Thread by @Heidi_Cuda

My dad was born in Czechoslovakia in 1934. Sudetenland was handed to Hitler. His sisters grew up hiding in hay stacks from Russian soldiers. We’ve learned nothing.

Putin’s attack on Ukraine echoes Hitler’s takeover of Czechoslovakia.-⁦@washingtonpost apple.news/A0FnCaid9QDaX3…

Four days later, during the famous Munich conference — now known as the centerpiece of the “appeasement” of the Nazis — Great Britain, France and Italy agreed to the handover of the Sudeten region to Germany, hoping it would prevent further aggression.-@washingtonpost

“It is the last territorial claim which I have to make in Europe,” Hitler said. Within six months, he took the rest of Czechoslovakia, and on Sept. 1, 1939, he attacked Poland, starting World War II.-@washingtonpost

“The argument that Hitler made is very, very similar to the one Putin’s made,” said Dov S. Zakheim. Putin, he said, is claiming that the Ukrainian government is “mistreating these poor Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine,” who need Putin to come to their defense.-@washingtonpost

“It’s the same playbook,” Zakheim said. “When [Hitler] bit off the Sudetenland, his argument was: ‘These people don’t want to be part of Czechoslovakia. They’re Germans.’ Putin’s saying the same thing about people in Donetsk and Luhansk: ‘They’re Russians.’ Same exact argument.”