emarine wrote:
I completely understand your position.... I have always been curious How Hitler manipulated the German people to the point of the final solution... I feel confident in my decision of standing with American Jews to prevent this from ever happening again ... the putz is just another learning experience or a bump in a very long road to understanding...
I'll give you a brief synopsis on how that happened.
The Germans of the 1930s were a different breed of people, they took great pride in their nation's military prowess and were quite amenable to an overbearing government system--a democratic one, but powerful none the less. The German defeat in WW1 truly distressed them, and the Treaty of Versailles was crafted to humble them. This was a deep insult to a proud people. The war also left the nation's economy in a shambles. And, as you know, along came the Great Depression (wasn't just an American thing). During this time, Germans were so destitute that they were burning Billion Mark notes in their stoves to stay warm and cook a potato. The Weimar Republic under von Hindenburg was impotent.
Then, up steps former Gefreiter Adolph Hitler. A consummate politician with a major bone to pick who practiced his histrionics in front of a mirror. His message and his delivery were brilliant. He appealed directly to that German pride, blaming the nation's defeat on the Weimar Republic and its democratic form of government. "Stabbed in the back" was his opening theme. Leaving his hatred of the untermensch Jews, Gypsies and what have you out for now, Hitler proceeded to convince the Germans that Germany must once again prove it's place on the world stage. And he did this with policies and programs that sent their economy through the roof. Even though he directed German industry and business toward his military goals, the Germans were working again, money was flowing, life was good.
Then, in one of the most diabolically brilliant moves, Hitler shredded the Treaty of Versailles, thumbed the collective German nose in the face of the allied victors. It was a given then that the people were bought. Hindenburg stepped aside, Hitler took over, the German people had their savior, and it was all down hill from there.
Simple as I can make it, but it does have a familiar ring to it nowadays.
P.S. payne1000 is a reincarnation of an SS officer. Those bastards were fanatics. Maybe we should call payne1000 Herr Obersturmbannführer. Or, "Herr Oberst", for short.