LETTER TO THE EDITOR: A voice of caution from the past

I recently completed reading 22 Cells in Nuremburg by Douglas Kelley.

Kelley’s observations on the Nazi rise in 1930s Germany remind me of similar patterns with some of today’s political leaders.

Kelley points out the Nazi Party gained power democratically in a time of “moral disengagement” highlighted by the erosion of democratic restraint. Once in power, the party quickly became an authoritarian regime; told “big lies,” suppressed the free press and freedom of speech and basic human rights. The party leadership employed the unchecked process of “executive orders.” With a personality trait of grandiosity Hitler acted without restraint and demanded unconditional loyalty.

Early in his reign he consolidated power and “followership” by promises to make Germany great again. Sound familiar? He used emotional appeal and scapegoating; anti-Semitism, anti-immigrants, homophobia; in other words, rabble-rousing. His position was, everything is broken and only I can fix it.

Kelley noted that Nazi Germany demonstrates how cultural decline may be encouraged more easily than cultural progress.

Kelly’s book has an intriguing history. As an American psychiatrist and military intelligence officer, Kelly worked as the chief psychiatrist at Nuremberg Prison before the Nuremberg Trials. He interviewed 22 former Nazis who were prosecuted for crimes against humanity. After these interviews, Kelly concluded that the prisoners were not clinically insane; instead, they appeared quite ordinary, influenced by their surroundings, ambitions, and submissive obedience.

Kelly authored the book in 1945! His observations were revelatory then, and certainty relevant now. Leaders driven by ambition and greed, possessing low ethical standards, narcissistic by nature and adept at making emotional appeals to nationalism have long been the path to authoritarianism. A history such as the Nazis rise to power could not repeat…or could it?

I encourage you to read the book.