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pot_t_mouthAll this talk about the new Pope and Hitler's Youth has got me agitated. Super agitated, for a few reason. I have been stewing on it all day so hopefully, I can get my point across. I wish I were a better writer.
First, I think it is so dangerous for us to act as if the average German under Hitler was a bad person or less caring or thoughtful than we are. It's like saying that the Holocaust was an isolated moment in history and it only happened because Germans are bad. That it would never happen here. Not me, I wouldn't do it. I would stop it. It couldn't happen here, we are better.
Second, what would you do? Do you really think that you would've bucked against the Third Reich? I would absolutely love to think that I would, that I would be part of the resistance and that I would fight fight fight and that I would make a difference. But would I? Would I really? When was the last time I thought about the thousands of American Muslims that have been locked in our jails without basic civil rights since 2001? What have I done for these people? Nothing.
It's just that if we think that it can't happen here then that may provide another crack that will allow it. Constant vigilance and true empathy are so important. Especially now. The only thing that we have over the non-Nazi German is that we have a knowledge of what can happen if we are not careful.
I hope that this rant hasn't lead anyone to think I am at all sympathetic to the Nazi. I am not. At all. I hate them with the heat of a thousand suns. And yes, if the Nazis rose to power again they would seriously get their asses kicked, but I am so worried that this time they are wearing different uniforms and we will all be too complacent to see them.
Man, this is making me shake. I don't know why the whole thing upsets me so much, but it always, always has, probably because Mother Night made a giant impact on my young idealist self.
First, I think it is so dangerous for us to act as if the average German under Hitler was a bad person or less caring or thoughtful than we are. It's like saying that the Holocaust was an isolated moment in history and it only happened because Germans are bad. That it would never happen here. Not me, I wouldn't do it. I would stop it. It couldn't happen here, we are better.
Second, what would you do? Do you really think that you would've bucked against the Third Reich? I would absolutely love to think that I would, that I would be part of the resistance and that I would fight fight fight and that I would make a difference. But would I? Would I really? When was the last time I thought about the thousands of American Muslims that have been locked in our jails without basic civil rights since 2001? What have I done for these people? Nothing.
It's just that if we think that it can't happen here then that may provide another crack that will allow it. Constant vigilance and true empathy are so important. Especially now. The only thing that we have over the non-Nazi German is that we have a knowledge of what can happen if we are not careful.
I hope that this rant hasn't lead anyone to think I am at all sympathetic to the Nazi. I am not. At all. I hate them with the heat of a thousand suns. And yes, if the Nazis rose to power again they would seriously get their asses kicked, but I am so worried that this time they are wearing different uniforms and we will all be too complacent to see them.
Man, this is making me shake. I don't know why the whole thing upsets me so much, but it always, always has, probably because Mother Night made a giant impact on my young idealist self.
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Date: 2005-04-20 09:58 am (UTC)my mom is german so its also a personal thing for me. i know my grandparents were in the german army. my grandmother was a nurse, so i view that as a noble thing, even if it was on the 'wrong' side. but my grandfather, i just don't know. my mom always said he was conscripted, but i don't know. she also said he was stationed up in finland where not much happened, but i don't know. i do know that some of the Nazi crap did infiltrate his thoughts, even though he is not someone who likes to follow authority. but i also know he was almost shot for treason because he wanted to convince his commander to let a bunch of soviet soldiers go instead of fighting them. i like so many things about my grandfather, but then there is that. i kind of want to know the truth but i kind of don't. and the worst thing is that it is all an issue only because of the accident of where and when he happened to be born.
as for the hitler youth, i could be wrong but i don't think it was voluntary. i think you had to do it. if not literally, than simply by the force of public pressure. i think that was the real problem of Nazi Germany, not that they were all evil or hated Jews so much, but that everyone was scared shitless into going along with it all. and anyone who was young then was indoctrinated with all this crap and there was no one to tell them that it wasn't true. i read this book once, i forget the name, it was about German women's experiences in WWII. a few on these women talked about the hitler youth (i forget what the female equivalent was called) - it was basically like being in the boy/girl scouts, they at the time were not aware of any political aspects of it. it was only as adults, being interviewed for this book and being shown lyrics, that they realized the content of the old songs they used to sing and whatnot. these things were much less black-and-white and overtly insidious to the average person at the time than anyone nowadays would like to admit. its much easier to say that everyone was just bad. like you said, it makes it easier for us to be smug about ourselves.