Another Holywood Boo Boo

[nearmiss]

by sternjaeger "It's not like all the Nazis were evil monsters or the Allies were all good people that did only good. "

I recall viewing some WW2 films where Eisenhower made German people living in proximity of concentration camps to walk through those camps for posterity. Yes, I think it was viable because he knew those atrocities would be swept under the table with time.

People should not blame German people in total. I don't, Hitler took away their guns and all ability of the people to organize and resist. The German people became pawns to do his will. Hitler had Brown Shirts, Gestapo, and SS. Some of the smartest and brightest murders ever to grace this earth to do Hitler's will. What person or groups of persons in their right mind could build an insurgency against such pervasive forces. There was no way they could build any resistance suffcient to overthrow the Nazis.

All three of the Hitler police forces could kill anyone (including Germans) on the spot with no trial or recourse for murder.

[David Hayward]

The Germans had more than enough guns to stop Hitler. There were millions of Germans in the military with enough guns to fight all the way to Moscow. They could have stopped Hitler any time they wanted to. Very few tried.

[nearmiss]

Originally Posted by David Hayward

The Germans had more than enough guns to stop Hitler. There were millions of Germans in the military with enough guns to fight all the way to Moscow. They could have stopped Hitler any time they wanted to. Very few tried.

Can you prove that?

[David Hayward]

Originally Posted by nearmiss

Can you prove that?

Prove what? That there were millions of Germans armed to the teeth in the German military? That seems to be pretty self evident.

That very few tried to stop Hitler? Unless there was a giant conspiracy that has been kept secret since WW2, this is also self evident.

[nearmiss]

Originally Posted by David Hayward

Prove what? That there were millions of Germans armed to the teeth in the German military? That seems to be pretty self evident.

That very few tried to stop Hitler? Unless there was a giant conspiracy that has been kept secret since WW2, this is also self evident.

Nope that is no proof of ability to resist Hitler. Civilians were forbidden to have guns on penalty of death. Many were killed by Gestapo when Hitler issued to order for people to turn in their guns. Just carrying a gun even to turn it in was cause for death by Gestapo.

[David Hayward]

Originally Posted by nearmiss

Nope that is no proof of ability to resist Hitler. Civilians were forbidden to have guns on penalty of death. Many were killed by Gestapo when Hitler issued to order for people to turn in their guns. Just carrying a gun even to turn it in was cause for death by Gestapo.

I'm not talking about the civilians. I'm talking about the millions of Germans in the military. They had more then enough guns to stop Hitler.

[louisv]

Originally Posted by David Hayward

I'm not talking about the civilians. I'm talking about the millions of Germans in the military. They had more then enough guns to stop Hitler.

There was something on TV the other day, it seems there were a bunch of conspiracies against Hitler from members of the german army, not just the one everybody knows about...

[bw_wolverine]

Maybe that would have been better phrased "Not all Germans (or Axis forces) were evil".

I don't like the idea of painting the Nazis as 'well, some were okay'. That's all some people need to justify themselves. I'm pretty sure no one is identifying themselves as one of the 'good' nazis.

[David Hayward]

Originally Posted by bw_wolverine

Maybe that would have been better phrased "Not all Germans (or Axis forces) were evil".

I don't like the idea of painting the Nazis as 'well, some were okay'. That's all some people need to justify themselves. I'm pretty sure no one is identifying themselves as one of the 'good' nazis.

Yeah, good luck to anyone making a movie showing the "good" Nazis.

[whoarmongar]

Originally Posted by David Hayward

Yeah, good luck to anyone making a movie showing the "good" Nazis.

I could envisage a film about a "Good Nazi" being a success if released at the moment.
The anti-hero seems to be in vogue at the moment, look at a series like "Dexter" a huge hit, where the hero is a serial killer. Once upon a time vampires were evil, stank like the grave and were certainly all badies deserving nothing more than a stake through the heart, preferably during the day whilst they slept and were defenceless. Now theyre sexy misunderstood teenage characters that teenage girls want to snog.
The Nazis didnt come to power in Germany with a manifesto that said, First were going to create a police state within Germany and murder anyone who opposes us, then were going to launch an allout total war against all our european neighbours bombing defenceless cities and occuping these countries, then we will launch a barbarous inhumane attack against Russia. Finally we will systematically murder millions of jews and other "undesirables"simply because we dont think they diserve to live.

The Nazis come to power promising to "fix" a broken country blaming the western powers the bolshoviks and "Jewish bankers" (a not totally unreasonable argument at the time) for Germanys ills, this arguement could easily seduce any idealist patriotic German at the time. Thus many a "good man" could have ended up being party members,or in the SS.
The escalation of atrocities from breaking windows to final solution would have caught many people up and implicated them as time went by, a gradual corruption of a persons moral being.

Throw in a persons loyalty to his squad mates created by combat during war time, and the stress created by war, combat,loss and fear and its easy to see that this person may have doubts and be terribly conflicted, but would simply concentrate on the job in hand ie simply follow orders.

I actually think it would be a good plot for a film, but I doubt anyfilm maker would have the courage to produce it.