I've always wished I could find some hard data on how many Jews voted for the Nazis in 1930, when they increased their seats in the Reichstag from 12 to 107. (The ban on the party was lifted in 1925.) In July 1932, 84% of eligible voters turned out and 13,745,680 of them (37.3%) voted for Nazi Party candidates, giving the Nazis the most seats in the Reichstag. There was no way to form a majority government without the Nazis and other parties didn't want to join a coalition with them, so the Center Party's Franz von Papen formed a minority government-- the "nonpartisan" Cabinet of Barons, a dysfunctional disaster that led to another election 3 months later. The Nazis lost 34 seats, but still had more seats than any other party and still got the greatest number of popular votes (33.1%). I have always been so curious to know how many Jews voted for them. It was another failed minority government and four months later in March of 1933 there was another in which the Nazis increased there share of the popular vote and their seats tremendously-- but still not enough to form a legitimate government. Even before the election they used violence and seized control of the Reichstag. The March 1933 election was Germany's last democratic election until after WWII. In November 1933 the election Germans were faced with an electoral system with all opposition parties banned and an opportunity to vote yes or no on the Nazis, secret balloting being done away with. Turnout was extraordinarily high-- 95.3% and these were the results:
For the Nazis- 39,655,224 (92.1%)
Against the Nazis (or invalid ballots)- 3,398,249 (7.9%)
They won all 661 seats in the Reichstag. Hermann Göring was elected Reichstag president. Jews held high-ranking positions in the German government after the first World War. Hugo Preuß was Interior Minister and wrote the first draft of the Weimar constitution. Walther Rathenau was Foreign Minister, though right-wing extremists assassinated him pretty quickly. German Jews were wealthier and more urbanized than the general population. Active persecution of Jews by the Nazis didn't begin until 1933, when the Nazis no longer needed any Jewish voters or any ind of support from Jews.
As you probably know, Twitter permanently banned Marjorie Traitor Greene from its platform because she was endangering other uses with her constant stream of lies about COVID. Today she went own Newsmax-- where lies are the name of the game-- and said "I’m asking all of my Republican colleagues to leave Twitter. It is a complete waste of time and all they do is try to control our political speech." So far the other Nazi members of Congress haven't responded. It will be interesting to see them start leaving Twitter, especially the ones who use it a lot like string allies of hers Cawthorn, Gaetz and Boebert. As far as I can tell, her own official congressional account is still active, although she hasn't posted since Christmas. The account has nearly 396,000 followers. According to a Guardian report today, she was just one of a thousand Americans in positions of public trust who acted as accomplices in Señor Trumpanzee’s "attempt to overturn the 2020 election result, participating in the violent insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January or spreading the 'big lie' that the vote count had been rigged."
That was a bit of a tangent and I want to go back to wondering about how many Jews supported the Nazis in 1930's Germany. Actually, what I want to do is move on a few decades to 2016 and 2020. According to Pew, 24% of Jews voted for Trump in 2016 and about 30% in 2020, although the number was much higher among socially backward and primitive ultra-orthodox and Hassidic Jews, among whom Trump won by big landslides. "Orthodox Jews were among Trump’s most ardent supporters as the incumbent falsely claimed he won the 2020 election and called on his supporters to take back the presidency. On Jan. 6, a number of Orthodox Jews were among his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol while Congress voted to certify the election results-- some even traveled to Washington, D.C., on specially chartered buses. Some of those Orthodox backers were arrested, including the son of a Brooklyn judge, and former president of the National Council of Young Isreal, a synagogue organization that took a sharply pro-Trump turn during his administration.
Today, the Fox News affiliate in Salt Lake City reported that David Bateman founder and chair of Entrata, a local tech firm, resigned as CEO (but not chairman of the board of directors) after it became public that he had sent an email-- subject line "Genocide"-- to a number of tech CEOs and Utah business and political leaders, "claiming the COVID-19 vaccine is part of a plot by 'the Jews' to exterminate people."
"I write this email knowing that many of you will think I'm crazy after reading it. I believe there is a sadistic effort underway to euthanize the American people. It's obvious now. It's undeniable, yet no one is doing anything. Everyone is discounting their own judgment, and dismissing their intuition," Bateman wrote.
In the email, Bateman attacks the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine and urged people not to get it. He also claims that criticism of the vaccine is being censored and international charges were going to be filed against Dr. Anthony Fauci.
"I believe the Jews are behind this. For 300 years the Jews have been trying to infiltrate the Catholic Church and place a Jew covertly at the top. It happened in 2013 with Pope Francis. I believe the pandemic and systematic extermination of billions of people will lead to an effort to consolidate all the countries in the world under a single flag with totalitarian rule. I know, it sounds bonkers. No one is reporting on it, but the Hasidic Jews in the US instituted a law for their people that they are not to be vaccinated for any reason," he wrote in the email.
"I pray that I'm wrong on this. Utah has got to stop the vaccination drive. Warn your employees. Warn your friends. Prepare. Stay safe."
Among those the email went to were Utah Jazz owner and Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith, Governor Spencer Cox, Senate Minority Whip Luz Escamilla, Economic Development Corporation of Utah CEO Theresa Foxley and a number of other Silicon Slopes CEOs.
In text messages, Bateman confirmed to FOX 13 he wrote the email.
"Yes. I sent it. I have nothing but love for the Jewish people. Some of my closest friends are Jews. My heart breaks for their 2500 years they’ve been mistreated by nearly every country on earth. But I do believe Scottish Rite Freemasons are behind the pandemic (overwhelmingly Jewish)," he wrote. "And I fear billions of people around the globe right now are being exterminated."
In a tweet late Tuesday, Entrata CEO Adam Edmunds condemned Bateman's comments.
"The opinions expressed by Dave were his alone, and do not reflect the views or values of Entrata, the executive team, board of directors, or investors. To be absolutely clear, we at Entrata condemn antisemitism in any and all forms," wrote Edmunds.
Bateman has been a prominent figure in Republican politics in Utah. He was a big donor to the party, bailing them out of financial trouble and supporting one faction of the Utah GOP in an internal fight that spilled out in public over paths for candidates to get on the ballot.
Gov. Spencer Cox, who was cc'd on the original Bateman email, used Twitter to respond to the allegations made.
"These irresponsible comments are hurtfully anti-Semitic, blatantly false, and we completely reject them," Cox tweeted.
...Rabbi Avremi Zippel of Chabad Utah called the email "blatant anti-semitism."
"It’s a flaming pile of garbage on its face. I’m not going to dignify the content of that email with kind of a blow-by-blow of how asinine it is," Rabbi Zippel said, adding that he was concerned it could lead to real-world violence.
"We know how quickly things go from ridiculous conspiracy theories online and in emails, how that jumps to violence rather quickly," he said.
Zippel, who is Hasidic, also added he is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as is his congregation.
The United Jewish Federation of Utah said Bateman's email contained "vile, hyperbolic and untrue accusations against Jews which amplify some of the worst anti-Semitism in our history."
"The United Jewish Federation of Utah calls on organizations associated with this individual to distance themselves from this individual, who has taken a public and open stance on some of the worse antisemitic tropes in our society. We must accept that any association with this individual and support for his activities only continues to strengthen this type of hate, and reflects by association, on the organizations that he is part," the group said.
...The Utah Democratic Party issued a statement in response as well:
“The statements made in an email from David Bateman, which became public today, are disgusting, unfounded, and dangerous, and the Utah Democratic Party condemns them fully and completely. This rhetoric perpetuates harmful stereotypes about Jewish people and puts Utah’s Jewish community in danger. It is absolutely unacceptable, especially from a leader in the tech community. We stand with the Jewish community in disavowing his comments.
Additionally, Bateman has given hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of support to the Utah GOP. We call on them to publicly condemn and disavow his comments, and return the $55,000 of donations that Entrata has directly given the party since 2017. When it comes to such serious matters as antisemitism, silence is complicity.”
Bateman has been a major financial supporter of fascist-oriented Senator Mike Lee, who has refused to return the thousands of dollars Bateman has given him. Bateman has also given $20,000 to the RNC, which is also not returning the money.