It was Adolf Hitler's failed attempt to forcibly overthrow the democracy of Germany 🇩🇪
His trial was covered by the press in minute detail, and even though he went to jail he used the coverage to spread Nazi propaganda through the media 🎙️
Failed coup, media savvy, and evil. Sound familiar?
Today in Labor History October 2, 1937: Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of Haitians living in the border region of the Dominican Republic, resulting in the genocidal Parsley massacre of up to 35,000 Haitians. Trujillo was obsessed with race. He’d use pancake make-up to lighten his skin color and hide his Haitian roots. And even so, the wealthy Dominicans still snubbed him for his working-class family origins. One week prior to the massacre, he publicly accepted a gift of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, whose racial theories he clearly embraced. He used racism to distract Dominicans from their poverty, which had been exacerbated by the Great Depression, and by Trujillo’s corrupt rule.
Edwidge Danticat’s historical fiction, “The Farming of Bones,” takes place during the time of the massacre.
➡️ THIS OLD HOUSE: AUSTRIA TORN OVER WHAT TO DO WITH HITLER’S BIRTHPLACE (Politico, September 2020)
"Earlier this summer, the Austrian interior ministry released the winning architectural design for the site […]. The ultimate goal of these changes is to “neutralize” the history and symbolism of the house, officials said, preventing it from serving as a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis in the future."
Today in Labor History August 16, 1933: The anti-Semitic Christie Pits riot took place in Toronto, Canada. At the time, Toronto’s Jewish community was predominantly poor and working-class. During the summer, they would go to the predominantly Anglo Beaches to swim. Some of the locals formed a "Swastika Club" and openly displayed the Nazi symbol to intimidate the Jews. The riot broke out after a baseball game when people displayed a blanket with a large swastika painted on it. A number of Jewish and Italian youth rushed the Swastika sign to destroy it, resulting in a melee with fists and clubs. A mob of more than 10,000 joined in, amidst cries of Heil Hitler. Miraculously, no one died. However, scores were injured. Many required medical and hospital attention.
The incident was depicted in two graphic novels: “Christie Pits” (2019) written by Jamie Michaels and illustrated by Doug Fedrau, and “The Good Fight” (2021) by Ted Staunton and Josh Rosen.