Having spent a good part of the last year writing my upcoming book “Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals on Earth,” I am tuned into violent behavior more than ever before.

Many of the German killers who slaughtered children, women, and defenseless men were ordinary people before Hitler started World War II. They held jobs as merchants, farmers, and local politicians. They had families. They believed in God.

Yet they murdered millions of civilians on orders from deranged Nazi leaders. They volunteered to serve in “Deaths Head” units. They relished working in Concentration Camps where they could brutalize at will because it kept them off the front lines.

Those Germans who were not a part of the SS certainly knew about the brutality against Jews and other civilians and, incredibly, most of them accepted it.

Human beings have a tendency to rationalize their bad behavior and to look away from evil, if they even think about it in the first place. Certainly we have seen that throughout history. Now we are experiencing open evil here in America.

Over the past two and a half years, more than seven thousand human beings have been shot in Chicago, the nation’s third largest city. The criminals causing the destruction are largely comprised of black street gang members who sell narcotics in poor, minority neighborhoods. They are callous, violent individuals who have no regard for human life.

These men gun down children, women, the elderly, and anyone else unlucky enough to be in their proximity. Just last weekend, gang murderers opened fire at people attending parties. The two day toll: 72 people shot, thirteen killed.

So what is the difference between the murderers in Chicago and the SS? If you want to be honest, there is no difference.

The Democrat machine runs Chicago. It is led by Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, a close confidant of former President Obama, who actually worked as a “community organizer” near where the unprecedented violence is now occurring.

Mr. Emmanuel has no clue and looks foolish at press conferences where the mass murder is chronicled by city officials. Mr. Obama has been largely MIA on the carnage, even while in the Oval Office.

While the media spends hours hyping the illegal immigrant situation in order to diminish President Trump, the press is very tentative about the Chicago gang story. They cover it only occasionally and with no passion whatsoever. They put people on the air who spout gibberish like if the government provides more money and jobs, the problem will be solved.

Here’s the truth. Those gang members killing innocents are evil and no social program will change that. They should be locked away for decades.

The political players in Chicago are largely cowards, just like most of the German population was during The Third Reich. I mean really, death is death, whether it’s on the South Side or in Dachau.

Finally, all Americans should engage on this issue. If we do not, we are looking the other way.

While innocent people die.