Senrinomichi.com recently shared a photo on Facebook that was taken during Adolf Hitler’s reign in Nazi Germany in 1936. It showed hundreds of people during the celebrations for the launch of a ship. In the crowed, one person refuses to raise his arm to give the Nazi salute. The man was August Landmesser. He had already been in trouble with the authorities, having been sentenced to two years hard labour for marrying a Jewish woman.
We know little else about August Landmesser, except that he had two children. By pure chance, one of his children recognized her father in this photo when it was published in a German newspaper in 1991. How proud she must have been in that moment.
Forced obedience and loyalty tests are not a thing of the past. Currently there is a bill in New Hampshire’s Legislative Branch which would force government school students to stand for the pledge every morning before school. While attending a hearing last month I was assaulted and kidnapped for “contempt of court” for failing to rise for a man in a robe on command.
kinda reminds me of myself….
A subtle yet powerful act of defiance against tyranny.
Excellent write up #fr33