By Michael, on May 18th, 2010, of Project Shining City https://www.youtube.com/results?rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS265&q=kitty+werthman&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=w1
Have you ever heard of Kitty Werthmann? She was a child when Adolf Hitler took control of her beloved country of Austria and stripped away their freedoms, and she is now speaking out about the chillingly similar loss of freedoms that we are currently experiencing in the United States. It is often said that "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it". So, perhaps we should listen very carefully to what Kitty Werthmann has to say. She has been there. She has lived through it. The truth is that when you do sit down and compare what happened under the Nazi regime and what is happening in the United States today, the parallels are absolutely shocking. The American Dream is not guaranteed for us or for our children. Freedom must be guarded. If not, it will be taken away. In fact, our freedoms are already being stripped away at blinding speed, and once they are gone they are incredibly difficult to get back.
The quotes from Kitty Werthmann that you will read below come from her excellent article entitled, "America is the Greatest Country in the World." We hope that you will take the time to read that entire article after you read this one. Sometimes it is really important to get some historical perspective in order to understand what is happening today. The following are 11 points of comparison between life in the United States and life under Hitler from a woman who has experienced both….
#1) Severe Economic Crisis
Kitty Werthmann describes the economic conditions just before Hitler took over this way….
In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank loan interest rates. Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily.
#2) Election Of A Wildly Popular Leader
I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide 98% of the vote. I’ve never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.
#3) An Obsession With Law & Order
After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order.
#4) Women Were Taught That Work Was More Important Than Family
Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn’t support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.
#5) Children Raised In Daycare Facilities
When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers. You could take your children ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, 7 days a week, under the total care of the government. The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.
#6) Christianity Drubbed Out Of The Schools
Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler’s picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn’t pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles, and had physical education.
#7) Socialized Healthcare
Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna . After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything. When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full. If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.
#8) Government Handouts Became A Way Of Life
As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80% of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families. All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.
#9) Oppressive Government Regulations
We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn’t meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business.
#10) Gun Restrictions
Next came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long after-wards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.
#11) Lack Of Respect For Life
In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps. The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated. So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work. I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van. I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months. They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.
As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.
We would be incredibly foolish not to listen to the wisdom of Kitty Werthmann. She saw what kind of horror is created when God is pushed out of public life, and the government becomes the new "god".
But that is what is happening in the United States today. God has been pushed aside. Suddenly the government is the answer to all of our problems: the provider of all of our needs, and the regulator of every single detail of our lives.
We are marching down a very dangerous path. It is a path that many nations have gone down before with absolutely disastrous consequences.
Americans have to wake up. Please send this information out to as many people as you can. If we will not speak out about the need to protect our freedoms now, we will not have the chance to do it later.
Like most of us do with these kinds of forwards, I was ready to assume it was fake or misattributed and move on. Snopes itself was still researching the matter, listing it as "undetermined" as of January 6, 2013. But to my surprise, both the email and Kitty Werthmann are perfectly real. She did live through the Nazi occupation of Austria, and since emigrating to the US in the 50′s, she’s given hundreds of speeches, written a book, produced a DVD and made television appearances, all in the service of spreading a laudable message that must be repeated, lest it ever be forgotten.
Please watch this video with your family and please pass it on to everyone you know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HAvMHWhdEUU
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