History Memes

Hell, have you dealt with Toddlers? they will look you in the eye while asking you if the thing they are actively doing , which they KNOW they are not meant to do , is an OK thing to do

... okay? I don't understand the relevance there.

If your ass ended up in the nazi army, fucking go clear that minefield. You enjoyed setting it up, now dismantle it you sack of shit.

Considering the conscription policies and casualty rates of Nazi Germany, it's doubtful that many of those involved in setting up the minefields were sent to disarm them after the war.

Most people, when confronted with the possibility of execution for refusal, will not become valiant martyrs when presented with a conscription notice. Nor will most people develop in such a way as to preplan their martyrdom against the social norms of their society out of some inborn shared morality. Kids in particular lack the life experience to know just how fucked what they're being told is. Fuck, man, an entire generation volunteered to die on the fields of WW1 because dumb 18-20 year old kids were told it was sweet and fitting to die for their fucking country.

The point of totalitarian states is the subversion of the whole of society, to the point where it is nearly impossible to get by without some level of 'compromise' of oneself. I don't really see the position that everyone who didn't resist the Nazis is deserving of a gruesome death. The Morgenthau Plan is more along those lines, if you want to get into the business of genocide-for-genocide.

Anyone wearing a fascist's uniform is fair game during the war. Anyone wearing a fascist's uniform should be investigated and prosecuted for anything done during the war. But taking the dregs conscripted by the end of the war and treating them all as full partners in the Nazi experiment, and equally deserving of punishment for the regime's crimes?

Nah, man. I'm not going to condemn the occupied countries for going that route given their circumstances, but I'm also not going to pretend like it's not an immensely ugly choice that was made.