A D-Day Mourning

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D-Day, heroes, Hitler, Inspiration Monday, Moral cause, OBAMA'S AMERICA, OBAMA'S AMERICA: COUNTRY WITHOUT HISTORY, oppression, persecution, poetry, tyranny, WW2

• What has changed in America since the young men on D-Day challenged the entrenched Germans on Normandy’s shores?
• What inspires a generation to such greatness, such selflessness, such courage or causes it to self-destruct?
• What unique assurance did these young soldiers hold that their struggle would not be in vain?

A different American culture raised these young men (and women). Some, no doubt, would call them “Old-fashioned,” but I call them enlightened. They understood the cost of Freedom. They knew their sense of destiny meant sacrifice, and they were responsible enough to go anyway … in spite of the cost. The cries of those imprisoned in German camps called out to them, and they … honor bound, had to go.

Where is this courage today? Where is this commitment to OTHERS? We went, not with the goal of gaining new lands or conquering a people, but simply to set the oppressed free. A noble and achievable goal.

Oh that the courage of these heroes, and the moral indignation they shared in the face of tyranny and immorality would rise up again in the American people. I call it forth, that very boldness. There will be a time to act. Meanwhile pray!

OBAMA’S AMERICA: A COUNTRY WITHOUT HISTORY

Thousands upon thousands, from the open-mouthed boats they splashed,
From salty sea water tinged red with solders’ blood,
Wave after wave, forward they crashed
Toward the daunting cliffs in an uphill flood.

Liberty’s bell rang loudly in their ears,
Driving them toward the cries of the persecuted and oppressed,
Calling each heroes name, calming their fears,
Uniting them and empowering them on to the noble quest.

Heroes one and all, by the thousands, they bled and fell,
While more and more behind them, Allied troops drove on,
They fought and sought to claim nothing for themselves,
Just the moral rightness of tyranny’s oppression gone.

Thousands upon thousands, with their hands out they stand,
Today’s oppressed masses, expecting something for FREE,
They have not been taught, and just don’t understand,
The grain of wheat must fall and die so life and liberty can be.

*John 12:24

**Inspiration Monday: Country without history

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After America, There is No Place to Go

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Communist Party, Hitler, National Socialist Party, Nazi party, WWII

by Kitty Werthmann

What I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or will ever read in history books. I believe that I am an eyewitness to history.

I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide-98 percent of the vote. I’ve never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force. In 1938, Austria was in a deep depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25 percent inflation and 25 percent bank loan interest rates.

Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food-not that they didn’t want to work-there simply weren’t any jobs. My mother was a Christian and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people, about thirty daily. The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting each other. Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna, Linz, and Graz were destroyed. The people became desperate and petitioned the government to let them decide what kind of government they wanted. We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933. We had been told that they didn’t have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living. Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group.

We were overjoyed, and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed. After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service. Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn’t support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.

Hitler Targets Education—Eliminates Religious Instruction for Children

Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler’s picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn’t pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang “Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles,” and had physical education. Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail. The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free. We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had…(emphasis mine) read more

“When the people fear their government there is tyranny. When the government fears the people there is liberty.”
Thomas Jefferson

Excellent Book on the topic!!!
Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the bestselling author of Devil in the White City turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler’s rise to power.

The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.

“Larson is a marvelous writer…superb at creating characters with a few short strokes.”—New York Times Book Review