Liberals like Dhruv Rathee in the then Germany had contributed to Hitler's ascent

 

I have always believed that history is less about what happened and more about what we choose to remember. The rest, we quietly sweep under the carpet and call it perspective. The latest round of moral indignation, courtesy of Dhruv Rathee, drags us once again to the well-worn theatre of Germany and the rise of Adolf Hitler.

Now Hitler, we are told, was the ultimate evil — which he undoubtedly was. What is mentioned less often, however, is that evil rarely travels alone. It is usually escorted to power by men who consider themselves sensible, moderate, and, above all, necessary.

Take the Centre Party. Respectable, devout, and politically pragmatic, it was among those that voted for the Enabling Act of 1933 — the very legislation that allowed Hitler to dismantle democracy with legal precision. They did not shout slogans or wear brown shirts. They merely convinced themselves that they could manage him. History records how that worked out.

Then comes Konrad Adenauer, later celebrated as the architect of modern West Germany. His post-war role in stabilising the nation is undeniable. Yet it also involved reintegrating many who had served under the Nazi regime. One may call it pragmatism. One may also ask, quietly, what price was paid for that stability.

None of this makes every liberal or Christian democrat of that era complicit in Nazi crimes. History is not that neat. But it does make one thing clear: the road to authoritarianism is often paved not just by fanatics, but by the cautious and the respectable.

And now comes the delicious irony. The very tribe that prides itself on moral superiority — the modern liberals — finds it fashionable to compare Narendra Modi with Hitler. One is tempted to ask: do they also remember their own historical cousins who helped Hitler into power? Or is memory, like morality, to be applied selectively?

Double standards are not a modern invention; they are as old as politics itself. But they become particularly nauseating when served with a garnish of self-righteousness. It is easy to point fingers across continents and decades. It is harder to look into the mirror and acknowledge that one’s own ideological ancestors may have played midwife to a tyrant.

History does not demand that we wallow in guilt. It demands honesty. And honesty, I am afraid, is a rare commodity — especially among those who claim a monopoly over it.