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During WWII, a heroic Jewish lawyer warned against the dangers of a dual state — is it coming true in Trump's America?

JL;DR SUMMARY Ernst Fraenkel, a Jewish lawyer in Nazi Germany, remarkably defended anti-Nazi defendants despite the oppressive regime. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

TrumpAuthoritarianismNazi GermanyDictatorshipPolitical PowerLegal SystemsUs DemocracyErnst FraenkelDual StateDemocracy Threats

Places mentioned

Germany
"in The Dual State, Ernst Fraenkel warned that Germany was living under two systems at once a functioning legal order and a parallel, lawless realm of political power."
United States
"Ernst Fraenkel was Jewish. The Nazis tolerated him only because he had served in the German army during World War I, a temporary shield he knew would not last. In 1938, after learning from a sympathetic official that he was on a Gestapo arrest list, he fled to the United States."
Kentucky, United States
"Trumps massive air assault on Iran has brought more accusations that he has put himself above the law. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, called the strikes acts of war unauthorized by Congress."
Iran
"Trumps massive air assault on Iran has brought more accusations that he has put himself above the law."
Berlin, Germany
"He returned to Germany in 1951, became a professor at the Freie Universitt Berlin, and died in 1975."
London, United Kingdom
"He fled Germany, traveling to London, then New York, and finally Chicago."
New York, United States
"He fled Germany, traveling to London, then New York, and finally Chicago."
Chicago, Illinois, United States
"He fled Germany, traveling to London, then New York, and finally Chicago."

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Retrieved 2026-03-08 05:30:49 UTC
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