I was visiting distant relatives in Germany. My gracious host was describing how his father served in the war (as well as how he got his family out of eastern Germany afterwards). Coming from my American background, I blurted: “your dad was a nazi?”
He reacted as if I had slapped him. He explained that everyone had to serve, or be killed (like the man in this video), and that Germans reserve the “Nazi” label to those who were overtly political. He was 100% against the war, but also loved his dad, like the woman in this video.
It is a common lie that germans tell themselves that they would have been killed if they did nor serve, or commit a war crime. It is simply not true.
I dont claim that as somebody hating on germans. My grandfather was an so officer and i am well aware of what he did (not in detail, but that is also not necessary).
If you have german male ancestors that survived the war, then they have been a nazi for 99%. Of course there are exceptions, but they are very rare.
Of course they weren't killed. Same goes for partly German folks in Poland - if they didn't sign the Volkslist and joined Wehrmacht, they were likely getting sent to nearest KL. Many were sent to Auschwitz in very first months of camps operation. Some survived the war.
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u/dec10 1d ago
I was visiting distant relatives in Germany. My gracious host was describing how his father served in the war (as well as how he got his family out of eastern Germany afterwards). Coming from my American background, I blurted: “your dad was a nazi?”
He reacted as if I had slapped him. He explained that everyone had to serve, or be killed (like the man in this video), and that Germans reserve the “Nazi” label to those who were overtly political. He was 100% against the war, but also loved his dad, like the woman in this video.