Are we repeating history?

On this 80th anniversary of the Holocaust, it may be wise to review some of Adolf Hitler’s strategies on how he accomplished the brutal elimination of 6 million Jews during his time as Germany’s ruler.

He began by purging everyone from his government who did not agree with him or profess absolute loyalty to him.

He then began adding hate-filled disinformation and outright lies about the Jewish people during his popular public rallies. He called them evil criminals, parasites, vermin and other dehumanizing insults. Hitler repeated these lies thousands of times at every opportunity, until they were eventually believed by the German people.

He then proceeded to conduct massive arrests and deportations of Jews to concentration camps or heavily guarded ghettos, with minimal pushback from non-Jewish Germans, mostly due to fear.

In light of our current political situation in the United States, I would encourage everyone to reflect on these historical strategies and how they are being used by our current leaders. We must remain vigilant so that we don’t repeat history’s darkest past.

Tina Phillips,
Brunswick

Consequences of election affect us all

Whether you voted for Harris or Trump, or you did not vote, we all will live with the short- and long-term effects of the election.

Countless programs in every state, city and town depend upon federal dollars. Every life is affected by at least a few of these programs.

No state or municipality has the resources to sustain important programs without financial input from our national government. The arbitrary reduction or cutoff of these dollars will cause lasting harm to our health, education and safety.

Each of us can do something to curb the excesses of the Trump/Musk administration. Act to save democracy! Call and/or write your members of Congress. And take good care of yourselves; we are in this for the long haul.

Adair DeLamater,
Bath