Political Art: Neue Sturmabteilung
Neue Sturmabteilung (New Storm Troopers) 12x9-in. ink and watercolor
I’m reposting from 2020 a mash-up of a 1930s Weimar era brownshirts recruiting poster and their contemporary wannabees.
Who were the SA? The Storm Troopers were recruited from economically suffering poor, disaffected workers and disgruntled veterans. They wore cheap surplus home guard uniforms from which came their “brownshirts” moniker. However, they had no official function on any level of the German government. They provided security for Nazi rallies, waged brawls with opponents of the Nazis, and intimidated Romanis, trade unionists, and Jews while legitimate authorities and ordinary citizens turned a blind eye. In short, the SA were street thugs in uniform, taking an active part in book burnings and other murderous atrocities like the Kristallnacht riot against Jewish-owned shops and synagogues.
In exchange for German military support and to eliminate his rivals in the Nazi movement, Hitler had his elite bodyguard unit, the Schutzstaffel (SS) murder the SA leadership. SA units that remained loyal to him were downsized or simply absorbed into the military. There's a lesson here for those who would pledge loyalty to a man who is loyal to none but himself.
What does brownshirt tactics look like in the present day? First, let’s not forget January 6, 2021. How about plotting to kidnap a Michigan governor; calling in bomb threats to the city of Springfield to intimidate Haitian immigrants; make death threats to county election officials and judges trying to do their jobs? Or, a Portage County sheriff instructing his deputies to note as immigrant sympathizers citizens who put up Harris-Walz campaign signs in their yards? Or, as the FBI and Department of Homeland Security warn, domestic violent extremists (DVEs) with “election-related grievances” turning to violence in the weeks before and after the November election?
Remember that the Republican candidate for President stated that among the brownshirts of today are “some very fine people”.
