ACT: Fascism in Roxbury, NJ
Context
I attend Roxbury Town Council Meetings whenever my schedule allows. I recently spoke on the startling comparison between Germany 1933-1934 and the USA today. Unfortunately, public comments are limited to 3 minutes each, and I am… well, verbose. Here is the speech in its entirety. I recorded myself so you may listen to it, or you may read it.
Recourses for the information I used for this speech below.
Remember, we’re stronger together.
Video of me reading the speech below.
It’s time we recognize the cost of silence and lack of use of your legislative power!
Our community can’t control federal immigration enforcement. But we can control whether local government becomes complicit through inaction.
I have studied not just historical events, but how ordinary institutions and leaders either protected human dignity or failed to do so in my MA of Jewish-Christian Studies.
The lessons weren’t only about what happened. It was about what safeguards could have prevented escalating harm.
Let’s get into it.
The phrase ‘concentration camp’ was first applied to British camps erected during the Boer War in South Africa (1899–1902)- they weren’t created by nor exclusive to NAZI Germany. Yes, there were people held in concentration camps in WW1. We have had concentration camps in the USA before - for Japanese Americans during WW2.
Definition: a concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitation or punishment.
In these camps, prisoners were held in inhumane conditions, with the majority of prisoners dying from causes including disease, malnutrition, forced labor, maltreatment and execution by their captors.
Just like at Delaney Hall!
Camps were immediately established in 1933, once Adolf was elected Chancellor. They didn’t start as death camps. The camps were filled and run by the SS, the so-called “Protection Squadron”. The SS was established prior to Hitler - it began with a small guard unit.
They were security guards. Like.. border patrol.
Most of these men enlisted due to economic recession with the promise of full-time employment, they were generally middle-class and did not have a higher education. Their involvement was based on a perceived sense that the aims of the system were good, as well as the opportunity for material gain. In 1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the SS which grew under his direction from a small paramilitary to one of the most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany. The SS was the foremost agency of security, mass surveillance, and state terrorism within Germany and German-occupied Europe.
Sort of like ICE and DHS
Initially, most prisoners were members of the Communist Party of Germany, but as time went on different groups were arrested, including "habitual criminals", "asocials", and Jews. The Republicans- I mean, Germans generally turned out to be proud and pleased that Hitler and his henchmen were putting away certain kinds of people who did not fit in, or who were regarded as 'outsiders' or 'useless eaters'.
Similar to the things we hear if we turn the news on right now.
Early Camps (1933-1934)
The first concentration camps arose in just a few months due to Hitler’s desire to suppress tens of thousands of Nazi opponents in Germany. The Nazis used activist disruptions as a pretext of mass arrests without due process- detention without trial, without legal representation.
Just like today!
Arrests of Germans in 1933 were often accompanied by public humiliation or beatings.
You know, like when the state sends police to pepper spray protesters and arrest them for their right to free speech.
The Nazis imprisoned people in these camps without charging them with a crime. Prisoners were held there indefinitely and without legal recourse. There was no guarantee they would ever be released.
This is what we’re experiencing now.
Did you know that most Jewish prisoners were released prior to the start of WW2, often after promising to emigrate?
Or. You know. Self-deport.
SS guards beat, tortured, abused, and sexually assaulted prisoners with little or no repercussions.
Like at Delaney Hall.
During this time, there are estimates that average to about 70,000 prisoners.
About as many as the US has right now.
Himmler called for a war against the "organized elements of sub-humanity", including communists, socialists, Jews, Freemasons, and ‘criminals’. They also targeted the homeless, mentally ill, and unemployed. Targets were for “racial prevention” and “purification” of German society.
Rhetoric we hear from the Trump administration today.
Himmler also focused more on exploiting prisoners’ labor within the camp system. Did you know the people in our concentration camps - like at Delaney Hall - only earn $1/day for their labor and are severely punished if they refuse to work? And that this wage is worse than what Nazi prisoner’s received for their labor? Within a few years- more camps were built. These camps were local initiatives- usually involving local German police forces, governments, and city councils.
Next, we see new kinds of people arrested and sent to concentration camps: Jehovah’s Witnesses, ex-patriots, Roma, Sinti, and new political prisoners like Poles, Soviets, Czech and Austrian anti-Nazis…
Which reminds me the NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM/NSPM-7 : Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence: 9/25/25
“There are common recurrent motivations uniting this pattern of violent and terroristic activities under the umbrella of self-described “anti-fascism”. Common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”
After the war, most Germans rejected the crimes associated with the concentration camps, while denying any knowledge or responsibility.
You won’t have that luxury between the internet and these meetings
Despite all of this evidence of Nazi concentration and death camps- there are still Holocaust deniers today.
Just like there are those in denial about what is happening in our country right now.
70,805 people are in US Concentration Camps as of the end of December 20, 2026 That’s a 73.5% increase from the same period a year prior. Since the start of Trump’s second term, the detained population has increased five-fold. There are now about 212 ICE concentration camps, 108 of which Trump built in 2025, just a little more than 50% increasE. We can take immediate steps that are within the Council’s authority:
Pass ordinances and resolutions that restrict local involvement with these concentration camps through limits on municipal resources, procurement, contracting, and permits that could facilitate harmful operations;
Strengthen zoning and land-use protections; and
Require transparency for any proposal that would increase harm to detainees or their families.
Let this Council be known for action, not supportive of America’s future Holocaust as it is now.
RESOURCES
Wikipedia: Gestapo
Wikipedia: Concentration Camp
NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM/NSPM-7: Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence
Yad Vashem: Network of Terror
Freedom for Immigrants: Detention Statistics
ICE.gov: Detention Facilities
PBS: Auschwitz
Brennan Center: Private Prison Companies
