OPINION: Ripping children from their parents in America reminiscent of Nazi tactics

In Europe during the 30’s and 40’s, the Nazis used large transport trucks which would pull up alongside tenement buildings. Once there, they would send squads of Nazi troops throughout the building searching for Jewish families… including children.

As this took place during the middle 30’s and early 40’s reaching back close to 80 years ago, the majority of you reading these words will have no recall of what I have described. Once on the truck, they were taken to the railroad depot where they were packed into rail cars… often so crowded there wasn’t space to lie on the floor.

The destination of these trains were one of many extermination camps that were set up to exterminate Jews along with anyone else Hitler deemed undesirable. My family were also in those camps with serial numbers tattooed on their forearms. They were in Dachau at the time of liberation. There were over 10,000 of these facilities scattered throughout Nazi occupied Europe. Just to name a few; Aushwitz, Sobibor, Triblinka, Birkenau.

Today, we are using abandoned Wal-Mart stores and preparations are in place to construct “Tent Cities” to house children of immigrants. Authorities ignore the 100 degree heat that while not as hot as the ovens used by the Nazi’s, this heat will bring death to the weakest. I can’t help but wonder how Trump’s son Baron – who has an entire floor of his own in a luxury penthouse in Manhattan – would fare in one of those tents?

How can each Republican Congressman or Senator with children of their own allow this to continue? Who are these people who represent us, certainly they are not our neighbors, these are not the guys on our bowling team, they don’t fish or hunt with us, these are not the neighbors who brought your crop in while you were taking chemotherapy. Then answer this… how come they have a vote… a vote that will tear apart families, a vote that will traumatize a child and scar them for life. Who then gave them that vote?

Do you remember now? You decided your vote wouldn’t count, you were busy that day. Remember? Your neighbor voted but they didn’t do a proper “due-diligence” on the candidate and now we have a representative without a beating heart in his chest.

This country was built by immigrants – some free at times others not free or “legal,” even. They laid the rails that opened the West, they build the damns that help develop the land and others who earned their degrees here went on to discover cures that benefitted mankind world-wide. The crop these immigrants planted on our land was themselves and the crop harvested was the fruit of their labor and intelligence.

Now we have in that sacred Oval Office a pathological liar who has embarrassed 300 years of a sterling reputation built upon the thousands of veteran’s graves in foreign lands. These lives were lost defeating intolerance and injustice around the world. And now…..we are seeing the beginning of forcible incarceration starting with the children of people who came to our border on foot escaping oppressors in their own land from who would exploit them.

Start organizing against this intolerance by forming groups in your churches or synagogue’s then demanding this abomination be immediately halted.

Peter Children
Mason City, Iowa