March 30, 2026 – Daily Jefferson County Union
During the many years I lived in Germany, I used public transportation like most people, which allowed me to chat with everyday Germans.
When older Germans realized I was American, they generally gushed with profuse apologies about the Nazi era. As young people, they did not know what was really going on. They did not know about the camps yet, so if there was a dictum to attend a youth march and rally, “we just went.”
In their view, if the German government was ordering things, like snatching citizens off the street who became,” the disappeared”, there must be a reason.
According to them, people were caught up in the fervor to do what they were told. Only in retrospect did they see the Nazi era for what it was: a regime taking over every aspect of their civilization.
Institutions’ names were changed, elections were rigged, artists and intellectuals were silenced, books were burned, and schools were forced to teach only certain topics. And yes, certain racial profiling led to people who mysteriously disappeared in the night being put in camps, often separated from their families. Sound familiar?
Let us remember Nazi Germany for what it was and do our part to prevent its recurrence in our country.
Margaret Schroeder,
Fort Atkinson