I wrote the text below for somebody who kept spamming me with regime propaganda. Want to share it here.
My grandmother was born in 1914 in a very rural and remote part of Germany. She was 18 when Hitler came to power.
Whenever anybody later talked about the atrocities of the Nazi regime, she would say, "but Hitler also did some good things".
I guess from her perspective as a young woman, that might have been correct. Hitler strengthened the German economy. He built up the infrastructure. For people considered Aryan (like my grandmother), he improved the security situation. He raised national pride and made Germany great again - in fact, greater than it had ever been.
At least for some people, and for some time.
Because security didnt improve for you if you were Jewish. Or communist. Or homeless. Or Jehovah´s Witness. Or Roma. Or handicapped. Or socialist. Or critical of anything the regime did.
Not enough people resisted the evil enough, before it was too late. Too many people in Germany and in the world were complicit by ignoring what happened: To their jewish neighbors. To the political opposition. By the breaking of international treaties (e.g. militarization of the Rhineland). By invading other countries (Austria, Silesia, Czeceslovakia, Memel).
When the world recognized it could not continue to ignore and appease the bully, it was too late. Not stopping the madman earlier (when it might still have been possible) did not only ruin Germany, but large parts of other countries. It did cost (depending on how you count and who you ask) between 60 and 80 million lives, including 400000 USAmericans. Not to mention the time, money, and effort to repair the damage (as far as this was possible).
The overwhelming atrocities and destruction committed by the Third Reich led to most people not even bringing up the "positive" things Hitler might have achieved (at least, for some people) when evaluating this period of German history.
Sadly, many Christians were enticed by Hitler´s lies and supported him (even though many of his goals and principles and his ideology were known before). Many praised him for "restoring law and order", "strengthening Christianity", "cleaning the German nation" and "building up Germany again". Too many Germans followed a fused version of Christianity and nationalism, instead of Christ.
Sadly, I see the exact same thing happen again today. Same playbook. Same methods. Same principles (oh, well, "white" instead of "aryan"). Same Christian nationalism falling for it and supporting it.
Maybe Hitler did to something that was not plain evil. I doubt it did matter much in the overall scheme of things. |
