How should the Germans have been punished for the Holocaust?

Question

please give reasons!!

Answer 1

The have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars in Holocaust reparations (just one example).

Answer 2

They should not have been punished at all; frankly,the idea shocks me. The Hitler regime was a brutal dictatorship; he did run for President in 1932 but German voters turned him down by a wide margin. He did not hold elections - probably for that reason - when Hindenburg's term (which H. was filling out) expired in 1937. The Germans had no say in anything he did,and the holocaust was a top secret project that most Germans only became aware of after Auschwitz was liberated by the U.S.S.R. in Jan. 1945; most Germans would have learned through the BBC or from the BBC by word of mouth what the international press was saying. I assume you are an Orthodox Jew,to be espousing this bizarre doctrine of collective racial guilt. I'm not jewish,so no,I don't think even that generation of Germans,what to speak of the German people forevermore should be punished - basically,for something they never did,knew of,approved or were involved in. What percentage of long-dead Germans were involved in this program? And wasn't the leadership Austrian anyway? Hitler,Kaltenbrunner,Eichmann - all Austians. Only Himmler was not. I note your "question" presupposes that everyone agrees that Germans-in-general (babies included?)thinks a people are responsible for the actions of a mad dictator over whom they have no control,the only issue being how they should be punished. You presume too much. Are all-Jews-everywhere responsible for the Holodomar,entirely the work of a Jew,Lazar Kaganovich,who starved 7 million Ukrainians to death in 1933? Imagine your logic applied to that: "How should the Jews have been punished for the Holodomar?" Kaganovich was the worst mass-murderer of the 20th century,probably of all time. And he was a Jew. And his coven of top commissars were all Jewish. Should the Jewish people be punished for that? Were all Russian Jews consulted? All Jews everywhere? A bad question - but it deserves an answer.

Answer 3

I'm shocked by some of the answers-
"They were but only Hitler and his few radical Nazis". If so, how did they take over?? Germans were all for the Nazi regime. Hitler demonstrated his extreme anti-semitism during the years 1933-1939, and especially in the Nuremberg laws. True, there were rumors. But were there not gettos? Were there not concentration camps? (which were, sometimes, worse than death). No one said anything. Then there were the death camps in Poland. When the stench of burning bodies got so bad in the death camp Belz'etz that the people in the town next door couldn't stand it and had to move--- did anyone say anything???
*This is besides the point, I know you asked about Germany and not Poland.
Grendel says Hitler was Austrian, anyways. [Well, Oscar Schindler was originally from Austria, too.] Austria used to be one of the provinces of Germany, and in 1939 Austria practically welcomed the Nazis in, and wanted to be part of Germany. So basically, they're the same thing.
I did my research, and, like I thought, Lazar Kaganovich was an aetheist. True, he was born to Jewish parents. But no Jewish values whatsoever... (obviously if he was a mass murder) Most Soviet Jews who made stupid mistakes (that hurt their own Jews!!!) weren't really Jewish. - see Trostky and the Red Army.
"People lived in fear so they went along with his ideas". Excuse me, most of the Germans DID NOT live in fear. On the contrary, it was economical growth for them, more land, a powerful country. Very much patriotism. Only the few who saved Jews were afraid, of getting caught.

As for the punishment, killing the Nazi heads and generals will never be enough. It will never amount to the pain and suffering of thousands- millions!- of Jews. And not only Jews. Catholics, the disabled, gypsies, and anyone else who got in their way. These aren't the only people who should've been punished. Their collaborators are just as bad, as without them, maybe, just maybe, one more death camp wouldn't have come to being. After the war, many Nazi murderers fled. At the Nuremberg trials, not all of the accused were hung. Some were left to continue their lives. *All* Nazis and their helpers should have been punished severely. Why?
1. As a warning sign to others, that the punishment it serious and everyone's included.
2. So that they won't be able to do it again
3. Simply, people who do stuff that bad don't deserve to live.
But we can do no more. As people, it's not in our instinct to punish, to kill.
Germany has been, and still is, paying survivors (whoever watns) an amount of money yearly. Germany also has laws against anti-semitism. There is no need for more punishments. As long as the lesson is learned.

Answer 4

We were punished. Our country was destroyed, divided for 50 something years, families were torn apart. I think that we have suffered enough for something that only a tiny part of the population took part in. Many Germans went about their daily lives while the Holocaust was going on. They had their own lives to worry about. It was only the units of the SS that ran the concentration camps. Only the high leaders who were responsible for putting out orders for the actual killing were punished. But for the German nation being punished, we already have been.

Answer 5

The German Leaders should have been tried for war crimes for killing all those jews. The UN should have placed Economic Sanctions on Germany, eliminating trade with the Allies (U.S., England, Russia, and France) so if Germany were to have another Holocaust they would remember their last punishment

Answer 6

a million) Which from this checklist could perhaps be the closest factor to ensue to the Arizona Diamondbacks this season? A. they're going to win 87 video games. 2) Which from this checklist in many cases is the main probably factor Bud Selig will do earlier he leaves in 2012? B. Will expand the 1st around of the playoffs to 7 video games. 3) Which Baseball issue in many cases is the least probably factor to ensue this season? A. Bud Selig will punish the Yankees for Andy Pettitte & Alex Rodriguez steroid use by utilizing demoting them to the AAA League for 2 seasons. BQ= could i proceed those diverse determination questions? A. sure

Answer 7

They were punished. Most of those personally responsible were tried at Nuremberg after the war. Inevitably some eluded capture and others were swallowed up by the Soviets and never heard of again. But they were punished as well as circumstances allowed. And the punishments were harsher than those meted out nowadays by the tribunal at The Hague.

Answer 8

They were but only Hitler and his few radical Natzis should have been punished because it was only this group of people who caused the Holocaust. The rest of Germany didn't even know what Hitler was doing to the Jews until close to the end of the war. There were rumors but no one really knew the extent that Hitler had gone.

Answer 9

Only the military leaders behind the whole holocaust should be punished for their war crimes by being imprisioned or hanged. Or sent to those death camps

Answer 10

Of course not... There should be no mass punishment.. Its the evil Dictator.. His ideals and decisions caused it. People lived in fear so they went along with his ideas. Just like in the present.. Bush decided to go to war with Iraq.. Now the whole world thinks we are the Police of the world and that all americans want is to control everything.. germans are people like all of us.. we shouldnt blame a whole country for one man's actions.