Actually, yes, quite a few Germans did think they were the bad guys. Ive had the distinct honor to know quite a few elderly Germans here in the States, and I lived in Germany for a few years. There were many, I wont say whether it was a minority or a majority because I dont know, who knew from the start that the Nazis were despicable and the war unjust. Most were simply too terrified to do anything, as if they could do anything.
One very sweet lady that immigrated to the US with her husband, who was an infrantryman during the war, operated a gas station in my home town that my father and I frequented. I got to speak to her quite a bit about the Germany of that time, and she said that her husband (deceased) was quite cognizant of the catastrophe the Nazi's had unleashed upon Germany. There was also a legal case after the war (which has become a textbook case for philosophy of law) in which the postwar German government convicted a woman who turned in her husband, who was in the military, accusing him of anti-government/war statements. The husband got sent to the Russian front and subsequently died. She got convicted of murder and went to jail.
But anyway, forgive the aside, but yes there were Germans and German military that knew quite well the evil that was being done. And I suspect that most of the civilians, and most of the German high command, knew.
Derek |
