You want some insight? Read Hans Falada's Every Man dies Alone. Being of German origin, I found it very disturbing.
Grizz
Canadian Infantry in battle with the 12th SS
- Thread starter x westie
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You want some insight? Read Hans Falada's Every Man dies Alone. Being of German origin, I found it very disturbing.
Grizz
Not so random, from what I've heard. According to the fellow I knew, executing German soldiers, often cruelly, was not uncommon at all, though certainly the circumstances of their capture mattered. If they resisted and killed allied soldiers, then tried to surrender, it was more likely their surrender wouldn't be accepted. Whether they were executed, and how cruelly, all depended on how willing the officers were to turn a blind eye. This was a fellow who simply didn't believe in treating anyone inhumanely. He seemed to feel that he was doing his job, and the Germans soldiers were just doing theirs. He actually told me about a couple of the German POWs he met that spoke English, and he was able to converse with. One was an older man, and he was quite intrigued with why such an old man would be fighting. Their stories were pretty interesting, but I won't recount them here.
Later his unit was pinned down in a cementary by an MG 42 team, taking cover behind head stones. He was hit in the head by a bullet that first broke through the edge of the headstone he was behind. He ended up with a steel plate where his skull was shattered.
Actually, I've been pretty fortunate to meet some very interesting veterans in my time. Several decades ago, I even met a real old timer, 112 years old. He was telling me about his wartime experience fighting, and I thought he was referring to WWI at first. Turned out he was in the Boer War. He was underaged, and serving as a flag bearer.
I have a little secondhand Royal Yeomany story, North Africa. Couple of recon troopers were talking to a German they found, looking at his photos and so on, seemed a decent guy. CSM comes along, shoots the German through the head. "We don't have the facilities for prisoner handling". Wartime math, they were low on water. Hard to know what really happens on the battlefield, presumably it is worse than one would think.
Funny, because most historian's opinions I've read seem to indicate that WWII might have been avoided if Britian had declared war on Germany much earlier than they did.
The fact is, Britian dragged it heels in declaring war.
- Location
- State of Alabera
Britain declared war on Germany once because of Belgium, and once again because of Poland. The excuse for war can't get any less feeble.
Both instances they could have stayed out, continuing their dominance of the seas.
And now you know why the British Empire no longer exists.
Both instances they could have stayed out, continuing their dominance of the seas.
And now you know why the British Empire no longer exists.
Sure it can get less feeble... you just have to look at Hitler's excuses for invading any of the many countries Germany invaded and occupied in WWII.
Education. It can be good stuff. You should try to get some.
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Churchill is quoted as having said, "the Germans are either at your throat or at your heel". Fortunately post-war German society and political thought and institutions have now evolved to a point where any future wars of German aggression are unthinkable.
Ironically some of the most ardent defenders and apologists for the Nazi regieme weren't even alive when this all played out. During one of my UN tours of duty I once learned that a small circle of the Austrian troops had devised some nifty little swastika badges that they liked to wear hidden under their uniform jacket lapels. After I made the senior Austrian officer aware of this there was an immediate "come to Jesus" parade of these nasty little ex-neo-Nazis.
No matter the historical record, I suppose there will always be some persistent romantic or idealized notions about the Nazi era among those who never had to live through this horrible episode in world history.
Ironically some of the most ardent defenders and apologists for the Nazi regieme weren't even alive when this all played out. During one of my UN tours of duty I once learned that a small circle of the Austrian troops had devised some nifty little swastika badges that they liked to wear hidden under their uniform jacket lapels. After I made the senior Austrian officer aware of this there was an immediate "come to Jesus" parade of these nasty little ex-neo-Nazis.
No matter the historical record, I suppose there will always be some persistent romantic or idealized notions about the Nazi era among those who never had to live through this horrible episode in world history.
Keep in mind that Hitler's bastardization of it aside National Socialism is a form of democracy which holds at it's core a belief that the state owes you something and you owe the state something. Not exactly an evil idea in and off it's self and a rather large step up from authoritarian communism to the east or the grotesquely exploitive capitalism to the west.
We always lump National Socialism in with the atrocities of the f**kers that exploited the idea for evil purposes. This leaves us with a gap in the ideological spectrum. Too bad cause there are potential benefits to the system. Oddly enough if you look around at some of the states created post WWII you might find ideological and structural similarities, both militarily and educational in at least one of the them to pre night of the long knives germany.
History seldom forges any new mechanisms or writes any new scripts, just the actors change.
We always lump National Socialism in with the atrocities of the f**kers that exploited the idea for evil purposes. This leaves us with a gap in the ideological spectrum. Too bad cause there are potential benefits to the system. Oddly enough if you look around at some of the states created post WWII you might find ideological and structural similarities, both militarily and educational in at least one of the them to pre night of the long knives germany.
History seldom forges any new mechanisms or writes any new scripts, just the actors change.
Ah yes, the Austrians. They largely ducked responsibility following WWII and there is a considerable neo-Nazi presence to this day that wasn't weeded out like it was in Germany following the war.
There's a saying - the two biggest lies that the Austrians told the world:
1) Mozart was an Austrian
2) Hitler was a German
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- Location
- Leduc County, Alberta
I am sure that WaffenMitUns will not change his opinion, just as his comments will not change mine. I do not know what he is using as source material for his comments, but I am reasonably well-versed in WW1 and WW2, and I can find no substance to his claims. What are your sources, WaffenMitUns? Are you basing your statements on any facts, or are you just trying to upset the natives?
- Location
- Ottawa, ON
He's banned.
good riddance 
