What Would You Have Done in 1930s Germany?

Look in the Mirror

Photo by Joeyy Lee on Unsplash

People sometimes ask a haunting question when studying history’s darkest chapters: What would I have done?

It’s especially common when discussing 1930s Germany. When Hitler came to power, democratic institutions crumbled, and state-led persecution of Jews, minorities, and political opponents began its slow, brutal rise.

We like to believe we would have been among the brave few who hid families in the attic, refused to salute, and spoke out when the streets turned dangerous. We’re sure we’d never fall for fascist rhetoric, never ignore cruelty, never stay silent while others were dragged away.

We would have resisted!

We would have risked our lives rather than be complicit in inhumanity.

But here’s the truth: Whatever you hoped you’d do in 1930s Germany is exactly what you’re doing now in the United States.

This is not a thought experiment. This is not a drill. And it’s not about a potential future.

We are living in the moment.

Donald Trump is president again, and he wasted no time making good on promises many dismissed as campaign bluster. We see a live, real-time rollback of human rights, civil liberties, and the rule of law—and it echoes far too much of the history we swore we’d never repeat.

ICE, Trump’s Gestapo, rounds up immigrants and asylum seekers. They’re being detained or shipped out of the country without due process. Mass deportations are underway, backed by military force and a massive expansion of (lawless) federal enforcement.

Families are again being separated. Children are held in mass facilities.

And in one of the most horrifying developments, Trump is now sending people to prison in El Salvador—a country whose regime is under heavy international scrutiny for torture, indefinite detention, and grotesquely overcrowded prisons.

These people—many of them fleeing violence, poverty, or political instability—are being shipped away from the U.S. government’s responsibility and stuffed into foreign prisons, with no due process, no rights, and no protection.

This is not accidental cruelty. It is the point.

This is the “deterrence” strategy Trump promised: to make life so unlivable, so terrifying, so brutal for immigrants that others will be too afraid to come—and that you and I will be afraid to speak out for fear that we’ll be next.

The cruelty is the message. And millions of Americans are cheering it on.

Sound familiar?

A handful of monstrous leaders didn’t write the history of 1930s Germany by themselves. It was all made possible by millions of ordinary citizens—people who wanted to belong, craved order and stability, and blamed “others” for their problems.

They mindlessly swallowed state propaganda, watched their Jewish, leftist, or Roma neighbors disappear, and said nothing. They weren’t naturally cruel but were persuaded that cruelty was necessary for the good of the nation.

Some did it out of fear. Some out of ideology. Some out of opportunity. Some just didn’t care enough to resist.

That’s how authoritarianism blossoms. Not through a sudden leap into tyranny, but through gradual, normalized acts of injustice, conducted with bureaucratic precision and public indifference.

And right now, the machine is churning again in the United States.

We’re seeing widespread book bans, attacks on libraries, academic freedom, and universities, and the repression of journalists. LGBTQ+ Americans face escalating threats and legislative assaults. Protesters are criminalized. Voting rights are being stripped away in state after state.

Trump’s language echoes that of the worst regimes in history: immigrants “poisoning the blood” of the nation, political opponents “vermin,” and dissenters “enemies of the people.”

These are not rhetorical flourishes—they are calculated moves to isolate, dehumanize, and silence.

And through it all, the question hangs in the air: What are you doing about it?

Because the answer isn’t in your imagination, it’s in your actions.

Are you speaking up? Organizing? Voting in every election? Supporting immigrant-led organizations? Joining local and state activist groups? Talking to friends and neighbors who still don’t understand what’s happening? Donating to legal defense funds? Calling or writing your senators and representatives? Attending protest rallies?

Or are you staying quiet, waiting for someone else to step up, and hoping it won’t get any worse?

You don’t need to imagine what side you’d be on in a moment of rising fascism. You’re already in it.

And yes, this is uncomfortable. It should be because comfort in the face of injustice allows it to spread.

The world has seen this before. And we swore: Never again.

But “never again” doesn’t mean never again elsewhere. It means never again anywhere—including here.

So, if you’ve ever wondered what you would have done under Hitler, the answer is simple: You’re doing it right now. And if you don’t like that answer, there’s still time to change it.

History is watching. More importantly, your neighbors, your children, your grandchildren, and your conscience are watching, too.