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Show Bernie Rose (1/2~ /83 ) Mr. K Mr. ~ Mr. K Mr. R Before we were talking about the 30's, and what I'm mostly concerned about is your description of the atmosphere and your sense of what fascism was like at that ti~e. How did you come into contact with it, bnd what did you feel about it? 1930 I was preoccupied with getting out of school, and at that poin I was really not aware of anything like fascism. God, I can't even tell you when Mussolini came on the scene. Was he on the scene in 1930? Re came before Hitler a couple of years. Well, anyway, whatever Mussolini was I was not aware of. I don't know •• I know the guy's plastered all over the map, and ultimately got into Ethiopia, but that was some years later. But in his early years the question was whether he was good for Italy or bad for Italy, and certain~y he seemed to be acceptable to the Italian people and he didn't pose a threat to anybody except the peo~le he was deposing in Italy, so I don't know that I had any reaction to ~Y first introduction to world fascism through Mussolini. Then Hitler started his business in Germany, and I don't know that we had any reaction to that except when he started yelling at Jews. When he started yelling at Jews, I can only talk for me now, I'd get irritated at somebody over there yelling at the Jews. Then we heard of things like of what was ha?pening to Jews, in other words 9 they were being degraded in the streets, and I felt a sense of more than, again I'm talking personal, more than resentment, 1t was frustrated anger. I mean, what could I do about it? Very, ver strong 'what could I do about it?' Yet, I could do nothing about it. I've got to ju~p to tell you that when the United States got involved in the war 1t was one of the things that led me to inl1st. |
