim
your editorial expresses well the intimate thoughts of those who lived through the depression, Great War,and future conflicts that were forced by economic pressure to see people as people,in spite of long held sectional and racial differences.It has been a long,hard,thankless war of mutual acceptance, and I fear the country has entered a retrograde movement. Keep up the good work and perhaps our next generation will seek cohesiveness and at least acceptance of each other.
Yes, Tom. The country has been in a slide for some time, but that is part of the evolutionary process of civilization.
When things go extremely well then a few figure out how to steal just about everything and things decline for awhile
again. Living in a decline is difficult because we humans tend to see things as continuing once they begin. Things will
change again but it’s a tough wait when you came into the culture when things were flying…
Semper fi,
Jim
Very good editorial. If we are to grow in our humanity we have to welcome all people into our circle. Back about 1973 or 74 and out of the Army a couple years I heard an old Missionary say something I have never forgotten. It was, “If you can’t love the black man across town, how can you love the black man across the ocean?”
Race is tough because of competition. Easy to isolate from sight and then alienate and then
overcome…been going on since humans began moving about the planet and being effected by conditions
differently…
Semper fi,
Jim
It seems like the “IN” reaction. Created by the MSM to farther break down society as we have come to know it in our historical context. I don’t subscribe to extremists from either side. But if you are being peaceful with permits etc. Then you have the right in this country to voice your beliefs in public. Am I wrong? From what I could gather the white supremacists had that right and they were put upon by paid rabble rousers with helmets and clubs. After that with the police exhibited no control whatsoever it esca late into a full blown riot. So that’s my take. Right or wrong.
I understand Rt. We are all products of the information we get and then your interpretation of it.
I was expounding upon the results if racial disparity gets out of hand…
and I was particularly attacking the demonstrations of horrid junk dredged up from the past
without regard to free speech provisions built into the Constitution.
I support these free speech provisions strongly and was not going against them. No protestors
killed anybody and that can’t be said of the supposedly peaceful presenters of their view.
Semepr fi, and thanks for giving it to us straight from the shoulder…
Jim
you LT are a author. for years I have said (you cant fix stupid) the other phrase (you cant tell stupid that’s it stupid or stupid will kill you) been seeing that on a daily basis. thanks for a good read going to shear it
Thanks Billy, means a lot…
Semper fi,
Jim
An excellent article, very profound. James this needs to be shared around the world.Right now we need it more than ever right here at home
Ed.
Thanks for sharing Edwin. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to get noticed or have a voice at all
outside of just a few. Just the way the competitive system of communications works, and has always worked.
Appreciate the comment a whole lot though…
Semper fi,
Jim
Thank you James, as in all of your writing, you make sense and put things in a very understandable context. I appreciate that. I did not however know you were so close by in Lake Geneva.Chris
Thanks Chris. Appreciate the compliment and you writing it on here…
Semper fi,
Jim