Anne began our discussion by dispelling the myth that everyone in Nazi Germany simply went along with Hitler’s plans. She examined these resisters in her book Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler. When I read the book, it didn’t become clear to me how vitally important it was that there was a vast resistance movement. One I had never heard about. She hopes that the past might give us clues for potential future playbooks.“I think one thing they did well was create a broad coalition. So, what they did was find people who opposed the Nazi regime, and some of them were monarchists, some of them were communists. They had Lutherans, Catholics, Jews, Atheists, you name it. And they agreed to put their differences aside until the end of the regime, and then they could start infighting again. But, over that period, they worked together.” Anne said, “That’s why I’m so adamant about people getting involved now and getting involved in a practical sense, not just the, you know, the street demonstrations, which are fine, but studying what needs to be done in terms of our government.” She hopes that this would help us figure out how to save our democracy while we still may have time. If you wish to be part of the hope of defeating the authoritarian Cult of Trump, roll up your sleeves and be part of heroic resistance!

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