Today in Labor History January 30, 1933: German President Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor. Almost immediately, Hitler began his attacks on labor, with his Sturmabteilung (paramilitary) raiding and burning union offices and assassinating labor leaders, while the police looked on. In May, 1933, he created the German Labor Front, a fascist labor organization to replace the gutted unions. They sent many of the labor leaders to concentration camps and abolished collective bargaining and union elections. Also in May, 1933, the Nazis also attacked and destroyed the Institute for Sexual Sciences, home to the world’s first trans medical clinic, which performed the world’s first sexual reassignment surgeries, for Karl Meir Baer, in 1906, and Lili Elbe, in 1930-1931.
Whether or not you think the comparison with Nazi Germany is a valid one, they did come after trans people almost from day 1, just like Trump. And Project 2025 very directly targets unions and labor activism. So, if your workplace isn’t already organized, it’s past time to get started.