# If you lived in the late 1930s in Germany when would you decide it is time to leave the country? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [September 30, 2025, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507 "2025-09-30T05:08:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/81 "2025-10-02T13:55:12Z")
…for the record: as a Kiwi if it were up to me I’d be welcoming Whack-a-Mole, all the dopers here, and thousands of more people. With the right government in place and the right policies, we could do it. But just like much of the world at the moment, we’ve got an alt-right government that is pursuing austerity, transferring wealth to the already wealthy, destroying the public sector, and generally just being the _worst_. If we vote them out at the next election things might be a bit better, however it’s likely we might end up with “Starmer Lite”. Which wouldn’t be great. But if you’ve got money, you will be able to buy your way in. Peter Thiel is a New Zealand citizen, after all. And there is more sympathy from the outside than many of you might expect. We are all in this together. And we will only _get through this_ if we stick together. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/82 "2025-10-02T14:33:42Z")
I’m glad to hear New Zealand is not entirely a closed door. If I ever hit the lottery that’s top of the list to bug out to – assuming you folks will let me bring my cats? As it is, alas, being old, comfortable (at the moment) but not independently wealthy, with a work skill (proofreading) that’s readily transferable but not in high and lucrative demand, I’m currently stuck here. At least I’m in Massachusetts, for whatever protection that offers. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > And there is more sympathy from the outside than many of you might expect. That’s very kind of you to say, especially since as a whole this country has forfeited any right to expect that. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/83 "2025-10-02T21:42:16Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > assuming you folks will let me bring my cats? …we do 🙂 > **[Step-by-step guide to bringing cats and dogs to NZ | NZ Government](https://www.mpi.govt.nz/bring-send-to-nz/pets-travelling-to-nz/bringing-cats-and-dogs-to-nz/step-by-step-guide-to-bringing-cats-and-dogs-to-nz/)** > > To bring cats and dogs to New Zealand you need to meet specific requirements. We've created a step-by-step process so you can see what's involved. > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > That’s very kind of you to say, especially since as a whole this country has forfeited any right to expect that. But you haven’t forfeited that right. 🙂 This is a _global_ slide to authoritarianism. It’s being engineered by the _worst_ people in the world. Its happening here. But this isn’t your fault. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/84 "2025-10-02T22:19:22Z")
I could give various idealistic answers (about people being arrested, elections being cancelled, concentration camps being opened etc.)., but given my personality it would have ended up being the practical that decided it. It would have been when Germany attacked the UK or Soviet Union (off the top of my head I forget which was first), because those two countries had the power to fight back, and I would really have not wanted to live in a nation under threat of getting invaded back. Yes, that’s the cowardly answer, but that likely would have been how I decided. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/85 "2025-10-04T10:36:40Z")
When war started, you’d have been far too late. You wouldn’t have been allowed to leave, let alone take with you anything more than the clothes you stood up in, and you’d find it difficult to impossible to get into any other country, let alone one your own country was already at war with. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/86 "2025-10-04T11:06:30Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > [Gleichschaltung - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleichschaltung) I also would go when the Nuremberg laws were passed-- but where? Years ago, I said that I was going to move to Israel when my son turned 21. He will be 19 in 2 weeks. I would love to go now. Except, to Israel, now, really? Oooooooooooo nooo. Maybe by the time Trump outlaws being Jewish, thin mmmmmmmmmmmmmmlkkkkkkl bemmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmam, Choooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/87 "2025-10-04T11:41:43Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Maybe by the time Trump outlaws being Jewish, thin mmmmmmmmmmmmmmlkkkkkkl bemmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmam, > Choooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Now who can argue with that? I think we’re all indebted to RivkahChaya for clearly stating what needed to be said. I am particulary glad that these lovely children were here today to hear that speech. Not only was it authentic SDMB gibberish, it expressed a courage little seen in this day and age. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/88 "2025-10-04T11:59:41Z")
Crap. The dog wanted out when I was writing that, and the cat, along with a bit of text prediction, must have finished it. It wasn’t up when I came back, so I thought maybe it timed out. And it uses text prediction. It’s my son’s, and the only one here with text prediction. Going to crawl under a rock now. After I tell the cat that the dog is my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/89 "2025-10-04T15:41:01Z")
I believe you meant to say “RivkahChaya _Johnson_”. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/90 "2025-10-04T19:05:41Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Canada. I won’t take any jobs and I have health insurance. This thread has drifted quite a bit from Germany in the 30’s, but this kept nagging me. Can you explain the “health insurance” part? Is it an American insurance? Is it currently valid in other countries? Are you certain that it will continue to be valid? Do you know if health providers in other countries will accept i? (Aside: as a citizen of a EU country I can walk into the ER of any other EU country for emergency treatment (only public health providers.) For any planned treatment, I need approval from back home beforehand, i.e. if I think the cataract surgery is better in Barcelona than in Helsinki, I can’t just go there, get the procedure done and expect my home country to pay the bill.) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/91 "2025-10-04T19:29:41Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Going to crawl under a rock now. I just figured it was a primal scream. **Brother Maynard:** It reads, "Here may be found the last words of Joseph of Aramathia. He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the Castle of Aaauuuggghhh… " **King Arthur:** What? **Brother Maynard:** “The Castle of Aaaauuuggghhhh.” **Sir Bedevere:** What is that? **Brother Maynard:** He must have died while carving it. **King Arthur:** Oh come on! **Brother Maynard:** Well, that’s what it says. **King Arthur:** Look, if he was dying, he wouldn’t have bothered to carve ‘Aaaauuuggghhhh’. He’d just say it. **Sir Galahad:** Maybe he was dictating it. **King Arthur:** Oh shut up! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/92 "2025-10-05T16:44:27Z")
This week I learned that although my generation of the family is stuck here the next two generations already have their exit plans in place, including passports and for half of them dual citizenship. So there’s hope our line won’t be entirely wiped out should the worst come, but as last time the elderly and ill will be left behind. I’m still hoping it won’t be necessary. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/93 "2025-10-24T01:27:30Z")
Does anyone have experience transferring US based stock holdings (ie Vanguard) to a similar company in another country? It seems like there are 2 steps in moving to another country. Each one is hard. Gaining permission to stay long-term. Moving assets out of reach of the current US regime. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507/94 "2025-10-24T01:48:19Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Arguably, we’re already at the point that Latino and trans people should be seriously considering leaving. Dear friends of mine, of Mexican and Cuban descent, have been attempting to document their heritage citizenships for some months now. When they went to the county clerk’s office to get fresh copies of birth certificates for themselves and their adult children to provide to the Mexican Consulate, the clerk nodded knowingly. “dual citizenship, right?” Quite a few people were there for the same reason. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-lived-in-the-late-1930s-in-germany-when-would-you-decide-it-is-time-to-leave-the-country/1023507.md?page=4)