10 Sobering Facts From 1930s Germany

1. At the time of the rise of Nazi power, Germany had a democratic constitution.

2. When Hitler first rose to national prominence, he was not viewed as extremist.

3. Hitler's feigned 'warm personality' charmed the German electorate.

4. Hitler promised hope and change during troubled economic times.

5. When the German electorate allowed gun registration, they did so with no inkling that in time their gun registration records would aid the Nazis in confiscating their firearms.

6. The government that placed Hitler in power was duly elected by the German people according to the provisions of their democratic constitution.

7. As early as 1931, a young man across the channel in Great Britain by the name of Winston Churchill began to warn Britons about Adolf Hitler.

8. Voices among the German people began to rise up in opposition to Hitler, only to find themselves arrested and jailed. One of these was a Lutheran minister by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was later executed for helping an insurgent movement plan the assassination of Adolf Hitler.

9. Winston Churchill stepped up his rhetoric against Hitler, warning that unless Britain and the rest of Europe stopped him, there would be a heavy price to pay later.

10. By the time Hitler began the systematic elimination ('extermination') of Jews, Catholics, political dissidents, and others deemed a threat to his government, the citizens had already been rendered powerless through disarmament and intimidation.

A Question to Ponder: At what point above could the German citizens have resisted their elected government and prevented Hitler from advancing to the Holocaust?

Point to ponder: So far in the history of the world, no nation has ever implemented registration of firearms and failed to eventually proceed to confiscation.