Who Will We Be? That is the Question

A Difficult Question with More Difficult Answers

I just finished The Oppermans, by Lion Feuchtwanger. Originally published in 1933, Feuchtwanger wrote in medias res, that is, as his German homeland was on the precipice of, and in the midst of its fall from tottering, unpopular democracy, to a closed state ruled over by a dictator and his cronies, whom many did not take seriously.

The Oppermans are a well-to-do Jewish Berlin family. The heirs to, and operators of, the family furniture business, they are well-educated, cultured, and sophisticated. As the dawn of the “Nationalist” era approaches, each of the brothers, wives, and sons must confront a world slipping away from them.

Even before “the Leader” takes over, the camp is unevenly split between the ‘they’re not that serious’ and those imploring their friends and family to liquidate assets and get out of the country. Most of the characters move just a bit too slowly as Hitler was unexpectedly made Chancellor by an aging President Paul Hindenberg on January 30th, 1933.

History has taught us, and The Oppermans reminds us, that when such regimes take power, speed of action is their first objective. We could call it ‘shock and awe.’ The rapid pace of consolidation of power, isolation of opponents, and introduction of radical policies may be new to us here in 2025, but it’s commonplace throughout history.

One day the Oppermans are concerned with birthday parties, business deals, and school assignments, the next, the world has put them upside down and shaken them, removing all pretense of what the new government has in store.

They are forced to remove their name from their business and sell a 51% stake to a ‘real German.’ Two of the brothers are pilloried by a Nationalist press who displays no concern with facts or truth, costing both men their homes and livelihoods.

Their lack of imagination, that anyone could be so coarse, and crass, echoes today. The idea that 65 million Germans would go along with an Austrian corporal whose main talent is screaming and riling up crowds, doesn’t compute.

“The principle of those fellows was appallingly simple: let your yes mean no and let your no mean yes. They don’t bother about unnecessary niceities. They are gigantic, shockingly coarsened, provincial Machiavellis…The fact is, the others inevitably persist in believing that no one could be taken in by such crudeness. And then, equally inevitably, everyone is taken in.” p. 204

Hitler’s SA, or Brownshirts are featured as the main conduit between Nationalist aims and practical repression. Each of the men detailed finds a home with the Leader’s realm and relishes their newfound power over those they believe too high and mighty. Neighbors turn on neighbors. Colleagues on colleagues. The small become large, the large cease to exist.

Those stormtroppers that do commit crimes, from petty larceny to murder, are unaccountable for their actions. If accused by an undesirable, the cases are dismissed. Jews and political prisoners that disappear into concentration camps often die in similar circumstances, “heart failure” or “shot while attempting to escape.”

Accusation of a Brownshirt or reporting of a crime committed by them, brings its own consequences: It’s better to keep one’s mouth shut and not get involved.

“But wherever they went, people merely shrugged their shoulders, and they were informed that a revolution was not a tea party. When they persisted, they were met with a disagreeable reception. They were given to understand that it was extremely objectionable for private individuals to concern themselves with quetstions of public administration.” p. 258

For those with resources, money is still at the heart of many of the now-upside down relationships. Businesses, homes, and other assets can be traded (at a massive discount, of course.) Time, not peace, can be purchased for the appropriate sum. Those unwilling to make a bad deal have their property appropriated by the state without recourse. “A brief turn of the hand and whole libraries of former rules became waste paper.”

“When one came to look at it closely, the entire Nationalist revolution resolved itself into millions of small commercial transactions, conducted on reciprocal terms.” p. 253

Taken in this context, it’s not difficult to see why Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Apple, ABC, or any of the other oligarchs are happy to part with $1 million to demonstrate their fealty to the incoming regime. To us, that is a lot of money. To them, it’s a small commercial transaction.

Schools aren’t exempted from the new government’s eyes. Having deemed too many institutions unpatriotic, many teachers and subjects are replaced with those loyal to the Nationalist ideology and politcally reliable to the regime. Most students (exclusively male in this telling) are happy to join the “Young Eagles.” Those not invited happen to share common religious and cultural traits.

Freedom of thought and expression in the classroom is banished. One of the young Opperman’s is taken to task for his opinion, harrassed by his new Nazi teacher, and must face a choice: Recant and apologize before the entire school, or hold to his principles and face due consequences; just one of the Catch 22s the Oppermans face.

Despite its poor construction, absurd tone, and terrible grammar, Mein Kampf is deemed essential reading for every student in every classroom. Those books deemed inappropriate by the Nationalists are removed. Curriculum, too, is redesigned and reoriented to produce a generation of young converts, ready to fight for the Fatherland.

“In Nationalist Germany there was no worse crime than the profession of reason, peace and honorable sentiments.” p. 310

Friendships and love affairs desolve in the appearance of the new Nationalist government. To consort with the proscribed invites personal risk. Long-held belief in humanism, liberalism, and decency dissolve in the face of those who believe in little or nothing other than power for its own sake.

Here in the present day, we’ve already seen a glimpse of this. There will be more, to be sure. We should not be surprised when those we thought were friends and allies turn away from the mirror to begin their own transformations. It’s not personal, you understand, it’s just the way things are now.

As the next Trump administration prepares to take power, it’s important once again to understand that so much of what is new and alien to us, is not new to humanity, and has existed within the last century. Nothing should suprise us. Nothing they do or say should be taken as an exception or an abberation.

“Inconsistency and deceit were the underlying characteristics of all the actions of their leaders…They got up with a lie, and they went to sleep with a lie. Their discipline was a lie, their code of laws a lie, their judgements a lie…their science a lie, their sense of justice and their faith were lies.” p. 313

Who does this sound like?

We have seen that their lies, do in fact, have a tangible purpose and desired outcome. If everyone is a liar, who determines the truth? What is a fact? What is an alternative fact? Who judges what is news and what is ‘fake news?’ How does this effect infect the individual, and thereby, the entire community?

“For months the most eminent of experts in the art of lying had been scattering billions of lies throughout the country by means of the most modern devices. Anna had been breathing that atmosphere of lies, day after day, hour after hour.” p. 320

Even for those whom lies had become their oxygen, in their quieter moments, they harbor no illusions about who the new bosses are. They’re not good and no one expected them to be. That was never on offer, nor is it a reasonable expectation. If you expect the worst from Trump and his goons, you’ll never be disappointed.

Others, though, refuse to believe the terrible things Trump promises to do. Even now, too many people believe it’s possible to ‘work with’ a fully empowered MAGA administration.

“They believed that, if they talked gently to the mad dog, he would not bite them.” p. 330

For a time, and for most Americans, life as it did for Germans of the early 1930s, will go on as usual. Soccer games will be played, Home Depot will be full on the weekends, and the patterns of American life will proceed apace. Only slowly will the works of Trumpism become too clear to deny. But even then, those who believed it was possible to take him neither seriously, nor literally, will be unable to shield their eyes. When confronted, though, we should not expect a great awakening.

“They considered that peace and quiet reigned in Germany. They got very cross when people spoke of one hundred thousand human beings in the concentration camps and of the forty million more who - in order to ensure their good behavior - were threatened with them.” p. 267

See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.

For some of us it is difficult, if not impossible, to go quietly into that dark night. Feuchtwanger puts a question to us: “Who gave you your commission?” Who appointed you, or me, as the chosen people to stand and deliver for what we believe?

Indeed, peace and quiet are available, and preferable to those willing to go along to get along. Whose job is it, after all, to upset the powers that be?

“It’s really foolish, they way you’re behaving. The squawking merely upsets the authorities.” p. 264

One of the characters asks the most thoughtful Opperman brother, Gustav, about the value of his resistance, of his unwillingness to bend. What is more valuable, the loud, daily, direct protestations, and the consequences, or the ability to survive and carry an idea forward?

“…Since the inception of science, it is wiser to live for an idea than die for it. It is also more beneficial for the idea.” p. 337

Is it better to live for a cause or die a martyr? History has shown us both have value. The world’s greatest unknown thinker may pass on their ideas quietly, while those burned at the stake may acheive eternal life.

This is not an easy question to ask and the answers are murky and unsatisfying. For those of us who’ve served as Cassandras, it would be easy to succumb to exhaustion and cyncism. “We tried to tell you! You wouldn’t listen!” That may well be the path for many for whom the struggle is too long, their energy sapped, their world upside down.

Because I’m not a fan of binary choices, I believe there is at least a third answer to the question. But it requires real thought and reflection. If I am going to continue my resistance, in what form, and more importantly, to what end? It’s not enough to say “Donald Trump is a liar, and a threat to democracy, and has surrounded himself with the worst America has to offer.” We told the American people that, and they chose him anyway.

We must also not be so arrogant as to believe any one of us is the hero of this story. There are thousands of heroes doing the work, day in and day out, without noteriety, wealth, or reward. How can we aid in what they do, not for themselves, but for their values, their beliefs and their communities?

What conversations must we have with those Americans for whom merely ‘different’ was enough for them to make a demonstrably terrible choice? Who will talk to them? What will we say? What will we ask? Will we be able to listen? Listen, without jumping to conclusions or making accusations?

Patience is the virtue will we need most in the coming days. Patience to avoid jumping at every outrage. Patience to ignore the worst things Trump says to analyze the worst of what his people are actually doing. Patience to understand that these years will be trying, the work will be hard, and often unsatisfying, but is worth doing, regardless. Patience with those whom we agree on most, but not all. Patience with those who fail us. Patience when will fail ourselves.

Feuchtwanger returns to a line written by the Rabbi Tarsis:

“It is upon us to begin the work, it is not upon us to finish it.”

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