History Series / ThePlotAgainstAmerica

* AluminumChristmasTrees: There is, in fact, a long history of Jews in the American South, and Bengelsdorf factually brings up [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_P._Benjamin Judah P. Benjamin]], a Southern Jew who spent a large portion of the Civil War as the second-most powerful man in the Confederacy. Before the mid-19th century Charleston, South Carolina (where Bengelsdorf is from) had the most American Jews (and was the largest Jewish community of North America period), until more immigrated from Europe. Only later was it surpassed by New York City.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Once Lindbergh is elected president, many Jews openly discuss fleeing to Canada. When Alvin arrives back in America from Canada, the train station is filled with visibly Jewish travelers heading the other direction. Bess actually look into it for her family, and thanks to Alvin’s service in the Canadian military, they are eligible for emigration; however, Herman puts his foot down, insisting that the family is staying put, changing his mind only after the border has been closed. At the height of antisemitic fervor, Shepsie packs up all his belongings and drives through the night to Winnipeg, where he has a brother.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Once Lindbergh is elected president, many Jews openly discuss fleeing to Canada. When Alvin arrives back in America from Canada, the train station is filled with visibly Jewish travelers heading the other direction. The Levines actually look into it but are told that they don't have the right credentials or connections to become citizens. At the height of antisemitic fervor, Shepsie packs up all his belongings and drives through the night to Winnipeg, where he has a brother.

* WhamShot: After Alvin deploys in the Canadian military, episode 2 ends with [[spoiler:a shot of Alvin lying in a hospital bed. The camera pans across to reveal that his right foot has been amputated]].

** Evelyn doesn't know what her Yiddish curse "gay kocken offen yom" means. Rabbi Bengelsdorf whispers the translation into her ear, which makes her smile, but the audience doesn't hear it. [[note]]It means "go poop in the ocean."[[/note]]

** Evelyn doesn't know what her Yiddish curse "gay kocken offen yom" means. Rabbi Bengelsdorf whispers the translation into her ear, which makes her smile, but the audience doesn't hear it.

* AdultFear:
** As antisemitic riots erupt nationwide, Bess grows fearful for their former neighbors, Seldon and his mother, in Kentucky. The worst is confirmed when the mother fails to return home. Bess dispatches Herman and Sandy to retrieve Seldon.
** During a gas station stop on the return back with Seldon, Herman spots two Klansmen there while both boys are in the station.

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* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh become president and first lady. Politician Burton K. Wheeler becomes his vice president. The antisemitic Henry Ford gains a seat on his cabinet. Anti-Nazi broadcaster Walter Winchell starts a presidential campaign against Lindbergh. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia becomes a voice of protest against Lindbergh. Nazi Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop makes a diplomatic visit to America.

''The Plot Against America'' is an HBO AlternateHistory MiniSeries created by Creator/DavidSimon and Ed Burns of ''Series/TheWire'' and ''Series/GenerationKill''. It is based on the [[Literature/ThePlotAgainstAmerica book of the same name]] by Philip Roth.

** The show does an inverse on Charles Lindbergh as it does to Winchell. Lindbergh goes from a heroic aviator with outspoken isolationist views to an outright Nazi collaborator who also supports "Americanization" efforts that effectively treat Jewish Americans like aliens. He's eventually [[spoiler:assassinated in an effort to put America back on track]]. In real life, Lindbergh went on to pledge his full support to the American war effort and served substantially in the Pacific theater. He was also horrified by the revelation of Nazi extermination camps. Though he did have some Nazi sympathies it seems, he'd balked already at Kristallnacht and denounced the Nazis' persecution of Jews.

** In the final episode, an American pogrom against Jewish neighborhoods and businesses very clearly recalls [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristallnacht Krystalnacht]]. One shot of a pile of shoes outside of a looted store is a reference to famous images of the shoe piles left over at Nazi extermination camps.

* HateSink: Henry Ford is the closet thing the series gets to an actual villain on-screen. He makes an antisemitic remark at a government gala that makes an actual ''Nazi'' look good by comparison. He's also responsible for turning Rabbi Bengelsdorf's (already misguided) Americanization plan for Jews into a weapon against them.

** Ann Morrow Lindbergh heroically stands up to stop the US from going fascist with a radio address, and is wholly respectful of Jews. The real woman held fascism to be the wave of the future, and praised Hitler in a letter. It's impossible to say how she'd have reacted to such an event for sure of course, but these views are keft entirely unmentioned in the series, though they had become infamous by then (particularly among Jews).

** The show does an inverse on Charles Lindbergh as it does to Winchell. Lindbergh goes from a heroic aviator with outspoken isolationist views to an outright Nazi collaborator who also supports "Americanization" efforts that effectively treat Jewish Americans like aliens. He's eventually [[spoiler:assassinated in an effort to put America back on track]]. In real life, Lindbergh went on to pledge his full support to the American war effort and served substantially in the Pacific theater. He was also horrified by the revelation of Nazi extermination camps. Though he did have some Nazi sympathies it seems, he'd balked already at Kristellnacht and denounced the Nazis' persecution of Jews.

* HardTruthAesop: Integration is bad. Vulnerable minorities ''need'' to live in communities of their own kind, because that's the only way they're safe from violent bigots. People who favour integration are dangerously naive about life's realities at best, and at worst using it as an excuse to isolate minority members so that they can be persecuted more easily.

* {{Tagline}}: "Freedom is never be completely won. But it can be lost." This is a quote from David Simon's father.

* WhamShot: After Alvin deploys in the Canadian military, episode 2 ends with [[spoiler:a shot of Alvin lying in a hospital bed. The camera pans across to reveal that he right foot has been amputated]].

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: In this reality, Walter Winchell graduates from firebrand newscaster to political candidate who personally faces down fascist thugs and racist cops to oppose Lindbergh's Nazi-friendly policies. He doesn't live long enough to become a villain in the 1950s, when his full-throated support of [=McCarthyism=] put him very much on the wrong side of history.

** The show does an inverse on Charles Lindbergh as it does to Winchell. Lindbergh goes from a heroic aviator with outspoken isolationist views to an outright Nazi collaborator who also supports "Americanization" efforts that effectively treat Jewish Americans like aliens. He's eventually [[spoiler:assassinated in an effort to put America back on track]]. In real life, Lindbergh went on to pledge his full support to the American war effort and served substantially in the Pacific theater. He was also horrified by the revelation of Nazi extermination camps.

** Usually the case when Herman and Alvin butt heads. Herman tries to be an upstanding man of honour and is endlessly and understandably frustrated that Alvin keeps running with lowlives and choosing the short-sighted, aggressive path at every turn. On the other hand, it's also easy to see Alvin's point about Herman being self-righteous and refusing to even listen Alvin's side of the story, as well as being more fond of loudly condemning the evils of the world than actually doing anything about them.
** Likewise, Herman and Bess. Herman's refusal to live in fear or be intimidated away from his rights as a citizen is perfectly admirable. However, as Bess keeps pointing out, for all his ranting about how America is full of Jew-haters it never seems to occur to him that he and his family might be in real danger from said Jew-haters.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Usually the case when Herman and Alvin butt heads. Herman tries to be an upstanding man of honour and is endlessly and understandably frustrated that Alvin keeps running with lowlives and choosing the short-sighted, aggressive path at every turn. On the other hand, it's also easy to see Alvin's point about Herman being self-righteous and refusing to even listen Alvin's side of the story, as well as being more fond of loudly condemning the evils of the world than actually doing anything about them.

* IHaveYourWife: Evelyn claims [[spoiler: Lindbergh only enacted antisemitic policies and keeping America neutral because his son was really kidnapped by the Nazis rather than killed, and used to coerce him into doing so.]] Like in the book, it's left unknown if that's true or simply an excuse she cooked up herself. Rabbi Bengelsdorf also uses this [[spoiler: when trying to cajole members of his congregation to aid him in fighting to protect Lindburgh's reputation. It's obvious they don't believe a word of it and the last sight of the Rabbi is being cut off and bluntly told "we have to talk" with the obvious implication he's about to be kicked out of his own temple.]]

* IHaveYourWife: Evelyn claims [[spoiler: Lindbergh only enacted antisemitic policies and keeping America neutral because his son was really kidnapped by the Nazis rather than killed, and used to coerce him into doing so.]] Like in the book, it's left unknown if that's true or simply an excuse she cooked up herself.

* RewardedAsATratiorDeserves: While he would hardly call himself a traitor, it's clear how Rabbi Bengelsdorf is willing to go along with Lindburgh and the plans to "relocate" Jews, which he sees as a good thing. When [[spoiler: Lindburgh is killed, Bengelsdorf is stunned when the new President paints him as a "modern Rasputin" influencing Mrs. Lindburgh, part of the "Jewish plot" against the President and is held by the FBI.]]

* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: Since this is the 1940s, most Jewish characters speak a smattering of Yiddish. Evelyn curses at Henry Ford in Yiddish, but doesn't know what it means.
* YourCheatingHeart: In the first episode, Evelyn is the mistress of a married man who refuses to leave his wife.

* TheConspiracy: [[spoiler:It's strongly indicated dissident American officials plotted Lindbergh's assassination. Evelyn also claims the Nazis coerced Lindbergh into enacting antisemitic policies and keeping America neutral, though it's unknown if she's right.]]