It's beginning to feel like the early 1930s in Germany, just before Hitler and his bloodthirsty Nazis took over Germany

The violent, antisemitic mob that blocked the entrance to a Los Angeles synagogue made me think about Germany’s early 1930s that was a prelude to the Holocaust.

Here’s a description of the mob action from the pro-israel Honest Reporting.com:

The footage is as clear as day: a mob of anti-Israel protesters, some with keffiyehs and black masks wrapped around their faces, assaulting visibly observant Jews and clashing with riot police.

In one clip posted on the social media site X (formerly known as Twitter), a visibly observant Jew is attacked, and in another, several men in skullcaps try to pull one of the rioters away from an ultra-Orthodox man.

A journalist on the scene described Jews being sprayed with pepper spray, and another recounted seeing “Jews being pushed down and beaten bloody in the street.”

Armed with sticks and waving PLO flags, the group massed outside the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles for their anti-Israel rally on Sunday.

Reports suggest the location was chosen because it was hosting an Israeli real estate fair. But it’s clear most of the mob was there because it was a synagogue—evident when the keffiyeh-clad crew linked arms around the building to prevent synagogue attendees from entering.

Not until 1933 was Hitler was able to pass the first of a series of antisemitic laws that began the Holocaust. In the years immediately before the Nazi takeover of the German government, the seeds of the Holocaust were planted: They culminated in this:

On April 1, 1933, a general boycott against German Jews was declared, in which ["Brown Shirts," the nickname for the Nazi Party militia] members stood outside Jewish-owned stores and businesses in order to prevent customers from entering. [Emphasis added.]

Not in my wildest dreams can I imagine the United States becoming a Nazi Germany. But whatever your feelings about Zionism, the invasion of Gaza and the Palestinian struggle for statehood, what we’re seeing in America is a growing expression of hatred that has engulfed higher education.

The Nazi movement in Germany was spawned by the growing extremism from both the right and the left in the wake of the Great Depression’s hardships. Sound familiar?

Before the Nazi takeover, it was hard to imagine the kind of antisemitism that would blossom under Hitler. The Jewish population numbered 500,000 people, less than one percent of the German population.

Many Jews considered themselves loyal Germans, having fought on the country’s side in World War I. Many were leaders in the economy, science and arts. One in five of Germany’s Nobel Prize winners were Jewish.

Many Jews wanted to acculturate into the German culture and national sense. Nonetheless, Hitler blamed the Jews for the travails Germany experienced during the Depression.

Whatever the reason, nothing excuses this week’s outrage in Los Angeles.