was john boy wrong about printing mein kampf ?

[AR15]

I think John-Boy recognised that Hitler had used toxic rhetoric to turn genuinely well-meaning people against minorities in their country. By publishing excerpts, he no doubt wanted to highlight how good people can be lead down that path and he felt that by publishing excerpts and explaining it, he could help to prevent the people of Walton's Mountain from ever falling down that rabbit hole - because in times of tension and war, it's easy to do. After all, almost every German who visited the mountain experienced some kind of prejudice, so he knew that fear and ignorance WAS having a negative effect on the people in his community and hoped that through education, that kind of thing could be avoided.

[JeriJet]

When I clicked on the document link, it said "Document Not Found"..... ?

[e knight]

I tried to fix the link. Try ...

www.der-fuehrer.org/meinkampf/english/Mein%20Kampf%20(Ford%20Translation).pdf

[JeriJet]

Nov 25, 2018 22:18:12 GMT -5 e knight said:

I tried to fix the link. Try ...

www.der-fuehrer.org/meinkampf/english/Mein%20Kampf%20(Ford%20Translation).pdf

Thanks -- that worked.... I've saved it as a Word document and will read it in the morning -- have always wondered about it....

[e knight]

If that works, just don't tell the neighbors that I helped you read Hitler. Except for good reasons, of course.

[awesomemixtape10]

Nov 25, 2018 18:35:07 GMT -5 AR15 said:

I think John-Boy recognised that Hitler had used toxic rhetoric to turn genuinely well-meaning people against minorities in their country. By publishing excerpts, he no doubt wanted to highlight how good people can be lead down that path and he felt that by publishing excerpts and explaining it, he could help to prevent the people of Walton's Mountain from ever falling down that rabbit hole - because in times of tension and war, it's easy to do. After all, almost every German who visited the mountain experienced some kind of prejudice, so he knew that fear and ignorance WAS having a negative effect on the people in his community and hoped that through education, that kind of thing could be avoided.

Oh,I agree . I knew jb's reasons, i'm just saying it led to the fear he was trying prevent

[carol]

It wouldn't be long before people would be reading and hearing worse than Mein Kampf in the newspaper and the radio. The horrors of the concentration camps and coverage of the Nuremburg Trials would be published in most major US newspapers and reported on radio broadcasts. Maybe if more people had paid attention to what was in Mein Kampf and what was happening in Europe rather than burying their heads in the sand and ignoring it some of the atrocities could have been prevented.

[runhard]

All you have to do is listen to John Boy's reason for printing it and it was to let people know of what was to come and that we could not be blind to it either. Like he said they're burning books in Germany and now you want to do it here? In the mid 70's for a show like The Waltons it never backed away from anything that might be confrontational instead attacking a controversial subject head on. The Firestorm dealt with fascism, censorship and prejudice and Mein Kampf was just the tool used by the writers to drive that point home. I still think The Firestorm is in my top five episodes and almost 50 years later and it's more proof that The Waltons never backed away but more importantly that many of those same issues are still relevant this very day. I love what grandpa says to John Boy while they're putting the pane of glass in that he liked his article and that's why we all still like this show because of stories like this.

[Easton]

The Waltons tackled racism and prejudice a number of times from Verdie Grant and her family to Willie Brimmer to Paul Mann and his family and even to the mute Lorin Hadley. Anyone who was different was a danger to the community and needed to be dealt with, usually by violence.

Anybody with access to a new source knew about the 'superior race' and the atrocities going on in Nazi Germany, but nobody could really imagine just how horrible and terrifying evil could be. When word of extermination camps came to Waltons Mountain in 'The Unthinkable', both John and Rose were sceptical. Lisa Cooper in 'The Seashore' was easily branded a spy. There was a lot of scepticism on the Mountain where even a broken window became a nightmare situation the Manns, and Jason playing the piano in his uniform sent Hilary Baldwin von Clinst into a deep depression.

All of this was to bring the horrors of war to the Walton's doorstep.

On a lighter note, Nora Marlowe, who portrayed Flossie Brimmer, had to speak German in 'The Firestorm' where she read from a German bible. I asked Nora's daughter, Tracey (Flossieskid) if her mom could really speak German because she did it so well in the episode. Tracey explained that Nora didn't speak German but Tracey's husband did and tutored Nora. She was very convincing.

[pinkbaker07]

Considering how Elizabeth stirred the pot with the Jewish family it appears the community was easily swayed by fear of different cultures and people.

I think he just wanted to let them how evil Hitler was.. when you live in a small town it feels like you are safe and it's not your problem.

[Deleted]

Dec 19, 2022 20:11:50 GMT -5 pinkbaker07 said:

Considering how Elizabeth stirred the pot with the Jewish family it appears the community was easily swayed by fear of different cultures and people.

Do you mean the German family?

[pinkbaker07]

Dec 20, 2022 16:36:39 GMT -5 @cora said:

Dec 19, 2022 20:11:50 GMT -5 pinkbaker07 said:

Considering how Elizabeth stirred the pot with the Jewish family it appears the community was easily swayed by fear of different cultures and people.

Do you mean the German family?

Oh you're right. I'm sorry.

[flossieskid]

It is truly amazing that “The Firestorm” can still provoke lively debate and interest after so many decades. When Claire Whitaker wrote this episode with her husband, Rod Peterson (both were Executive Producers too), she told me, years later, it was important for them to deliver the message of that show in a way everyone could relate to and understand. You can’t present the story with a sledgehammer- a
more subtle approach is the only way the importance of the words on each page of the script would ring true.

When Flossie Brimmer goes to talk to John Boy about how his writing might stir up more feelings of hate, John Boy tells Flossie that the prejudice she experienced was the result of ignorance. Although he sympathizes with Flossie, John Boy feels the citizens of Walton’s mountain need to have the option of reading about what was happening in Europe and the evil and hatred this one man was causing. He hoped the ignorance would disappear if people knew the facts.

I think John Boy was right in trying to present the truth and allow the people on Walton’s mountain to read those facts and make up their own minds. When Flossie ends up translating the words of a German bible, John Boy proves that all humanity is linked by some common threads and we are more alike than different.

I just wish some of the kind acceptance that the Reverend showed toward John Boy at the end of “The Firestorm” would be emulated by some of our own leaders in churches and government. I think this quote captures the feeling behind John Boy’s desire to publish his story on Hitler:
“ The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. “ John Boy didn’t want to do do nothing.

[flossieskid]

I apologize for the two printed “do’s” in the last sentence of my previous posts. I forgot how to edit and missed the 5 minute timeframe. I wasn’t trying to be funny. I will blame it on insomnia at 5:30am!! Obviously, the sentence should read:
“John Boy didn’t want to do nothing.”

[Easton]

Most people wouldn't have noticed had you not mentioned it. I didn't notice until I reread the sentence twice.

I forget the name of the phenomenon, but here is a common example of it (read out loud).

Paris

in the

the Spring