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Nazi Germany's leadership and the German people are two different entities. Western allies also treated German POWs relatively well. The eastern front was a di

Nazi Germany's leadership and the German people are two different entities. Western allies also treated German POWs relatively well. The eastern front was a different scenario though, surrender for German and Soviet soldiers and civilians was very unpleasant.

cmrdporcupine 6y ago
Indeed, my grandfather (German) spent the better part of the war in an American POW camp in Kentucky after being captured in North Africa. He learned English there, got along with his guards, and didn't hate the Americans. Coming home to Mainz and seeing what the French and British had done to his ancestral home and the civilians who lived there, he had other things to say about them. After escaping from a French POW camp (they were still being held despite the war being over and there were reprisal killings, etc.) he made his way back to Mainz (French occupation) but fled across the river in the dead of night to Wiesbaden, which was under American occupation and thus considered safer. A similar story for my Oma. He was actually my father's adopted father. My dad's biological father I don't know much about, but he served on the eastern front and came home a broken man with a missing leg.
- ithkuil 6y ago
  Badly treated pow do hold a grudge for life, and (try hard to) pass on that grudge to next generations. My grandfather happened to be on the losing side of wwii in yugoslavia and hot harassed for decades because of that. Having tons of people like him, kindling hatred and privately teaching their children that the state you're living in is run by / controlled evil people, ultimately reignited a conflict half a century later.
  - dki27 6y ago
    Yeah, Nazi Grandpa was a good man and Serb genocide could have been prevented if we had just been nicer to fascists after they lost the war they started to annihilate everyone else.
    - ithkuil 6y ago
      It's all about identity. Croatian fascists rose to power riding a nationalistic sentiment that was brewing in the country which has been under foreign rule for centuries. Not sure where you get the "started the war to annihilate everyone else" angle. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan too, but I don't think it's a good idea to paint everything with a rough brush and miss the nuances. It's important to understand people and what motivates them and what are the phycological forces at play. And you can do that without having to concede a "good people on both sides" bullshit. Honestly I don't think my grandfather had any idea about politics and -isms. He was just a kid been dragged into the war merely by belonging to a given tribe in a given place in a given time. When I was a kid his whole spiel about fascists va communists, christians vs party, was just our people vs their people. He used the same words and arguments I heard of people when the enemy was the "american imperialists". There was no ideology whatsoever, just the feeling of being oppressed. I don't see anything wrong punishing actual war criminals and top level brass, but when you stigmatize a whole population do you really expect people not holding a grudge and distorting facts to paint themselves in the best possible light?

cmrdporcupine 6y ago

Indeed, my grandfather (German) spent the better part of the war in an American POW camp in Kentucky after being captured in North Africa. He learned English there, got along with his guards, and didn't hate the Americans. Coming home to Mainz and seeing what the French and British had done to his ancestral home and the civilians who lived there, he had other things to say about them. After escaping from a French POW camp (they were still being held despite the war being over and there were reprisal killings, etc.) he made his way back to Mainz (French occupation) but fled across the river in the dead of night to Wiesbaden, which was under American occupation and thus considered safer. A similar story for my Oma. He was actually my father's adopted father. My dad's biological father I don't know much about, but he served on the eastern front and came home a broken man with a missing leg.

ithkuil 6y ago
Badly treated pow do hold a grudge for life, and (try hard to) pass on that grudge to next generations. My grandfather happened to be on the losing side of wwii in yugoslavia and hot harassed for decades because of that. Having tons of people like him, kindling hatred and privately teaching their children that the state you're living in is run by / controlled evil people, ultimately reignited a conflict half a century later.
- dki27 6y ago
  Yeah, Nazi Grandpa was a good man and Serb genocide could have been prevented if we had just been nicer to fascists after they lost the war they started to annihilate everyone else.
  - ithkuil 6y ago
    It's all about identity. Croatian fascists rose to power riding a nationalistic sentiment that was brewing in the country which has been under foreign rule for centuries. Not sure where you get the "started the war to annihilate everyone else" angle. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan too, but I don't think it's a good idea to paint everything with a rough brush and miss the nuances. It's important to understand people and what motivates them and what are the phycological forces at play. And you can do that without having to concede a "good people on both sides" bullshit. Honestly I don't think my grandfather had any idea about politics and -isms. He was just a kid been dragged into the war merely by belonging to a given tribe in a given place in a given time. When I was a kid his whole spiel about fascists va communists, christians vs party, was just our people vs their people. He used the same words and arguments I heard of people when the enemy was the "american imperialists". There was no ideology whatsoever, just the feeling of being oppressed. I don't see anything wrong punishing actual war criminals and top level brass, but when you stigmatize a whole population do you really expect people not holding a grudge and distorting facts to paint themselves in the best possible light?