Hitler Revealed Himself in 1925 But Nobody Listened

By Shlomo Maital    

  I am reading a book of historical front-pages of the Palestine Post (later, the Jerusalem Post). 

January 31, 1933.  The headline reads: 

   Herr Hitler New German Chancellor.

    According to Wikipedia:  1933 was a pivotal year for Hitler and the Nazi Party. Traditionally, the leader of the party who held the most seats in the Reichstag was appointed Chancellor. However, President Paul von Hindenburg was hesitant to appoint Hitler as chancellor. Following several backroom negotiations – which included industrialists, Hindenburg’s son, the former chancellor Franz von Papen, and Hitler – Hindenburg acquiesced and on 30 January 1933, he formally appointed Adolf Hitler as Germany’s new chancellor.   Hitler was crystal clear about his intentions.  He published Mein Kampf in 1925 (volume 1) and 1926 (volume 2)

     The same issue of Palestine Post reports, on its front page:  Jews Barred from Medical Schools [in Germany].  The infamous Nurenberg Laws were promulgated in 1935.

   Hitler attacked Poland in September 1939.  Only then did the world respond, because it had to. 

    Putin annexed Crimea in 2014.  He got away with it.  He invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, a year ago.   He told the world what he intended to do in 2014.  But nothing was done. 

    Same pattern.  It takes years for the West to awaken from its deep sleep.

    Western democracies seem to ignore distant threats, until those threats begin to land on their doorsteps.  It takes a long time.  And even now, many wonder if the US (some of the far-right Republicans), and some Europeans (despotic Hungary) will continue to provide key material and financial support for Ukraine.

   Bill Browder, once the largest investor in Russia and one who knows Putin well, urges the West to appropriate around $300 billion in Russian gold and forex reserves, frozen across the globe so far, with $100 billion in the United States alone, and use it to rebuild Ukraine.  That sum won’t even come close to the damage Putin has wreaked.

   The cost of stopping Hitler multiplied exponentially when it was delayed for years.  The same is true of stopping Putin’s Russia. 

    As the folk song goes:  When will they (we) ever learn?