To the editor:

“The streets of our country are in turmoil. The universities are filled with students rebelling and rioting. Communists are working to destroy our country. Russia is threatening us with her might, and the republic is in danger. Yes, danger from within and without. We need law and order. Yes, without law and order, our nation cannot survive. Elect us and we shall restore law and order.”

Those words are from a campaign speech Adolph Hitler delivered in Hamburg, Germany, in 1932. He lost that election.

Sound familiar?

Hitler was never elected to any office. He was appointed chancellor of Germany by President Paul van Hindenburg. When von Hindenburg died, Hitler consolidated the offices of president and chancellor, and that’s when he became known as ” der fuhrer.”

The Nazi Party never had a majority in any true election when opposition parties were allowed.

The Nazis took control of the parliament (bundestag) by forming a coalition with another right-wing party, since they did not have a majority. When the parliament building was set on fire and, due to major unrest, an emergency “enabling act’ was passed, and that suspended many rights of the people. This is the beginning of the end.

Jim Rinaldo

Toronto