How much difference can 60 days make? Here's what happened in Germany in the first 60 days after Adolph Hitler, head of a minority party, was appointed Chancellor of Germany.
A Tyrant's 60-Day Plan
| January 30, 1933 | Hitler is appointed Chancellor. Nazis hold 3 of 11 cabinet posts. Goebbels writes that the "New Reich" is born |
| January 31 | The Reichstag is dissolved and new elections are set for March 5. |
| February 22 | Goering establishes an "auxillary" police force of 22,000 Nazi thugs and raids Communist Party headquarters. He seizes the membership list and begins to arrest them all. |
| February 27 | The Reichstag burns under mysterious circumstances. Privately, Hitler calls the flames a "beacon from heaven." Publicly, he blames leftists: "The German people have been soft too long. Every Communist official must be shot. All Communist deputies must be hanged this very night. All friends of the Communists must be locked up. And that goes for the Social Democrats and the Reichsbanner as well!" |
| February 28 | The Reichstag Decree is signed providing that: Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153 of the Constitution of the German Reich are suspended until further notice. It is therefore permissible to restrict the rights of personal freedom [habeas corpus], freedom of opinion, including the freedom of the press, the freedom to organize and assemble, the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications, and warrants for house searches, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed. |
| March 5 | The Nazis receive only 44% of the vote but declare victory. Nazi thugs enter government offices and "arrest" non-Nazi office-holders. Thousands are picked up, and old army barracks and abandoned factories are used as temporary "prisons." |
| March 21 | After making a show of humility by bowing to old president von Hindenburg earlier in the day, Hitler signs a decree to create "special courts" to try political offenders. These courts deprive defendants of a jury trial and right to counsel. |
| March 23 | The new Reichstag convenes in an opera house and considers its first order of business: an "enabling act" that makes Hitler dictator. The measure requires a 2/3 majority, and few expect it to pass since the Nazis have fewer than half the deputies. While brown shirts surround the building and chant, Full powers - or else! We want the bill - or fire and murder!," Social Democrats bravely refuse to give in to the intimidation, but they are too few. The bill passes 441 to 84 with essential help from moderate, non-Nazi deputies. The Third Reich is firmly in control. |
Create a little checklist for yourself. Find how many items in this "First 60 Days" of the Nazi regime have already been accomplished by the Bush administration. Then ask youself if there isn't a PNAC (Part 2) plan ready to implement the rest.
Shouldn't you have your own "60-Day Plan" for how to rescue your family and yourself from the onrushing madness?
Your 60-Day Plan
We're going to make this as simple and straightforward as possible.
There are three aspects to leaving the country:
- choosing a destination that will be both safe and open for immigration (numbered in blue);
- assembling the documents you will need to start your new home abroad (numbered in green); and
- gathering your assets and making them transportable to your new home (numbered in red).
You're going to need to proceed along all three fronts at once, so we'll use the color-coding listed above to help you keep things in their proper category.
We've divided this up into eight one-week periods. In less than 60 days, you can be out of the country with the doucments you need to obtain residency in your new home and some money available for a new start.
| Week 1 | 1) | If you don't have a passport, apply for one immediately and pay for the expedited process. |
| 2) | Apply for new copies of birth certificates for everyone who is going. | |
| 3) | Go to these websites to begin researching destinations: | |
| 4) | If you own a home, find an auctioneer with experience selling real estate who is able to set an auction date for your house, vehicles and personal goods within 30 days (it CAN be done), and tell them you want to close on the real estate within 30 days of the sale (it CAN be done). Collect all important documents: your mortgage, title insurance, termite inspections, property tax receipts, etc. | |
| 5) | Begin sorting your personal items into four categories:
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| Week 2 | 1) | Narrow your destination list to four or five countries and research these in more depth. Purchase and check out some books on these countries. |
| 2) | Obtain official copies of criminal reports, transcripts, diplomas, certifications. | |
| 3) | Decide what to do about pets. If you're considering moving them, go here to begin your research. | |
| 4) | Get physicals for everyone who's going and have them notarized. | |
| Week 3 | 1) | Take this week off from work. |
| 2) | Choose a destination. If you can afford it, make reservations to travel there by Week "6". If that country's primary language is unfamiliar to you, get a phrase book and begin learning a few "basics". Begin to narrow your focus to one or two areas/cities within your destination country. | |
| 3) | Now that you know your destination, get apostilles for all your documents. (If you're trying to limit your traceability, this will require some special care.) | |
| 4) | Get a mail drop within an hour's driving distance of your current home. | |
| 5) | Consider converting stocks, 401(k)s, bonds, etc. to cash and begin the process now. | |
| 6) | Complete your sorting process and do the following:
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| Week 4 | 1) | Do what you can to assist your auctioneer to publicize your sale that should be taking place at the end of this week. |
| 2) | If you can't make a visit to your destination country prior to leaving the country, consider starting a bank account through the Internet (with care). | |
| 3) | Catch up on what you didn't get completed last week. | |
| Week 5 | 1) | Do sale follow-up: be there for people to pick up items they bought; property inspections; foul-ups. |
| 2) | If you have established a bank account abroad, transfer enough money to take care of expenses for 3 months. | |
| 3) | Review all the documents with apostilles and check them against the entry requirements for your destination country, preferably using that country's own information and not the U. S. Embassy for that country. | |
| 4) | Make reservations for your final departure for a day a few days AFTER the closing date for your real estate. | |
| 5) | Send your change of address cards to the necessary parties. If you have someone you trust, use the mail drop as your forwarding address and let them pick up the mail and forward it to you once you're gone. | |
| Week 6 | 1) | If you've arranged to make a pre-departure visit to your destination country, go now with enough cash on your person to cover 3 months expenses. If this is more than $10,000 per person traveling, report it to U. S. Customs using Fincen Form 105. Make sure someone responsible stays behind to handle any matters related to the sale, and give them an adequate power of attorney. |
| 2) | While you're in your new country:
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| Week 7 | 1) | Consider transferring the bulk of your assets abroad at this point. Otherwise, give someone you trust a power of attorney to transfer money after you leave. Or prepare to transfer all your assets in cash on your person when you leave. Worst option: wait until you arrive abroad to instruct your U. S. bank to transfer money. You can expect it to be held up, perhaps indefinitely. |
| 2) | Be around for the pickup of the goods you plan to move. Again: instruct the movers to keep the items in storage in the U. S. until you instruct them to put them on the boat. | |
| 3) | Push the closing along. Call and stay on top of everyone involved to make sure everything is completed by the closing date. | |
| Week 8 | 1) | Close on your property. Either move the proceeds as cash on your person or wire them and hope your bank doesn't hold it up because of the Bank Secrecy Act and Patriot Act. |
| 2) | If you're taking more than $10,000 per person in cash, declare it using FinCen 105. | |
| 3) | Wave good-bye as you board the plane. |
Act Now
There it is from start to finish. Is it a lot of work? Yes.
Would it be a good idea to have someone to help on the other end who can give you specific guidance about your destination country's law and requirements? I wish we had had someone like that.
Are there some risks along the way? Of course, and most of them are because the time is now so short. But compare those risks to the consequences of doing nothing in the face of this growing threat.
You can be sure that the ruthless people currently in power in the U. S. have plans for what they will be doing over the next 60 days.
You need to have your own.
If you're ready to jump out of the pot before you're cooked, do two things: view the Flash video " Shelter from the Storm" (a 4-5 minute download with DSL) and read "Why Croatia?"
