AskHistorians

673 readers

285 users here now

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

Was Nazi Germany a police state to its self declared "true" citizens, i.e. ethnically pure Germans? (self.askhistorians)

submitted 3 months ago by Don_Dickle to c/askhistorians

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Imagine getting the benefit of his post war commentary. It would have been so enlightening. From what I understand, he was like Doenitz, a dedicasted military veteran from WWI grandfathered into the Nazi military, not a genocidal Nazi Party idealist. He would not have been hanged.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

He still idolised hitler for much of his career, was extremely racist and antisemetic, and contributed wholeheartedly to the german war effort. Although you are right, he wasn’t genocidal, and late in the war he became disenchanted with Hitler. He was one of the better Nazis, and wouldn’t have been hanged, but he was still awful. I’m very uncomfortable with the fact many schools and streets are named after him in germany, and that he has a couple monuments.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Oh yes, there's so much myth surrounding him, most of which is pure propaganda. But he would not have been executed. The allies had a lot of respect for him, much of the modern myth is rooted in Allied discussions about Rommel. Between that and Nazi propaganda, his image is much cleaner than reality, which unfortunately remains ambiguous. He doesn't deserve the veneration he receives but it'd be hugely enlightening to hear his post war break down. Even liars like Speer still provided valuable insights in their post war comments.