To the editor:
I apologize for submitting a letter so soon. I now refer to the letter by Randy Sigler which refers to letters by Mark Ferrante. I rely on the accuracy of Mr. Sigler’s reporting and his analysis of Mr. Ferrante’s various letters. Mr. Sigler faulted Mr. Ferrante alleging that Mr. Ferrante belittled “the left” for not knowing what fascism really looks like. Apparently, Mr. Ferrante blames us leftists for the recent ongoing fascist actions by the Trump administration. How Mr. Ferrante comes to this conclusion befuddles me.
I am an unenrolled voter who tends to vote left. A party and its policies are my guidelines. To address Mr. Ferrante’s assumptions/accusations, please allow me to divulge some personal family history. My father immigrated to the USA from Germany many years before the second World War. During the war, an aunt, uncle and cousins were alive and lived in a small town called Landau/Isar in lower Bavaria. They owned a small “drogerie” (drug store of sorts). My uncle, Alois, was dying of cancer in 1936. He came to the attention of the gestapo for some reason and one day they came to the drogerie to arrest him. Per my aunt Dora, they wanted to drag him out of bed but she pleaded with them, convinced them he was dying, and they left.
A short time later, the burgermeister (mayor) of the town called my aunt into his office. It is a small town and the inhabitants knew one another quite well. The mayor had been a long time friend of my aunt. He told her the gestapo had been inquiring about her. They noted she went to mass every early morning but did not attend the Nazi meetings in the evening. She explained that as a widow managing the drogerie and caring for three small children, she was exhausted at the end of the day and was too tired to attend. For some reason, this explanation was accepted. (It must have been horribly frightening).
One of the local priests spoke against the Nazis, was arrested and sent to a prison in the next city. She visited him once and during their conversation, he broke down and cried that he was going to be sent to a concentration camp for re-education. These were later called death camps by the Allies.
Another aunt, Maria, was gassed because she was mentally impaired and is buried in the local Landau cemetery.
Mr. Ferrante, I apologize for relating this history. But I personally know something about Nazi Germany and its fascist methods. I want to make sure you know we leftists are the victims, not the perpetrators of such gestapo tactics. Of course, in the present-day Trump administration, would I dare to use ICE in place of gestapo to define bullying, intimidation, fear, violence and murder? Is it possible I would be mistreated like Don Lemon?
I rest my case, Mr. Ferrante. I guess I am guilty as accused. What, no trial? And to think there are millions like you.
Very truly yours,
Walter Haug
Highland Terrace
