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How did the Germans suddenly become so evil under the third reich?

Is it just their national characteristic? Were they always as anti-semitic/ racist as they were from 1933-45? Was Hitler solely to blame for making millions of Germans willing to commit the holocaust and rampage their way through Europe?

Basically, are Germans just intrinsically evil, and have they really changed?

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Reply 1
I think most people thought is was wrong, but, they weren't brave enough to say saying and people just went with it. I don't think there were/are intrinsically evil.
Not every german was a Nazi. Not everyone fighting for Germany was a Nazi. There wasn't much of a choice for the majority of the german people due to not only the persecution they would face if they spoke up but also because of how effective Nazi propaganda was.

"Its tempting to see our enemies as purely evil, but there is good and bad on both sides of every war ever fought"- Sir Jorah Friendzone
Reply 3
Original post by Phipp91
Is it just their national characteristic? Were they always as anti-semitic/ racist as they were from 1933-45? Was Hitler solely to blame for making millions of Germans willing to commit the holocaust and rampage their way through Europe?

Basically, are Germans just intrinsically evil, and have they really changed?


No, they are not.
After World War I, for which Germany alone was blamed even though all parties were responsible for the Great War, the German people felt humiliated by the unfair Treaty of Versailles. This combined with economic crisis, which lead to political instability, gave rise to nationalism.
Hitler may have been evil, but he was also smart. After gaining power he swiftly consolidated it and eliminated anyone posing a threat.
After the start of World War II the people for supportive because the felt that they were fighting back against the unfair treatment after World War I.
Also Hitler made the German people believe the War was started by the Polish, to secure their support (after WWI they were not too keen on War).
The quick and decisive victories against Poland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands helped gathering more support.
Modern historians generally agree that WWI was the fault of all the European powers and was the main cause for the rise of nazism in Germany and thus also WWII.

As for the Holocaust and anti-semitism, the Nazis did not plan it.
Their original intention was to remove the Jews from Germany to Siberia or Madagascar. However as the War started turning in favor of the Allies a new 'solution' was needed, since both Madagascar and Siberia were off limits.
This 'solution' was the Holocaust (by the way the Concentration camp is a british invention).
The Holocaust was kept secret from the German people, they did know about the discrimination of the Jews by the Nazis, but not of the systematic murder.
Also most people did not support this discrimination, as is obvious by the meager participation of civilians during the "Reichskristallnacht".
There were many Germans who discriminated the Jews, but also many who did not, or even risked their lives trying to help them.

Anti-semitism is something that has existed for centuries and is not unique to the Germans. As a matter of fact Germany was very open to Jews until the Nazis came along which is why there were such large Jewish communities in Germany. As a matter of fact excluding the Third Reich Germany was more open towards Jews than most other European countries. In medieval times there was an extremely anti-Semitic phase in Europe during which Jews were being persecuted throughout Europe it was in German cities that they found protection.

They have most definitely changed. Germany as fewer Nazis than countries that fought them such as Russia or the US.
Germans are very friendly, welcoming and not very different from you or me.
You should remember that the German people are thousands of years old and we are just talking about a period of 12 years. Judging a nation on such a fraction of their existence, and the worst on at that, is a bad idea. All nations have better and worse times, the Germans are simply unfortunate that the memory of WWII and the Holocaust is relatively fresh, unlike other countries failures.

I hope this answers your question.
Original post by Phipp91
Is it just their national characteristic? Were they always as anti-semitic/ racist as they were from 1933-45? Was Hitler solely to blame for making millions of Germans willing to commit the holocaust and rampage their way through Europe?

Basically, are Germans just intrinsically evil, and have they really changed?


the German people enjoyed having Hitler in charge and were willing to turn a blind eye to his excesses, such as the infamous extermination of handicapped people before the war. once it became clear that they were going to lose the war they were less enchanted with him.
mistreatment of the Jews is not limited to Germany. in England in the 1200s there were appalling massacres in York and elsewhere.
we can see the lust for expansion in today's Russia. we can only hope that it does not end in disaster again.
Fundamentalist catholicism + Charismatic lunatic + Rising anti-semitism due to success of Jewish businesses = The rise of National Socialism.
Lmao no, Germans are not intrinsically evil...
The Germans were probably looking for some easy answers to their woes after the devastation of World War 1 in which no one really won anything out of it. So you had millions of people dead and an economy in tatters all for nothing and the people were looking for something to blame all their problems on, and Hitler was there to provide the answer they were looking for.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 8
One quote sums it up:

Tell a lie. Make it big. Keep saying it. And eventually they will believe you.

Rinse and repeat.
This is a huge and subjective question, and there's no way that I can begin to say everything that I want to in this post, so here's a few thoughts:

- 'the Germans': not all German people thought the same way about every issue we categorise as 'evil' during this period. It would be a better question to ask how actions we class as very evil suddenly occur;
- anti-semitism was present all over Europe before the war, including in England. We tend to forget because it suits our national narrative as 'the heroes who saved the Jews'.
- The Nazis looked for intrinsic characteristics, and classed people like communists etc as 'intrinsically evil' - in classing all Germans, then or now, in the same way we are doing what they did. Evil is an action, a way of being; people are brought to believing that it is good/right/necessary.
- The Second World War was not an isolated series of events that suddenly happened between 39-45. Remember that Adolf Hitler had been in power since 33, and a political presence since 29 or so; remember that the First World War and the Boer War had contributed to settling up the political climate which allowed his rise; remember that the financial crash in the twenties deeply hurt Germany's economic powers... there are so many contributing powers, and many of the thing that shock us, that we would class as 'evil', were already being built up or existed in other countries before the war. Concentration Camps are a British Boer War invention.

People have offered some really good points on this, so I won't go into any more specifics - it's just worth question the premises on which you base your question.
Reply 10
There is actually a historical school of thought which broadly supports that idea. The idea of the Sonderweg (lit. "special path") of the German nation suggests that only Germany could have produced the Nazis and caused WWII and its attendant atrocities.

There certainly are aspects to German nationalism which are very focused on militaristic display and action, obedience to strong leaders and a sense of having been wronged and denied what should be theirs by right. You might point to this from the time of Bismarck onwards but I have to say my knowledge of German history farther back, between then and the Middle Ages, is pretty threadbare so whether this theory can be traced back further is up for debate.

I'm pretty undecided on it. I do think there are national characteristics which can be identified but I don't think you can really call a nation intrinsically evil... especially when they make such incredible beer.
It was just banter that got out of hand.
Reply 12
Original post by asinner


As for the Holocaust and anti-semitism, the Nazis did not plan it.
Their original intention was to remove the Jews from Germany to Siberia or Madagascar. However as the War started turning in favor of the Allies a new 'solution' was needed, since both Madagascar and Siberia were off limits.
This 'solution' was the Holocaust (by the way the Concentration camp is a british invention).
The Holocaust was kept secret from the German people, they did know about the discrimination of the Jews by the Nazis, but not of the systematic murder.
Also most people did not support this discrimination, as is obvious by the meager participation of civilians during the "Reichskristallnacht".
There were many Germans who discriminated the Jews, but also many who did not, or even risked their lives trying to help them.



I really feel a need to put this misunderstanding about concentration camps to bed. It is wrongly placing the British on the same level as the Nazis due to people's confusion about the terms. Lets be clear about the exact definitions here:

A concentration camp is merely a camp where you concentrate large numbers of people. They are not necessarily gathered there for any sinister reason.

That is not the same as Auschwitz or Dachau, which were death camps, where you kill people. Admittedly you concentrate large numbers of people in them first (hence leading to the double names) but that is merely to make the process of exterminating them more efficient

The British camps in the Boer War were intended as places to accommodate Boer families who had been displaced following an attempt by the British to clear the conflict area of all non-combattants. The idea behind that was to deny the Boer fighters supplies and to ensure the British could assume anyone they found in the cleared zone was an enemy. They have a poor reputation because they were managed ineptly and poorly supplied, leading to malnutrition, sickness and death amongst the Boers.

The Jewish prisoners in the Nazi camps were not dying due to supply problems or poor administration. They were being worked to death or simply executed.

I suppose the clearest summary would be to say while that most death camps are concentration camps, not all concentration camps are death camps.
You ask this while UKIP has convinced a lot of Brits that immigrants are responsible for of Britain's problems?
Original post by Phipp91
Is it just their national characteristic? Were they always as anti-semitic/ racist as they were from 1933-45? Was Hitler solely to blame for making millions of Germans willing to commit the holocaust and rampage their way through Europe?

Basically, are Germans just intrinsically evil, and have they really changed?


World War I and II were planned. They were not because of the assassination of someone in Sarajevo and a madman in Germany. There is hard evidence that these wars were planned before 1914.


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Original post by That Bearded Man
You ask this while UKIP has convinced a lot of Brits that immigrants are responsible for of Britain's problems?


Get back under your bridge. Whack!

No one has suggested that UKIP is the equivalent of the Nazis...yet.

Clipart-Illustration-Of-A-Man-Whacking-A-Snake-With-A-Bump-On-His-Head-102443206.jpg
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 16
Original post by B-FJL3
I suppose the clearest summary would be to say while that most death camps are concentration camps, not all concentration camps are death camps.


I do agree with you.
However I like to use this example, even if it is not quite accurate, to remind people that Germany is not the source of evil. That more or less every country has some very dark things in its past, and in Britain's case the concentration camps are from being their darkest deed.
Reply 17
Original post by asinner
I do agree with you.
However I like to use this example, even if it is not quite accurate, to remind people that Germany is not the source of evil. That more or less every country has some very dark things in its past, and in Britain's case the concentration camps are from being their darkest deed.



Fair point - no one has a monopoly on evil. There's bastards and saints in equal measure in every country and national population.
Is anyone saying otherwise? We're talking about a specific event in history that happened only 70 years ago thus making it still relevant to today. It is the whole underpinning of the EU for one thing.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 19
They were told a lie about the Jews and the White race and they believed Jews were the source of their problems.

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