Denmark 1938: Canada 2026

Denmark 1938: Canada 2026 Mark Twain is reputed to have said, “History doesn’t repeat Itself, but it rhymes.” History is certainly rhyming now. One way it’s rhyming is in the predicaments of people living in bystander states, who can do very little if anything to prevent the rise of fascism. I am one of those people. Like Danish anti-fascists watching in horror as Hitler intensifies his imperialist grip at the same time as he persecuted many people who used to think they were German, so I watch in horror from Canada as a fascist takes over the United States. Here’s the free-verse rhyme: Hitler/Trump; Germany/United States. I’ve seen a couple of opinion pieces about this in the New York Times lately. Ian Buruma, the distinguished European journalist, said in a piece on February 22, 2026 “We are nowhere near the disastrous circumstances of Berliners in 1945, 1939, 1935 or even 1934.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/opinion/history-hope-delusion.html/ I think he’s wrong. The first Trump administration brought us to Germany in 1934. Many Germans, including some Jews, had voted for Hitler in 1933 because they thought he was a bulwark against communism—which in Germany was a real threat at the time. 1933 was the last free election in Germany until after WWII, so we don’t know what “ordinary” Germans might have wanted as they watched Nazism unfold. But we do know what “ordinary” Americans were willing to tolerate in 2020. The second Trump administration brought the US a fascist monster. The moneyed elites are well aware of this. They know there is no internal threat in the United States. But they also know that the US’s dysfunctional political system, which leaves opposition parties without leaders between elections, makes it easy for Trump to lead a full-blown fascist revolution. Hispanics, Blacks, immigrants (even legal ones with green cards or work permits), are now the enemy. Muslims are all terrorists, despite Zohran Mamdani’s temporarily successful charm offensive in the Oval Office. Jew are OK -- for now-- as long as the organized and wealthier Jewish community is so preoccupied with Israel that it will support anything Trumps does, completely lacking in compassion for the victims of today’s fascism. The rest of us—the unorganized Jews opposed to both American and Israel fascism—struggle to make our voices heard. Nicholas Kristof asked recently. “Does Trump Risk transforming America into a Rogue State?” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/opinion/iran-war-trump.html/ America has been a rogue state for a long time, blithely overthrowing governments whenever it feels like it: witness Iran 1953, Guatemala 1954, the fruitless and brutal war in Vietnam, etc. But what’s newly rogue about the US is its brutality toward its own citizens and residents. Even the previously exempt—white citizens and residents—now have to fear ICE. If a masked man with weapons and no identification assaults you, you no longer get to call the local police for help. I am 77. Many of my friends here in Canada think it’s time to opt out and just watch in despair as the Americans destroy the world. But I think that even if you are old, you must at least try to stop fascism. I have two sisters-in-law in their 70s in California. One attends a weekly vigil at an immigrant detention center near her home. The other attends an “ICE court” as she calls it, once a month, asking the victims of ICE raids to give her their email addresses so she can send them information about how to obtain legal assistance. As for me, as an observer in a foreign country, all I can do is write and hope that somewhere, someone might be influenced by my words to do a little bit more to stop fascism. Although if anyone knows of a planned demonstration against the US Consulate in Toronto, I’d like to attend. Meantime, history continues to rhyme. It’s 1938 in Denmark.