**
World War II -- aftermath in Germany : German civilan attitudes
World War II Aftermath in Germany: German Civilian Attitudes
Figure 1.-- Berlin was seized by the Red Army (Aoril 1945), but under the terms agreed to by the Soviets and Western Allies, it was to be administrated by all four victorious, thus America, Britain, and France were given sectors. The Western Allies sent in convoys with occupation forces through the Soviet Occuupation zone which completely surrounded Berlin (July). Here Berliners watch the arrival of the British 7th Armored Division (July 4). It is hard to tell just what they and other Beliners were thinking at the time. And what neither Stalin or Western leaders understood at the time was that it wuld be the German people who would largely determined the outcome of the Cold War that Stalin had already launched, but few in the West even realized had begun. Source: U.S. National Archives.
It is not altogether clear what the German people thought about the NAZI Government immediately after the War. Losing the War is not the same as thinking your country was wrong. The American South after the Civil War is the best example of this. We think it is fair to say that most Germans believed that Hitler had been a disaster. The stark evidence of massively destroyed cities was mute evidence all around them. But this is not the same to say that the Germans believed that the NAZIs were wrong or even criminal. Many if not most Germans certainly believed that Hitler had made mistakes. Generally that was going to War or invading the Soviet Union and declaring war on the United States. Most Germans did not believe, however, that the NAZIs had been criminal. We note for example what a Major Philipp von Boeselager told his wife after the War. (Major Boeselager on Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge's staff was one of the few surviving members of the 1944 plot to kill Hitler. He supplied the explosives used.) After the War he did not speak out about his role. He and the other bomb plotters were not seen as heroes. The reason was as he explained it, "For a long time, it was not believeable to normal Germans that their government was criminal. And as soon as one thought they had pushed that out of the way, then people just didn't want to know." [Associted Press] There are several reasons why Germans after the War did not see the NAZIs as criminal.
A whole other issue was the future. The Germans were now occupied by two different groups--the Soviet Union and the Western Allies (who at first had separate occupation zones) who had aklmost nothing in common other than a desire to defeat NAZI Germany. Unlike NAZI Germany, neither the Soviets or the Western Allies were intent on genocide. Thus after the shock of defeat had passed, the Germans began to realise that they would have to throw their lot in with either the Soviets or Western Allies--esentially the Americans. This is not the simple choice it may seem today. The Communists were ann important Party before Hitler seized control of Germany. And their was suppot for Marxist udeas among the Socialists who were the pricipal party in Weimar Germany. Socialt thouught was particularly pronounced among German workers. German loyalties could have gone either way especially because it was not yet clear that America would not withdraw from Europe as it had done after World War I.
Assessing German Attitudes
It is not altogether clear what the German people thought about the NAZI Government immediately after the War. Losing the War is not the same as thinking your country was wrong. The American South after the Civil War is the best example of this. We think it is fair to say that most Germans believed that Hitler had been a disaster. The stark evidence of massively destroyed cities was mute evidence all around them. But this is not the same to say that the Germans believed that the NAZIs were wrong or even criminal. Many if not most Germans certainly believed that Hitler had made mistakes. Generally that was going to War or invading the Soviet Union and declaring war on the United States. Most Germans did not believe, however, that the NAZIs had been criminal. Many probably still had difficulty separating the NAZIs from Germany.
Attitudes toward the Resistance
We note for example what a Major Philipp von Boeselager told his wife after the War. (Major Boeselager on Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge's staff was one of the few surviving members of the 1944 plot to kill Hitler. He supplied the explosives used.) After the War he did not speak out about his role. He and the other bomb plotters were not seen as heroes. The reason was as he explained it, "For a long time, it was not believeable to normal Germans that their government was criminal. And as soon as one thought they had pushed that out of the way, then people just didn't want to know." [Associted Press]
NAZI crimality is often described as war crimes. The killing was not limited to the War, but the great bulk of the killing did take place during the War--but often not part of military operations. There were actual war crimes, but the most horrendous crimes were killing civilians that were not a threat and had nothing to do with the war. German military successes early in the War put the NAZIs in a position to carry out these crimes and the killing was conducted during the War. And not all of the killing was done by NAZI organizations. The Wehrmacht was involved as well doctors iand nurses in civilian hospitals and healt facilities. The ultimate authority for these actions, however was the NAZI government instaled by Reich F�hrer Adolf Hitler. The most serious war crimes was the mistreatment and muder of POWS. Here there was a destinction between POWs in the East and West. Not only did huge numbers of Russian and Polish POWs perish, but large numbers of prisoners were executed as a result of the Commisar and Commando Orders. Both prisoners and and civilians were killed as a result of the Reprisal order. The NAZI engineered Holocaust of the Jews is the best documented example of mass murder in history. This is because the NAZIs lost World War II and the copious records they took along with the testimony of individuals conducting the Holocust and their surviving victims have left us with a chilling historical record. The NAZI Holocaust succeeded in killing about 6 million Jews. This was not the largest instance of mass murder in history, but is perhaps the most horific because of the way the SS industrialized the killing process. Another 6 million non-Jews perished, mosrtly Eastern Europeans. Many perished as a result of the NAZI slave and forced labor prograjmns to support yhe war effort. Less well understood is the fact that if the NAZIs had succedded in would have been only the first chapter in a terrifying rengineering of the Human race. High on the NAZI list of untermench were the Slavs of Eastern Rurope. The NAZIs killed many more people than Jews in their preliminary efforts to build a new German empire in the Occupied East. There was also the Lebensborn program aimed at children. In all the NAZIs probably killed more than 20 million people. The NAZI penchant for killing was such that they killed millions of people who could have assisted in their war effort. And as a result, before the Allies destroyed German industry in the strategic bombing campaign, there was a severe labor shortage in the Reich. The subject of NAZI war crimes does not address the crimes committed in Germany agaist Germans. Here again, children were one of the main targets. The domestic programs were outgrowths of the German eugenics movement and included the Hereditary Health Courts and sterilization progrm. Here the most horrendous undertaking ws the T-4 Program.
The question of how much the average German knew about the Holocast and to what extent they were complicit in it is a much debated topic. It is one that few Germans have wanted to discuss. An American historian, Daniel Goldhagen has raised the issue and maintains that there was wide knowledge and that a kind of willing comoplicity. His books speaking engagements have attracted considerable interest, but many Germans are deeply resentful at him for raising the issue. There are some obvious facts. Most of the actual killing was done in Poland, the Soviet Union, and other Eastern Euroopean countries. In Poland where the death camps were located, most of the killing was done behind barbed wire where the SS carried out the murders without public scrutiny. Many of the Jews that arrived had no idea as to the fate that awaited them. Others while they did not know the details had few illusions about the NAZIs. NAZI controlled media in Germany never published accounts of the killings. Even the Allied propaganda did not provide details on the Holocaust and what claims were mentioned were dismissed by many Germans as war propaganda. (The Allies, especially the British, had during World War I fabricated many lurid accounts of German attrocities, specially in Belgium.) While all this is true. There are other clear facts suggesting that many Germans knew. Public statements by Hitler, Goebbels, and other NAZIs while not specific made it very clear as to the regimes plans for the Jews. The NAZI Stromtroopers (SA) and Hitler Youth had songs and chants with the words, "Death to the Jews". The NAZI pogrom of Kristallnacht was conducted in Germany in the full view of the German people. While the actual number of deaths were minimal compared to the later killings, there were killings and vicius beatings carried out in publiv view. After the War began, not only the SS but Wehrmacht units were involved in mass roundups and killings of Jews. Many must have talked about their experiences in the East. Jews were used as slave labor by large numbers of German companies and employees there would have been exposed to what was happening. The German railway system organized thetransport of large numbers of Jews east. Many would have know about where they were being transported and the fate that awaited them. The subject is difficult to reserach, because interviews with Germans living at the time cannot be taken at face value. Many Germans benefitted by the NAZI anti-Jewing campaign in the 1930s. Many got jobs that the Jews were dismissed from. Many got homes, shops, and other property that was stollen from the Jews. Many participated in small ways such as avoiding Jewish shops and ignoring or reporting on Jewish neighbors. School children ostraicized or even physically asaulted their Jewish school mates. These are painful memories that few Germans want to admit and most want to forget.
Objections to Charges of Criminality
There are several reasons why Germans after the War did not see the NAZIs as criminal. One, Goebels propaganda had been effective and most Germans did not have other sources of infomation. Two, there is a natural tendency among people as seeing their country as right. Three, many Germans were aware of what Germany had done, but for various reasons (German nationalism, anti-Semitism, personal interest, direct involvement, etc.) did not classify them as crimes. Four, many Germany dismissed the Allied reports of war crimes as propaganda. When the U.S. Army showed German POWs (mostly men captured in North Africa who had not served in the East) newsreels of the concentration camps being liberated, many laughed, dismissing them as crude propagand. Five, large numbers of Germans were NAZIs and believed in Hitler and National Socialism.
Forced Tours of Concentration Camps
The Future
A whole other issue was the future. The Germans were now occupied by two different groups--the Soviet Union and the Western Allies (who at first had separate occupation zones) who had aklmost nothing in common other than a desire to defeat NAZI Germany. Unlike NAZI Germany, neither the Soviets or the Western Allies were intent on genocide. Thus after the shock of defeat had passed, the Germans began to realise that they would have to throw their lot in with either the Soviets or Western Allies--esentially the Americans. This is not the simple choice it may seem today. The Communists were ann important Party before Hitler seized control of Germany. And their was suppot for Marxist udeas among the Socialists who were the pricipal party in Weimar Germany. Socialt thouught was particularly pronounced among German workers. German loyalties could have gone either way especially because it was not yet clear that America would not withdraw from Europe as it had done after World War I.
