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Hitler had already made many intentions clear in Mein Kampf, which came before his rise to power.
The passing of the Nuremburg Laws, which relegated to Jews to second class citizens, were known to all. They were published laws.
What of Kristallnacht? Synagogues were burned all over Germany, Jewish business were looted and destroyed, Jews beaten in the streets and scores shipped off into the night. There is no way the average German did not see this happening and thus trip over an epiphany as to what their society was becoming.
I would think that by 1942, the average German and Austrian might have been just a bit curious as to what happened to his Jewish neighbors whom had disapeared earlier, often violently and in the full eye of the public. That is, if the forced wearing of the yellow Jewish star did not tip them off that something was amiss.
The deportation and actual extermination of Jews require a massive mobilization of resources and of course, manpower. Hundreds of thousands of men (and women) assisted. Everyone from common police to camp guards to the GeStaPo to SS troops. There is no way these people kept quiet when they were home on leave having a beer with dear Uncle Fritz. Or the factory managers and work supervisors who were given Jewish slave labor to produce goods and construct infrastructure.
They knew what was happening. They just did not think about it. And the claim that they did not know was a way of dealing with shame.
This is a very thoughtfully written post. What many people do not realize is that Hitler was voted in democratically by the German people. I dated a German professor who was born in the early 1940's. He had a brother born in the early 1930's who was killed by the Nazis in a death camp because he was mentally challenged. My friend's father was a Nazi and he was sent to Siberia by the Russians. My friend's mother escaped with him and his sister to west Berlin. My friend subsequently came to Canada in 1980. I was able to take part and listen to many people who emigrated to Canada from Germany who were born during WW 2. The general agreement of this generation, was that their parents' were very aware of what was going on Hitler era. This particular group of people were very upset at the denial and excuses they were given by their aging parents.
This is a very thoughtfully written post. What many people do not realize is that Hitler was voted in democratically by the German people. I dated a German professor who was born in the early 1940's. He had a brother born in the early 1930's who was killed by the Nazis in a death camp because he was mentally challenged. My friend's father was a Nazi and he was sent to Siberia by the Russians. My friend's mother escaped with him and his sister to west Berlin. My friend subsequently came to Canada in 1980. I was able to take part and listen to many people who emigrated to Canada from Germany who were born during WW 2. The general agreement of this generation, was that their parents' were very aware of what was going on Hitler era. This particular group of people were very upset at the denial and excuses they were given by their aging parents.
Well, he was "elected" but not in the way we normally think. The Nazi Party won huge amounts of seats in parliament with Hitler as the party leader of course. Paul Hindenburg, an old former general and patriot, was president. But he had to appoint Hitler as Chancellor due to the Nazi gains. Hindenburg died and Hitler used the weakness of the Weimar constitution to sieze power. I am paraphrasing and probably leaving out some details.
In any case, it was pretty clear that a large majority of Germans and Austrians found Hitler favorable, so you are correct. And you are also correct that the 1960s generation reacted very strongly to what their parents had done or denied knowing.
Fourth, the Jews existed and took up space. That's about all the Jews did to anger the Germans.
I know I stumbled on this thread pretty late, but this statement is wrong. I am German by ethnicity. I grew up hearing why the Germans hated the Jews, by older "DP" relatives who hated the Jews. None of it was prejudice. It was reason based.
I am not saying that what Hitler did was right or that the German people were right in pretending to turn a blind eye. But some of them had very good reasons for hating Jews.
But they didn't hate the Jews for taking up space. That is a politically correct, FALSE statement.
Well, he was "elected" but not in the way we normally think. The Nazi Party won huge amounts of seats in parliament with Hitler as the party leader of course. Paul Hindenburg, an old former general and patriot, was president. But he had to appoint Hitler as Chancellor due to the Nazi gains. Hindenburg died and Hitler used the weakness of the Weimar constitution to sieze power. I am paraphrasing and probably leaving out some details.
In any case, it was pretty clear that a large majority of Germans and Austrians found Hitler favorable, so you are correct. And you are also correct that the 1960s generation reacted very strongly to what their parents had done or denied knowing.
Not even that huge, or huge at all, really -- the best the Nazi Party ever did in a relatively free election was the July 1932 election in which they won 37.8% of the popular vote and 230 out of 608 seats in the Reichstag.
They did better in March 1933 (43.9% of the popular vote, 288 seats out of 647) but still under 50%. And the election wasn't particularly free -- the two major opposition parties, the communists and the social democrats, were experiencing significant legal oppression by that point.
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