LogFAQs > #902733310

The Great Muta 22 posted...

nemu posted...

Freddie_Mercury posted...

clearaflagrantj posted...

Most German soldiers literally thought they were fighting to protect their country and preserve their way of life.

[citation needed]

I would say mostly common sense. I'm sure there was probably a large anti-Jewish/other "undesirables" trend in Germany in that period, but your average rank and file soldier isn't going to care much about that. Pretty much anyone involved with concentration camps will likely be a horrible person, but the soldiers out in the field aren't all going to be disgusting demons. That's like saying everybody in the south during the American Civil War were all horrible racists.

It completely goes against how the rise of Nazi Germany actually happened and the reshaping of the German army through conditioning to where they supported horrible things.

Like I said, I don't doubt there was a large social trend throughout the country, but an entire population of over 60 million people aren't all going to radically change. The bulk of them would have to either be tacitly putting up with it because at the end of the day, it is still their homeland, or just ignore the politics behind it completely. I'm sure there were plenty of true, disgusting nazis in the army, but there is no way every single person was a horrible, disgusting monster like portrayed in the media.