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>And there was Hardly. A handful of very high ranking Nazis were tried and hanged. Many of them escaped via ratlines. Nearly all the mid-level officers and civ

>And there was Hardly. A handful of very high ranking Nazis were tried and hanged. Many of them escaped via ratlines. Nearly all the mid-level officers and civil authorities escaped any sort of punishment or justice, and continued happily serving in the West German state.

aguaviva 2y ago
A handful of very high ranking Nazis were tried and hanged. This is a misconception. As a result of the "Nuremberg Trials" which concluded in 1946 and focused specifically on high-level defendants, 11 people were hanged. But there were numerous other trials, including what were called the "Nuremberg Military Tribunals" from 1946-1949, the Bergen-Belsen trials, and so on, as a result of which scores of people of decidedly lesser status were executed, easily some 200+. Nearly all the mid-level officers and civil authorities escaped any sort of punishment or justice, and continued happily serving in the West German state. This smells like a major numerical fudge as well.
WalterBright 2y ago
> Hardly. After Berlin fell, soldiers went through all the hospitals and checked every patient for the SS tattoo. Those with them got a bayonet. SS members were hunted and killed throughout Germany after the fall. Some were hung upside down from lampposts and set on fire. Hundreds of thousands of German soldiers died in POW camps after the war. It was open season on German women after the surrender. Germans underwent forced relocations out of Poland. The killing did not stop at the surrender, it slowly faded over the next year. Nearly all WW2 documentaries end with the suicide of Hitler, and maybe the Nuremburg trials. What else happened was savage and not well covered. The Germans had a saying - enjoy the war, because after it will be hell.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  Some reference material. I don't recommend reading any of them, they're very unpleasant reading. But it's important to document what happened. "After the Reich", NacDonogh "An Eye For An Eye", Sack "Crimes and Mercies", Bacque "Embracing Defeat", Dower "Gruesome Harvest", Keeling "Justice At Nuremburg", Conot "Other Losses", Bacque "The Nuremburg Trial", Tusa "The Long Road Home", Shephard

aguaviva 2y ago

A handful of very high ranking Nazis were tried and hanged. This is a misconception. As a result of the "Nuremberg Trials" which concluded in 1946 and focused specifically on high-level defendants, 11 people were hanged. But there were numerous other trials, including what were called the "Nuremberg Military Tribunals" from 1946-1949, the Bergen-Belsen trials, and so on, as a result of which scores of people of decidedly lesser status were executed, easily some 200+. Nearly all the mid-level officers and civil authorities escaped any sort of punishment or justice, and continued happily serving in the West German state. This smells like a major numerical fudge as well.

WalterBright 2y ago

> Hardly. After Berlin fell, soldiers went through all the hospitals and checked every patient for the SS tattoo. Those with them got a bayonet. SS members were hunted and killed throughout Germany after the fall. Some were hung upside down from lampposts and set on fire. Hundreds of thousands of German soldiers died in POW camps after the war. It was open season on German women after the surrender. Germans underwent forced relocations out of Poland. The killing did not stop at the surrender, it slowly faded over the next year. Nearly all WW2 documentaries end with the suicide of Hitler, and maybe the Nuremburg trials. What else happened was savage and not well covered. The Germans had a saying - enjoy the war, because after it will be hell.

WalterBright 2y ago
Some reference material. I don't recommend reading any of them, they're very unpleasant reading. But it's important to document what happened. "After the Reich", NacDonogh "An Eye For An Eye", Sack "Crimes and Mercies", Bacque "Embracing Defeat", Dower "Gruesome Harvest", Keeling "Justice At Nuremburg", Conot "Other Losses", Bacque "The Nuremburg Trial", Tusa "The Long Road Home", Shephard