This presentation provides historical context of the events in Nazi Germany, the reasons behind the Nazi regime's rise to power, and it sheds light on the background against which the "Night of the Broken Glass", and later the Holocaust, took place. The talk is organized around dispelling four common myths which, if allowed to stand uncorrected, would make it all-too-easy to dismiss the events of the 1930s and 1940s as irrelevant for today's world. The talk will cover how the Nazi regime came about, and the reasons for its atrocious deeds. In particular, it will take a close look at how common, "normal" people were induced to contribute to the industrialized murder as which we must understand the Holocaust today.
Michael (“Mick”) came from Germany to the US in 1996. A Ph.D. chemist by trade he applied scientific, bilingual research techniques to Martin Luther, his times and his writings. He is the author of a book on the German Reformation titled "Martin Luther and His Times". He is also the author of a successful series of Group Study Guides that present key texts of the German Protestant Reformation in a format that enables religious groups to study Martin Luther “in his own words”.
Mick's hobbies include choral singing and hiking. Professionally, Mick is a quality assurance professional for software in medical devices.