12,314 Protests Took Place Last Month

So why does it feel like no one is fighting back?

Pexels | Photo by Markus Spiske

Berlin, 1933. The first mass arrests came in February. Then, the book burnings. Then, the purges. Political dissidents, union leaders, journalists — hauled off in the night, their names vanishing from newspapers as if they had never existed at all.

Contrary to popular belief, the German people did not go quietly. Even after Hitler seized control, there were acts of defiance — underground newspapers, secret meetings, and public revolts.

For example, when the Nazis outlawed the Social Democratic Party (SPD), exiled members printed and smuggled thousands of copies of the Sopade reports detailing Nazi crimes to the outside world. The Red Orchestra, a network of anti-fascists, leaked military intelligence to the Allies and exposed Nazi atrocities. The Iron Front, formed by the SPD in 1931, staged demonstrations and labor actions directly opposing both the Nazis and Communists, using the famous “Three Arrows” symbol to signify resistance.

A widely publicized SPD election poster from 1932 | Public Domain

And in 1943, when the regime rounded up the last remaining Jewish men in Berlin, their non-Jewish wives staged the…