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I have to get something off my chest this morning.
We always knew my mom's uncle was an SS, who ran a work camp and was shot and killed at the end of the war, supposedly by a Jewish prisoner. His late wife, kids are close cousins, but they don't talk about it much, the few times we see each other. A late mention was that the family they had received a letter after the war from a woman who knew him and said he was a good man. A lot of young men were channeled into becoming officers, to varying degrees. Another relative actually was too. Slightly more distant, we never heard any rumours about him.
As the internet came to be, searching brought up his id card and number. He looks like my brother, which I sort of knew. He is mentioned in the axis history forums. Somehow I find a reference to a scholarly book, in German, and get it from my library (a private lending library who have access to anything.) In it I find a mention the context of which I can't recall, in that he was a notable and staunch SS security officer who along with another man was active in the Ukraine and known for conducting extermination competitions there.
Extermination competitions.
I tell my mom. Who gravely says "Onkel Max was definitely not a good man." "How could the son of Protestant school teachers have ended up like this?"
to be continued...
Last edited by Saltatrix; 10-04-2018 at 05:41 AM..
To answer your last question. It's been noted by more than one historian that what's striking about many, if not most, of the people who carried out the Final Solution (including all the various groups caught up in it) at all levels was how mundane and banal they were. They were "normal" people-farmers, cab drivers, teachers, carpenters, ministers, etc.
"How could the son of Protestant school teachers have ended up like this?"
Being a member of a culture and participant often comes with demands. Simply surviving within one may require people to make choices that they are not ethically equipped to make. Religion and patriotism instill and cultivate a tribalism of "Us against them."
Any of us who study history could come up with countless examples spanning all nations and ethnicities and religious beliefs. Those attending lynchings in the U.S. during the same period were g*dfearing Christians who went to church at least once a week. Their protestant beliefs were not a shield against hate and bigotry, and in many cases their "righteous" beliefs exacerbated those crimes.
True moral compass comes from deep personal introspection, not by ongoing servings of predigested pap. The lazy, the fearful, the ones who voluntarily hand the task of their own self-worth to "heroes" and "glorious leaders", the easily led, those looking to "make a buck" at all cost, those invested in "the system", those seeking power and fame, those who would support family at any cost, those who value personal survival over their principles, ALL of those are vulnerable to being complicit in atrocities. That pretty much covers the entire human race.
(Sorry to ruin the setup of your rhetorical question, but it needed to be said.)
There was a History Channel show several years ago where they interviewed Germans who were around during WWII. One was a Bavarian who was a soldier. They asked him about the Holocaust. He said the Jews had it coming to them. For what they did to us in the 20's, they deserved it.
There was a lot of genuine hatred of Jews involved. At bottom, that's what made the Holocaust go. Once the leaders gave the green light, they found many people people willing to participate.
It built on a long history of anti-Semitism in Germany. Most European countries have at least some anti-Semitism in their pasts (and presents). Pogroms in Russia, expulsions in England and Spain, etc. Even in France Jews have never been just French.
But don't beat yourself up. You're American, not German. You were never part of that history. You can't pick your parents and aren't responsible for things that happened before you were born.
There was a History Channel show several years ago where they interviewed Germans who were around during WWII. One was a Bavarian who was a soldier. They asked him about the Holocaust. He said the Jews had it coming to them. For what they did to us in the 20's, they deserved it.
There was a lot of genuine hatred of Jews involved. At bottom, that's what made the Holocaust go. Once the leaders gave the green light, they found many people people willing to participate.
It built on a long history of anti-Semitism in Germany. Most European countries have at least some anti-Semitism in their pasts (and presents). Pogroms in Russia, expulsions in England and Spain, etc. Even in France Jews have never been just French.
But don't beat yourself up. You're American, not German. You were never part of that history. You can't pick your parents and aren't responsible for things that happened before you were born.
This is a very good reply.
Eugenics, or the belief, that the human race could be perfected by weeding out undesirable characteristics and groups predated the Nazis. Antisemitism was unfortunately very common in Europe and had lead to all sorts of abuses. In Russia, the Czar organized "pogroms" against the Jews which generally involved sending soldiers into Jewish villages to murder and pillage. Many Jews were active in the Russian Revolution precisely because of abuses they have suffered through the czars. France, a supposedly enlightened and modern country, suffered through the Dreyfus Affair in the late nineteenth century where a Jewish army officer was framed for espionage and sent to prison for years before he could be proven innocent.
What I would tell any person of German ancestry though is that many Germans behaved courageously when confronted with Nazism. Marlene Dietrich made a decision to flee Germany rather than live and work under Hitler. Perhaps, the most unusual story of all is that Hitler had a nephew who immigrated to America and when World War II broke out enlisted in the US Navy to fight the Germans. This poor man felt because of the stigma attached he had to change his last name from Hitler and did so. However, he is proof that entire nations and even families are not corrupted and do not bear collective guilt. Guilt is something borne by individuals who commit horrible acts.
I imagine after World War I that some pretty unique circumstances were present in Germany that allowed Hitler to rise to the top of the government. A bad economy, reparations, and nations who were too interested in vengeance to see the big picture all created the conditions that lead to Nazism.
One lesson I wish everyone would learn from history is that the mistakes of the past do not have to control our future. People are dynamic and can change. Understanding their past is what enables them to see what went wrong and to fix it.
I have to get something off my chest this morning.
We always knew my mom's uncle was an SS, who ran a work camp and was shot and killed at the end of the war, supposedly by a Jewish prisoner. His late wife, kids are close cousins, but they don't talk about it much, the few times we see each other. A late mention was that the family they had received a letter after the war from a woman who knew him and said he was a good man. A lot of young men were channeled into becoming officers, to varying degrees. Another relative actually was too. Slightly more distant, we never heard any rumours about him.
As the internet came to be, searching brought up his id card and number. He looks like my brother, which I sort of knew. He is mentioned in the axis history forums. Somehow I find a reference to a scholarly book, in German, and get it from my library (a private lending library who have access to anything.) In it I find a mention the context of which I can't recall, in that he was a notable and staunch SS security officer who along with another man was active in the Ukraine and known for conducting extermination competitions there.
Extermination competitions.
I tell my mom. Who gravely says "Onkel Max was definitely not a good man." "How could the son of Protestant school teachers have ended up like this?"
to be continued...
So what?
Some guy you never knew was a bad guy and got killed for it. The end.
Perhaps, the most unusual story of all is that Hitler had a nephew who immigrated to America and when World War II broke out enlisted in the US Navy to fight the Germans. This poor man felt because of the stigma attached he had to change his last name from Hitler and did so.
William Patrick Hitler actually was born in Liverpool in England. The record of his baptism in 1911 is in the archives of St.Patrick's church.
Adolf Hitler's sister-in-law emphatically stated Hitler stayed with her in Liverpool.
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