When I was doing research for my book Why We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths—And How We Can Stop (BK Publishers, 2019), I came across a surprising description of a distant cousin of mine sounding the alarm about Nazi Germany—in 1933! (This was six years before they started WWII). His name was Sherwood Eddy, a Protestant missionary and YMCA national secretary, who traveled a lot and taught in Asia, Russia and Germany. At that time, few Americans were concerned about what was happening in Germany even though there were American reporters there. However, according to Andrew Nagorski, the author of the book Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power, my cousin was one American visitor who stood out by realizing the threat that the Nazis posed, as follows. (My sister soon found Sherwood Eddy in a book of our family’s genealogical records who fit this description.)
During a visit to Germany in July 1933, Eddy was one of the speakers at the German-American friendship society’s annual American seminar. It was just a few months after Hitler was appointed Chancellor and had seized all legislative powers (which parliament quickly and voluntarily ceded to him). Apparently, the Nazis proceeded with this seminar to reassure the world that the “new Germany” was committed to international peace.
When it was his turn, Eddy expressed his love for Germany, but delicately began speaking about the current events. He pointed out that they had developed two systems of justice, one for Aryans and Nordics, and the other one for Catholics, Communists, Social Democrats, and Jews. He held up their daily newspaper from that day, noting the screaming headlines about how many Jews had immigrated into Germany in recent years. He said these kinds of statements would “instigate youth to engage in cruel and wanton destruction” – that would “lead to a massacre.” He had already heard about their concentration camps and wondered what went on behind their walls. The foreigners present applauded, but the Nazis present sat in a cold silence.
Sherwood Eddy was absolutely right about the massacre just a few years later. The Nazis quickly went from blaming Jewish immigrants, to demonizing all Jews, Catholics, gays, unionists and many more. This surprising example shows us how predictable a dictator’s future behavior can be if left unchecked. This fits the Fantasy Crisis Triad that I explained in my book: there’s a fantasy crisis (the Depression, but Germany was already recovering), a fantasy villain (they blamed it on immigrant Jews, then all Jews), and a fantasy hero (to whom they gave up all legislative power).
Today’s parallels are stunning.
How bad will it get?
Many examples show that it depends a lot on a country’s legislature and whether they agree to give up their constitutional powers. The Senate has already been asked to go into a Recess immediately after they are sworn in. It will be up to citizens to pressure congress to do their jobs.
How bad will it get?
Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. And in the meantime, you might want to check out my book Why We Elect Narcissists and Sociopaths—And How We Can Stop! on sale on December 2nd (on sale one day only).
------
Bill Eddy is a lawyer, therapist, mediator, the author of several books, and writes a blog on PsychologyToday.com titled 5 Types of People Who Can Ruin Your Life with over 6 million views.
