why would anyone have wanted to assassinate Hitler, a virtual nobody with no following, anytime before 1933? This sort of argument is downright silly? Anyone here want to predict whether out there somewhere in some country there is some nut running around, who if 17 yeras or even 3 years from now will be doing horrible things to people and therefore should be assassinated? Even after 1933, there was no reason to believe that Hitler would take steps to destroy the Jews in Europe, start WWII, or do most of what he did internally.
-- Paul Finkelman Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law University of Tulsa College of Law 3120 East 4th Place Tulsa, OK 74104-3189
918-631-3706 (office) 918-631-2194 (fax)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Don Williams wrote:
From: Don Williams
1) Early on, armed resistance was possible -- Hitler could have been easily assassinated after his release from prison for the first (Beer Hall) Putsch and publication of Mein Kampf. 2) To some extent, Jewish armed resistance occurred --but as part of the Communist resistance. My understanding is that Communist strength was rising in the 1920s because of the miserable economic conditions (50% unemployment, loss of life savings by many due to worthless currency, etc.) and that the German economic/military elite threw their support to the Nazis in order to be protected by them, in order to suppress the Communists, and to deflect popular anger/unrest over the economy. 3) My understanding is that there are no real areas in Germany/Eastern Europe with suitable terrain for guerrilla fighting against conventional troops--with the possible exception of parts of Bavaria and the Pripet Marshes in the Ukraine/Belarus. In the case of the later, the Jews were betrayed to the Nazis by the local population with whom the Jews had been on good terms -- see http://www.yad-vashem.org.il/about_holocaust/documents/part3/doc188.html .
The problem of betrayal by non-Jews seeking to gain favor with the Gestapo was probably a formidable obstacle to the formation of any Jewish resistance. Russia might have offered some sanctuary to Jewish communists. 4) Re resistance, industrial sabotage, bombs, cutting of commuications/power lines/petroleum pipelines/railroads,etc would have been far more effective than gunfights --although guns would have been needed for security protection of saboteurs, raids, ambushes,etc. 5)
