Auschwitz

[Prestwich_Blue]

what in can't get my head around is that as normal thinking people 'you and me' we all know how wrong this was but yet thousands of German military carried out these war crimes as if it was the normal thing to do even without second thought they sent these prisoners into the gas chambers, you get misfits in society such as Hindley and Sutcliffe etc but surly not such a massive outfit as a whole army which were made up of a large number of conscripted solders 'just normal country men and woman', how did they pull it off and make it as if it was right thing to do? did they literally brainwash people

They did it in the same way that people today get brainwashed into thinking that someone who doesn't follow their version of religion, or isn't from the same tribe or national grouping is not worthy of life. The way the German population was brainwashed into thinking Jews were sub-human was largely through cartoons in the anti-semitic newspaper Der Sturmer. As the famous Stanford prison experiment showed, even seemingly normal, well-adjusted people can turn into psychopaths, given the appropriate environment.

People say we should never forget the lessons of the Holocaust but we've seen the lesson of irrational and widespread hate repeated a number of times in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, North Africa, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan & Nigeria, to name but a few. One group feels superior to another and this feeling translates into the desire to kill them.

 

[Blue Punter]

what in can't get my head around is that as normal thinking people 'you and me' we all know how wrong this was but yet thousands of German military carried out these war crimes as if it was the normal thing to do even without second thought they sent these prisoners into the gas chambers, you get misfits in society such as Hindley and Sutcliffe etc but surly not such a massive outfit as a whole army which were made up of a large number of conscripted solders 'just normal country men and woman', how did they pull it off and make it as if it was right thing to do? did they literally brainwash people

They did it in the same way that people today get brainwashed into thinking that someone who doesn't follow their version of religion, or isn't from the same tribe or national grouping is not worthy of life. The way the German population was brainwashed into thinking Jews were sub-human was largely through cartoons in the anti-semitic newspaper Der Sturmer. As the famous Stanford prison experiment showed, even seemingly normal, well-adjusted people can turn into psychopaths, given the appropriate environment.

People say we should never forget the lessons of the Holocaust but we've seen the lesson of irrational and widespread hate repeated a number of times in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, North Africa, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan & Nigeria, to name but a few. One group feels superior to another and this feeling translates into the desire to kill them.

I think there was also the fear factor of German people standing up to the Nazis. Any dissenting voices were given a bullet to the head or sent themselves to concentration camps. Apparently 77,000 were killed and "tens of thousands" suspected or engaged in opposition sent to camps.

 

[scotty123]

On CH4 News now, harrowing report

 

[Ducado]

what in can't get my head around is that as normal thinking people 'you and me' we all know how wrong this was but yet thousands of German military carried out these war crimes as if it was the normal thing to do even without second thought they sent these prisoners into the gas chambers, you get misfits in society such as Hindley and Sutcliffe etc but surly not such a massive outfit as a whole army which were made up of a large number of conscripted solders 'just normal country men and woman', how did they pull it off and make it as if it was right thing to do? did they literally brainwash people

They did it in the same way that people today get brainwashed into thinking that someone who doesn't follow their version of religion, or isn't from the same tribe or national grouping is not worthy of life. The way the German population was brainwashed into thinking Jews were sub-human was largely through cartoons in the anti-semitic newspaper Der Sturmer. As the famous Stanford prison experiment showed, even seemingly normal, well-adjusted people can turn into psychopaths, given the appropriate environment.

People say we should never forget the lessons of the Holocaust but we've seen the lesson of irrational and widespread hate repeated a number of times in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, North Africa, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan & Nigeria, to name but a few. One group feels superior to another and this feeling translates into the desire to kill them.

I think there was also the fear factor of German people standing up to the Nazis. Any dissenting voices were given a bullet to the head or sent themselves to concentration camps. Apparently 77,000 were killed and "tens of thousands" suspected or engaged in opposition sent to camps.

A little bit of whitewashing going on there, it's a bit like when people say the The Wehrmacht were not as bad as the Waffen SS, when all the evidence points to them committing just as many or more atrocities especially in Russia, the truth be told the majority of the German people were fully behind the Nazi government, they had been brainwashed and because for the first few years things went very well, it took a massive effort after the war to de brainwash them

 

[Alex - City Matters]

They did it in the same way that people today get brainwashed into thinking that someone who doesn't follow their version of religion, or isn't from the same tribe or national grouping is not worthy of life. The way the German population was brainwashed into thinking Jews were sub-human was largely through cartoons in the anti-semitic newspaper Der Sturmer. As the famous Stanford prison experiment showed, even seemingly normal, well-adjusted people can turn into psychopaths, given the appropriate environment.

People say we should never forget the lessons of the Holocaust but we've seen the lesson of irrational and widespread hate repeated a number of times in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, North Africa, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan & Nigeria, to name but a few. One group feels superior to another and this feeling translates into the desire to kill them.

I think there was also the fear factor of German people standing up to the Nazis. Any dissenting voices were given a bullet to the head or sent themselves to concentration camps. Apparently 77,000 were killed and "tens of thousands" suspected or engaged in opposition sent to camps.

A little bit of whitewashing going on there, it's a bit like when people say the The Wehrmacht were not as bad as the Waffen SS, when all the evidence points to them committing just as many or more atrocities especially in Russia, the truth be told the majority of the German people were fully behind the Nazi government, they had been brainwashed and because for the first few years things went very well, it took a massive effort after the war to de brainwash them

Also, after Hitler first took power in 1933 he eliminated all meaningful opposition, communists etc. Once all the opposition was gone he could then start to brainwash the population.

 

[Blue Punter]

There's an interesting article here about the opposition to the Nazis. As it says in the first paragraph, it is difficult to know the true extent of it. However, the consequences for those caught opposing Hitler were dire.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/opposition_nazi_germany.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/op ... ermany.htm</a>

 

[Bembeltown]

There's an interesting article here about the opposition to the Nazis. As it says in the first paragraph, it is difficult to know the true extent of it. However, the consequences for those caught opposing Hitler were dire.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/opposition_nazi_germany.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/op ... ermany.htm</a>

The most famous anti-Nazi youth movement was known as the White Rose (Weisse Rose) movement. It leaders were Sophie and Hans Scholl. However, such was the extent of control in Nazi Germany that both were caught, put on trial and executed.

There is actually a pretty good german movie about the White Rose movement. Its called Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage ( Sophie Scholl - The Last Days) and gives a good insight on what the people going against the Nazis had to go through.

If you ever have a chance to watch it (its available in English as well as far as I know) I highly recommend it.

 

[Blue Punter]

There's an interesting article here about the opposition to the Nazis. As it says in the first paragraph, it is difficult to know the true extent of it. However, the consequences for those caught opposing Hitler were dire.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/opposition_nazi_germany.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/op ... ermany.htm</a>

The most famous anti-Nazi youth movement was known as the White Rose (Weisse Rose) movement. It leaders were Sophie and Hans Scholl. However, such was the extent of control in Nazi Germany that both were caught, put on trial and executed.

There is actually a pretty good german movie about the White Rose movement. Its called Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage ( Sophie Scholl - The Last Days) and gives a good insight on what the people going against the Nazis had to go through.

If you ever have a chance to watch it (its available in English as well as far as I know) I highly recommend it.

Thanks for that, I was aware of the group. Didn't know there was a film. I'll try and find it.

An English historian, Professor Frank McDonagh has wrote extensively about WWII and the opposition to Hitler & the Holocaust. He believes opposition was more widespread than is to be believed, with some of it coming to light only after the end of the Cold War. Several assassination plots, some as late as 1944 bear testimony to this resistance.

<a class="postlink" href="http://internationalpsychoanalysis.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/opposition_and_resistance_in_nazi_germany.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://internationalpsychoanalysis.net/ ... ermany.pdf</a>

 

[Ronnie the Rep]

I Watched The Hidden Holacaust last night on Sky

It covered Auschwitz but also the Germans retreat from the USSR Belive me they murdered anything And Everything,
im not Squemish but some of the Camera Footage was Vile to say the least

IT MUST NEVER,EVER HAPPEN AGAIN

Just to counterbalance this. My father served on the Russian convoys for a time during the war and the Russians treatment of the ordinary german POW was as bad as the death camps. Several times the British crews were confined to the ships after fights with the locals over their inhuman treatment

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

I Watched The Hidden Holacaust last night on Sky

It covered Auschwitz but also the Germans retreat from the USSR Belive me they murdered anything And Everything,
im not Squemish but some of the Camera Footage was Vile to say the least

IT MUST NEVER,EVER HAPPEN AGAIN

Just to counterbalance this. My father served on the Russian convoys for a time during the war and the Russians treatment of the ordinary german POW was as bad as the death camps. Several times the British crews were confined to the ships after fights with the locals over their inhuman treatment

The Russians hadn't signed the Geneva Convention I believe so treated the German POW's badly generally. However, Germany had signed it and therefore should have treated Russian POW's well but they didn't. The Jewish ones were executed along with many others who were politically or racially suspect. Nearly 60% of Russian POW's (over 3m) were killed in German hands.

As Germany had taken and mistreated vast numbers of Russian prisoners long before the Russians captured large numbers of Germans, you could understand the rationale, even if you didn't agree with the brutality of the treatment.

In Bert Trautmann's autobiography, he talks about the brutality of the Eastern Front but then when he was captured by British soldiers, the first thing they did was offer him a cup of tea. He immediately felt they were his sort of people.