In 1939, Nazi officials established gas chambers and began murdering tens of thousands of German citizens they considered “unfit.” The victims of the so-called “T-4” program included elderly Germans and those suffering from physical or mental illness.
In 1941, after a few clergymen publicly protested, Adolf Hitler ordered T-4 discontinued. That’s right—Hitler, like any national ruler, worried about public opinion. But when no further protests arose, the Nazis restarted T-4, only with greater secrecy. This became the model for the mass gassings, begun in 1942, of Jews, Roma, homosexuals, and others that Nazi officials deemed genetically inferior.
What if, instead of a few ministers, millions of Germans had protested Nazi mass murder policies? What if they had started organizing against Nazi cruelty in 1935, rather than wait until 1941? Could the good Germans have restored their democracy, halted German war preparations, and saved millions of lives?
What if, through the magic of time travel, you could visit Germany in the late 1930s? Would you relax in a café sipping coffee, or would you do everything you could to warn the Germans what was coming?
What if a few 1930s Germans believed your warning and asked for advice? Would you tell them to flee to another country? Would you encourage them to gather their hunting rifles and attack the Germany Army? Or would you suggest a nonviolent campaign to prevent the coming Holocaust?
I know, I know, nonviolence would never work against Nazis. Except it did. You might tell the 1930s Germans about the Rosenstrasse protests, the Le Chambon community, and nonviolent Danish resistance to German military occupation in the 1940s. You might even mention how Germans, in 1989, used mass nonviolent resistance to end the repressive communist dictatorship in East Germany.
Okay, back to 2025. A U.S. president is daily violating the Constitution. A brief sampling: He has ordered destruction of a federal agency created by Congress; turned over IRS and Social Security data—your data!—to the unelected billionaire Elon Musk; confiscated congressionally-ordered funds for Medicaid, childcare, meals for seniors, scientific research, and other critical programs; ordered deportation of U.S. citizens; ordered elimination of constitutional birthright citizenship; and ordered defunding of state governments that challenge these illegal actions. The White House team, it appears, is trying to destroy the checks-and-balances system and put all federal power in the hands of a dictatorial president.
Do you sip coffee and pretend it isn’t happening? Do you take nonviolent action, knowing it’s a lot easier to stop an assault on democracy early rather than wait until it gets even worse? Do you even know what a nonviolent campaign looks like?
I’m offering a free, four-session workshop on the power of nonviolence to defend democracy and transform society. With the gracious sponsorship of the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force, this class will meet at the Sandpoint Community Hall on Saturday mornings, 9-10:30 a.m., May 17, 24, 31, and June 7. Please come to the first session and see what you think. For more information, visit proftimothybraatz.org.
Timothy Braatz
Bonners Ferry