Alarm as German anti-maskers co-opt Nazi resister Sophie Scholl

I reread the article and found that after all the emphasis does remain true to its title. For some reason I I was relieved to see that both a green party member and a pro-Antifa individual would wrongly also "claim" Sophie Scholl as their hero thereby showing the misappropriation I mentioned in my first comment did exist on all sides: I believe it does. Yet the bulk of the article only targets conservatives. That AfD anti-Semite extremists would claim her is in my book the most awful part of it all. I have been a student of the Holocaust for many years. One thing I must say for many Holocaust survivors whose lives I have been reading or watching in interviews is that despite their suffering, most of them are far more objective in terms of judgment. Many of them were able to recognize when an enemy actually could be their friend--saving them--as when it was the opposite. I taped the life of a good friend of mine born in 1918 who died 11 years ago. He had escaped camp life, and managed to retain a sense of fairness that included not blaming the next generation for the sins of their fathers. I so agree with him. I am not an extremist of any kind.  I think the Covid issue has been politicized from the get-go, a real shape-shifter in all decisions, yet I agree that even if one might be skeptical, one should follow an unselfish attitude in order to protect others. I am vaccinated and received my booster.  I am wearing masks and actually cannot blame solely conservatives for not wearing them as I live in a resort town where we have witnessed, especially in the thick of it, tourists disregarding safety rules that locals--including the fairly large elderly population--have followed:  Last year it led the town council to shut down the city for a few months. A number of these visitors come from the main city of our state which is extremely liberal including its leaders and has been "showcased" for its riots and violence. Anti-Fa extremists are definitely not a state of mind as some would have it. Yet the last paragraph of my previous comment remains true. If someone had told me w few decades ago that the silent majority existed I would have echoed the phrase said they were neither one nor the other, but in these days and times, I believe it does exist, that it is often silent for the fear instilled in them, yet a majority compared to the publicly advertised political factions. What distresses me though is that extremism can result in people who were not so to become extremists themselves, both under the misguided assumption that they are bringing the other side to the "right path:" theirs. I believe that journalism has lost its integrity and is as polarized as anything else, while the majority of citizens and unsung heroes do not cater to either faction and are actually the best ones to do daily random acts of kindness often at their own risk: It was true in world war II--or other wars-- and those who did them were discovered long afterward, it is still true in times of "relative" peace. Dogmas do not exist only in religions. I suspect I only have about a decade left to live realistically speaking, although even tomorrow is only a fragile human hope. I love my country yet I am clear-eyed about things that should be changed yet do not need drastic measures with the few leading the masses. I haven't walked in the shoes of friends of mine who were under such regimes regardless of their political dogmas, and I believe them when they say such regimes do not work--whether the dictator is a  Ceauscescu or a Pinochet. They make too many victims and only believe in their own aggrandizement. Call me an idealist, yet I think I'm one of many. I may be in some way "the nightmare of a hung jury" but I want a kindness that does exist from individual to individual regardless of their origins and lifestyles to be reinstated, not the hardcore extremism that seems to have overtaken our country and others in recent years--although I now realize that it already existed, and incubated over a few decades. I don't want the ugly heads of extremism to be those of the proverbial Hydra--growing yet another one, once one is severed. "Every minute there is a war somewhere And the mourning dove in me Suffers. Every minute there is a smile Of peace and unsung Kindness, somewhere And the lark in me Soars and sings."  

This article is excellent in showing how extremists, regardless of political label misappropriate and trivialize individual heroes and major historical events to serve their cause. I only regret that the title of this article actually shows bias in itself, since the text itself demonstrates that not only anti-maskers and other mostly conservatives are choosing Sophie and Hans Scholl to fly their extremist banner, but also the Green party and pro-Antifa extremists as well: Guilty as charged all, when most compassionate moderates and respectful of others, seeking compromise, remain obscured. I would like the title to reflect the more objective and "open minded" body of the text.

Anyone who considers having to wear masks as being comparable to what happened to Jews in WW2 need to take a long, hard look at themselves. Absolutely disgusting.