Lisi wrote:
> This being a very emotive subject, I feel that I had better nail my colours to
> the mast and preface what I am about to say by saying that many of my family
> were exterminated in the Holocaust; and that I owe my existence to the fact
> that my father managed to escape.
>
> On Tuesday 28 April 2009 07:54:12 Sean Gibbins wrote:
>
>> By the way, Nazis are really bad people
>>
>
> But I must take issue with this, Sean. I have made myself wait a bit to
> respond in case I might want to change my mind, but I do not.
>
> I spent much of my early adult life hating Hitler. But in the end I realised
> that the hatred hurt me, not Hitler, and forced myself to look afresh at the
> whole nasty affair.
>
Well I agree whole heartedly that hatred is a pointless, poisonous
emotion and best avoided where ever possible.
> It is simply not true to say that Nazis were bad people. The worst that can
> be said of most of them is that they were weak, but even that seems to me to
> be an untenable position.
>
Fortunately I don't have your experience to draw on Lisi, but I would
take issue with you and say that a Nazi /is/ a bad person, whereas
someone who goes along with Fascist policies through ignorance or
intimidation is either weak or fearful.
> Much Nazi policy was evil: one could justify saying that many - or even all -
> of those at the top of the Nazi party were evil. But it was more or less
> obligatory to be a Nazi in wartime Germany (and Austria). Some resisted, and
> I have had the privilege of knowing some of them. One couple were put into a
> Concentration camp themselves, one doctor I knew crossed the border at night
> (and left all his family and friends) because he was under (call-up) orders
> to report to one of the Concentration camps the following day. He never went
> back to his home. We all know of the Von Trapp family.
>
Well, we are getting deep into philosophy here, but I often wonder about
good and evil as absolute terms and have come to the conclusion that
they are fairly redundant. The topic is perhaps too deep and too OT for
discussion on this list though.
> I salute such bravery. But we cannot demand it of everyone. Most people
> simply kept their heads down and went with the flow. How many of us could
> have done better?
>
Me too. I'd like to think that I could do the right thing, but if my
family were lined up against the wall and their lives were dependent on
my decision I am sure I would struggle to find the strength. Let's hope
I never have to find out, and if I do I make the right decision.
> So, no - Nazis are not necessarily bad people. Some of them were. Most of
> them just wanted to be left in peace to live their lives.
Well, as a German (half of me by birth at least) I will say that I
believe that Nazis were (and still are) 'bad' people; Germans in wartime
Germany were not necessarily bad merely by association with them, but
were not necessarily good by virtue of not being directly involved in
implementing Nazi policy, either.
All very interesting stuff and worthy of discussion, but perhaps we
should take it off-list though?
Sean
