HITLER’S SA AND BLM/ANTIFA

The Ominous Parallels

Some History

My grandfather, a smart man, managed to escape Munich in October, ’38, leaving just in time to avoid Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) which occurred November 9 and 10th that year.  Those nights involved smashing the windows of over 7500 Jewish businesses and 200 synagogues while injuring any bystanders or owners standing in their way. 

Though most people don’t realize this, Hitler had organized the Brownshirts or Sturmabteilung (SA) to disrupt meetings of political opponents, cause street riots, set fires, vandalize and beat to death innocent bystanders.  Similar to Mussolini’s Blackshirts, the SA ’s Blackshirts, the SA operated without fear of Weimar police authority.  The police stood by while the SA completed their “work,” and watched while they pretended to restore order.  Most were anti-leftists and former soldiers upset with a government which appeared to have abandoned them after the war.  But many were simply bullies who had an axe to grind and enjoyed the freedom to attack others.

Ernst Röhm and most of his storm troopers were eventually disposed of by the SS and the Gestapo in the Night of the Long Knives, when they had outlived their usefulness.  It also made the Nazi Party look like they were against this kind of activity, while simply substituting government forces to destroy the many “enemies” Hitler identified:  Communists, Jews, Gays, the handicapped, etc.

Similarities

As you can see in the diagram below and the description of the S.A., the tactics (and even the logo) of Antifa are similar.  BLM appears to stand alone, but they too engage in the same kind of behavior and frequently join together in riots and destruction.  While they both claim to deplore the Nazis and call their enemies Hitlers, they actually subscribe to fascism in their political beliefs.  The Nazis were the National Social German Workers Party, a very left-leaning group. They distinguished themselves from the communist enemy by only wanting the government to control the way business worked (output, prices, employment, sales, quantities), but did not want the government to own the businesses.  They had seen that the loss of profit motive hurt employee and owner productivity.  As ultra-lefties, Antifa and the spokespeople of BLM are actually pro-fascism in many ways.  They applaud the huge growth in federal power and appear not to understand what fascism actually represents.  Just like the SA, they mask their identities, which not only makes it hard to round them up.  It also allows them a degree of anonymity which incentivizes even worst behavior. 

Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, pioneered the use of fake news to sway the public opinion to accept the lies of the deep-state:

​“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it …”

BLM founders are devout socialists and share in the tactics of Antifa. 

Differences

A signal difference is the absence of looting by the SA.  On the whole, the most like the SA are Antifa, but BLM brings a great deal of support from the “useful idiots” who act as human shields while the brownshirt activities step up the violence.  Many young people came out to support the purported message of BLM—that black lives matter—and continue to support the marches, protests and even the violence, believing these are necessary to achieve real results.  (This reminds me of the protests in the ‘60’s where misguided people felt that these kinds of activities would end the War in Viet Nam). 

Antifa and BLM don’t appear to have clear enemies, as can be seen in who is targeted.  Any business, any person daring to walk in areas where they protest…if you’re not with them, you’re against them.  This can be less successful as it increases the number who deplore these activities.  (Even blacks and black businesses aren’t safe.  Just check the statistics on the destruction).

Hitler employed the SA and ginned them up with written orders.  So far, our leftists haven’t needed to order the protests, but neither will they condemn them.  Some clearly show support, especially the Squad.  Lefty mayors continue to allow the destruction (as long as it doesn’t hit their homes).

An Inevitable Future

While these groups have succeeded in pushing a hard left narrative farther than even most on the left support, they will inevitably outlive their usefulness.  At some point, the left will begin to disavow these supporters and perhaps even start imprisoning them, which will surprise those groups.  Like Hitler, politicians on the left will realize that they must regain the reputation as defenders of the law and small businesses.  I hope those who got led by the nose will have abandoned these two groups by then or they are likely to be caught up in the pogroms that follow.