Occupy25.com | Editorial Post
By Victor Laszlo

We’ve all seen the memes:
“The German people ignored Hitler’s hate.”
“They didn’t know what was coming.”

Don’t buy it.

William L. Shirer was there. He lived it. In Berlin Diary, he laid it out step by step—how the German people didn’t ignore the Nazis. They embraced them.

They cheered the rallies. They marched with the flags. They repeated the slogans. They didn’t just tolerate the hate—they made it law. They didn’t miss the signs—they wore them.

Shirer watched average Germans go all-in on fascism, because it made them feel strong, proud, and safe—even if it meant turning their backs on truth, decency, and their neighbors.

And here’s the warning he left us:
It can happen anywhere.
Especially in a country that thinks it’s too smart, too free, or too exceptional for it to happen here.

So if you think this kind of blind loyalty and hate-wrapped patriotism can’t infect the U.S., read Shirer again. We’re not immune. We’re not special. We’re one election, one movement, one strongman away.

The question is:
Will we follow the crowd like they did—or will we stand up before it’s too late?

Footnote: I am Victor Laszlo. I escaped the United States so I could be free to fight fascism—because I saw it coming. The flags were different, the names were changed, but the hate and the hunger for control were the same. Don’t wait until it’s too late to resist.