this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2026
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Not a historian. Just a German who talked with his grandfather about it.
He was underage and not very informed overall. His father had taught him not to question authority, so he ignored the information that was there. He later said though that he could have, he should have known and should have been able to pick up on it. He said he didn't know the full extend while he was still at home, only cared that Jews were "being deported" elsewhere and that they had to live in really bad conditions in the Ghettos, which he (being a Nazi himself at the time) supported.
When he was drafted and shipped eastwards to fight the Russians, he said it became harder to ignore the signs and the talk in the areas where it was taking place. But when he arrived at the eastern front he had no thoughts for that anymore as he was more occupied with rationalizing the war crimes he was witnessing (and likely partaking in, though he never confirmed or denied) with the 6th Army. This somehow shook him, because he (being only 19) had envisioned a heroic and noble war which this was decidedly not and that clashed with his upbringing to show unquestioning loyalty and absolute obedience to Germany and its government, especially during wartime.