Comment by atombender

That is neither here nor there. Nobody has ever claimed evil started (or ended) with the Nazis. The US has committed unspeakable evil before and after, as have many other governments.

The parent presumably singled out the Gestapo because it is one of the prime examples of a secret police detaining and punishing citizens without due process. The fact that the Gestapo didn't spring out of completely new ideas doesn't seem particularly relevant in this context.

There are more apposite comparisons: The US internment programs of 1942–1945, or McCarthyism and the Red Scare.