The way they killed the children of Jews, gypsies, and other "enemies" of the Third Reich. The Nazis killed people by the thousands, had prisoners drag the bodies to huge pits in the ground, and poured turpentine on them, and set them on fire.
Sometimes, the children were still alive, and they simply grabbed the little kids and threw them on the fire and burned them alive. That is hard to even imagine, isn't it? Yet it happened.
Some of the prisoners who were assigned by the Germans to load the bodies into the pits threw themselves on the fires, voluntarily, ending their own lives. I guess they couldn't take it.
The bonfires of dead bodies grew so big that people in the nearby town saw the smoke and flames and got worried. They called the "work camp" and were reassured that nothing was wrong. All was normal. Normal? This was normal for them? I'd hate to see abnormal.
Who were these Nazis, these good Germans? How did they get like this?
Later, at the Frankfurt Trials, when former prisoners testified to these atrocities, the good German defense attorney challenged them, "What time was it? What date was it? When did that happen?" He tried to impugn their testimony because they could not remember the dates or the times. Of course, they had no calendars and no watches. Appalling. A good lawyer just doing his job? I don't think so.
These trials were held for 18 months, starting in 1963, and some 350 people testified, including many former prisoners. Also, 85 former Auschwitz SS guards were called to testify. Not one of them saw anything or knew anything or remembered anything.
They were asked to speak out against their former fellow guards. Not one of them did. Not one. The code of silence. Evil protecting evil. They didn't want to incriminate themselves and they didn't want to rat out their fellow Nazis.
To my mind, those Nazis were all cowards. They hid behind their uniforms while they committed those atrocities, or they stood by and watched. Then, later, when called to justice, they hid behind their legal rights.
Those who stand by and do nothing while evil happens are almost as guilty as those who commit evil. That's my opinion.
The documentary included films of Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels addressing huge rallies of German people in public squares in the 1930s. He ranted about getting rid of the Jews, and thousands of people cheered wildly, apparently approving the slaughter. It is amazing.
The vast majority of Germans seem to have gone along. Again, amazing. Is such a thing possible today? How do we know who the good guys are and who the bad guys are? The answer: empathy. Those who empathize with other people and try to protect human life are the good guys. Those who preach violence and destruction are the bad guys.
Look out for people who put ideology above humanity. If they are willing to kill innocent people for their ideas, they are most likely evil.
It appears that thousands of former Nazis escaped after the war and were never prosecuted. This article, from The Times of London, seems reliable:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article6716704.ece
I think there are two kinds of people in the world: those that empathize with others, who "feel their pain," in Bill Clinton's phrase, and those who don't.
We usually call people sociopaths if they cannot feel empathy. But in Germany, most of the people must've been sociopaths. Millions of Germans stood by or participated while those atrocities happened.
I don't think Hitler cared anything about the Jews, one way or the other. He just wanted money and power, and was willing to destroy anything or anyone in his way. The Jews were just a convenient scapegoat, a pawn in his game.
Let's not let it happen here. I think it would be all too easy. I leave you with this quote:
“For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.” --
© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle
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