Were the Germans people guilty for the atrocities of the 1930s and 1940s?

Question

put many details asyou can

Answer 1

If you know they're taking away your neighbors to kill them are you guilty if you don't say anything? What if you think they're just robbing them of their property and locking them up in the desert, say in Utah? I guess it comes down to whether you think not-helping someone is the same as harming them or remaining neutral. I think the classic way to say it was "Am I my brother's keeper..."

Answer 2

Overall, no.

HOWEVER.

In a way, all of Europe was guilty. Anti-Semitism had existed in Europe for many, many years--pretty much since the Jewish faith existed. Look at the Dreyfus Affair in France, or even at the Spanish Inquisition, or at the Thirty Years' War--Lutheran's okay, Calvinism's okay, Catholicism's okay, but Judaism??? The ugly fact of the Holocaust is that many people viewed the Jews as insignificant. Of course, many did not, and they helped fight the Nazis and create Israel.

On the same level, we can once again indict all of Europe, especially England and France, for the Treaty of Versailles (which Hitler blamed on the Jews, since the soldiers who surrendered were Jewish). The treaty plunged Germany into poverty and humiliation, allowing the Nazis to gain power.

Basically, no. The Nazis were responsible for the actions of the nation as they were the government in power. But they WERE elected, and we can hold most of the Western world responsible for the atrocities. We're all accountable.

Answer 3

There are many books regarding this subject in the library. The people were not as guilty as their government. There were Germans that tried to help and even stop the events in Germany at the time including an assassination attempt on Adolph Hitler's life.

If the wrong people get into power there is chaos. It has always been that way and it looks as if this will continue.

Answer 4

The German people knew what was going on. They knew that jews were being removed from their homes and taken away, and they knew that their homes were being given to germans.

They were also very much in support of hitler and his policies. These things did not happen in a vaccum. They were done right out in the open on the street.

I live in Germany (have so for the last 21 years) Many germans have admitted this to me. Many are unrepentent.

Answer 5

Not the people of Germany but their leaders were the ones responsible for the atrocities that occurred during the time period.

Answer 6

No the Nazis were. There is a difference. My grandpa was a German, and during World War Two he was building ships for the American navy.

Answer 7

Collectively, no. They did know more about it than they let on, but speaking out would have involved them in the same fate.
Don't forget that nearly all the large-scale stuff happened during the war.