02/21/2025
A personal note: While I typically try to keep business and politics separate, there are moments in history that call for all voices to speak up, regardless of platform. This is one of those moments. I’m sharing this message here because some things transcend business as usual.
If this resonates with you, I invite you to follow my personal account .online where I will more frequently share my thoughts on these crucial issues facing our democracy.
Growing up in Germany, my education wasn’t just about facts and figures. It was about responsibility. At a young age, our teachers took us to Dachau concentration camp. I still remember standing in those showers and staring at mountains of shoes that once belonged to real people—mothers, fathers, children. Our busload of normally chatty 6th graders rode home in complete silence for four hours. Some lessons leave marks that time can’t erase.
We were taught that learning about history isn’t enough—you must act when you see its shadows returning. That’s why I spent countless hours of my first semester at university joining protests instead of sitting in lectures. It wasn’t rebellion; it was applying what we’d learned.
“The road to fascism is paved with people who told you to stop overreacting.”
As someone with dual citizenship—born abroad to an American serviceman—I could easily leave. But America isn’t just a place I happened to land. It’s the home I consciously chose. And I refuse to let Trump and his followers force me to leave.
Being German, having grown up with the weight of history on our shoulders, I recognize the warning signs. I feel a deep responsibility to sound the alarm. This isn’t about politics anymore—it’s about preventing history from repeating itself.
The easy path would be to stay quiet or walk away. But that’s not what I was taught. That’s not who I am. And that’s not what America needs right now.
