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I always wanted to read a book about what it was like living through that time as a reluctant German. Never did find anything like that exactly. At one point when I was a teenager I thought, "Maybe I should write this book." :lol: If anyone knows of such a book, lemme know.

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I always wanted to read a book about what it was like living through that time as a reluctant German. Never did find anything like that exactly. At one point when I was a teenager I thought, "Maybe I should write this book." :lol: If anyone knows of such a book, lemme know.

There are a couple of good books dealing with conflict of conscience from a German Soldier's perspective; look for "Reluctant Accomplice" by Conrad Jarausch

That one deals with not only with his father who was a German soldier's conflict of conscience but his own conflicts of conscience as a member of the next generation AFTER the war.

My dad served valiantly in WWII as a member of the 82nd Airborne 508 Paratrooper Infantry Div.

He fought at the battle of Market Garden as well as at Normandy.

He witnessed unspeakable atrocities and suffered nightmares his whole life due to what he saw in the war. He never romanticized the war but was honest about its horrors!

He was very modest in his acknowledging his contribution, despite receiving a Purple Heart and other decorations. And he was very vocal in expressing that he never wanted his children or grandchildren to ever experience what he did in WWII; he felt it was an absolutely necessary war but a very high price was paid and we should always remember that.

He was my hero and a wonderful man!

New Orleans is home to the National WWII Museum. If anyone visits here I urge you to go experience it.

I also urge anyone who can, to visit the Holocaust Museum in D.C.

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Just read a story about when the Russians invaded Finland in 1939 and the Finns kicked the crap out of a very superior force.

Stupid Russians ran into a buzz saw. :guns::injured:

Yes, the Winter War. My grandmothers brother died in this war and she lost her home when Finland ceded Karelia to Soviet Union. Also my grandfather fought in the Winter War and later in the Continuation War.

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Yes, the Winter War. My grandmothers brother died in this war and she lost her home when Finland ceded Karelia to Soviet Union. Also my grandfather fought in the Winter War and later in the Continuation War.

It's a part of history that I hadn't really read much about. I was truly amazed at the lopsided victory.

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There are a couple of good books dealing with conflict of conscience from a German Soldier's perspective; look for "Reluctant Accomplice" by Conrad Jarausch

That one deals with not only with his father who was a German soldier's conflict of conscience but his own conflicts of conscience as a member of the next generation AFTER the war.

My dad served valiantly in WWII as a member of the 82nd Airborne 508 Paratrooper Infantry Div.

He fought at the battle of Market Garden as well as at Normandy.

He witnessed unspeakable atrocities and suffered nightmares his whole life due to what he saw in the war. He never romanticized the war but was honest about its horrors!

He was very modest in his acknowledging his contribution, despite receiving a Purple Heart and other decorations. And he was very vocal in expressing that he never wanted his children or grandchildren to ever experience what he did in WWII; he felt it was an absolutely necessary war but a very high price was paid and we should always remember that.

He was my hero and a wonderful man!

New Orleans is home to the National WWII Museum. If anyone visits here I urge you to go experience it.

I also urge anyone who can, to visit the Holocaust Museum in D.C.

Wow. And I appreciate the recommendation.

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There are a couple of good books dealing with conflict of conscience from a German Soldier's perspective; look for "Reluctant Accomplice" by Conrad Jarausch

That one deals with not only with his father who was a German soldier's conflict of conscience but his own conflicts of conscience as a member of the next generation AFTER the war.

My dad served valiantly in WWII as a member of the 82nd Airborne 508 Paratrooper Infantry Div.

He fought at the battle of Market Garden as well as at Normandy.

He witnessed unspeakable atrocities and suffered nightmares his whole life due to what he saw in the war. He never romanticized the war but was honest about its horrors!

He was very modest in his acknowledging his contribution, despite receiving a Purple Heart and other decorations. And he was very vocal in expressing that he never wanted his children or grandchildren to ever experience what he did in WWII; he felt it was an absolutely necessary war but a very high price was paid and we should always remember that.

He was my hero and a wonderful man!

New Orleans is home to the National WWII Museum. If anyone visits here I urge you to go experience it.

I also urge anyone who can, to visit the Holocaust Museum in D.C.

A very high price indeed.

Of all the times that I have been to N.O. I never seem to make it out of the French Quarter! I will definitely make a point during my next visit.

There is also a very small Holocaust Museum that I went to during a business trip in Richmond, VA. Although small, there were lots of pictures and interesting exhibits. I would recommend it if you are ever in Richmond proper.

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I always wanted to read a book about what it was like living through that time as a reluctant German. Never did find anything like that exactly. At one point when I was a teenager I thought, "Maybe I should write this book." :lol: If anyone knows of such a book, lemme know.

i have often thought about how the young german soldiers felt .... and also the japanese....

i mean, we are all born innocent babies. what happens to turn a young adolf hitler from this young child drawing pictures, playing with other kids ... a normal child... at what point did he think it was not only ok, but the right thing to do????

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i have often thought about how the young german soldiers felt .... and also the japanese....

i mean, we are all born innocent babies. what happens to turn a young adolf hitler from this young child drawing pictures, playing with other kids ... a normal child... at what point did he think it was not only ok, but the right thing to do????

I'm sure a lot of them only went along to get along. Probably some Japanese too and I'm sure many Italians.

It is mind boggling how Hitler became what he was and the adoration the people gave him. Goebbels was a master at keeping the evil hidden.

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i have often thought about how the young german soldiers felt .... and also the japanese....

i mean, we are all born innocent babies. what happens to turn a young adolf hitler from this young child drawing pictures, playing with other kids ... a normal child... at what point did he think it was not only ok, but the right thing to do????

Many times I've had this very thought as well, slave to zep.

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it is so strange, isn't it. and i often think the same thing when reading about some awful news story of murder or abuse etc what changes these babies???

Hitler had a drunken, abusive father and he was a mama's boy. The realities of the world changes these children, I believe. I read this quote the other day, it went something like this: "We spend the first two years of our childhood learning to walk and talk and the other sixteen being told to sit down and shut up." Maybe that had something to do with it... I don't know.

I wonder, if a person like Hitler rose up again, would we notice the warning signs? I think war is far more calculated and maniacal than it was 70 years ago...

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A very high price indeed.

Of all the times that I have been to N.O. I never seem to make it out of the French Quarter! I will definitely make a point during my next visit.

There is also a very small Holocaust Museum that I went to during a business trip in Richmond, VA. Although small, there were lots of pictures and interesting exhibits. I would recommend it if you are ever in Richmond proper.

Thanks Susan, when I get that way next I will see if I can check it out!

The National WWII Museum here is not far from the Quarter at all.

Very near our Convention Center and Cruise Terminal for anyone coming in and out there.

I sound like a tourism commercial! :D

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I wonder, if a person like Hitler rose up again, would we notice the warning signs? I think war is far more calculated and maniacal than it was 70 years ago...

I think that happened in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur and currently Syria. And it seems the U.N. always runs with its tail between its legs and doesn't want to get involved. Useless idiots. But I have to disagree about modern war compared to WW2 where the whole world was fighting with a death toll of almost 50 million. Of course even that pales in comparison to the deaths caused by communism.

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  • 2 months later...

From the book 'The Storm Of War'

Atrocities:

About 70 living Jews were thrown down into a well and then had bags of concrete thrown in on top of them.

A Nazi guard forced a prisoner to eat a 2 lb. sausage and drink a whole bottle of wine. The guard then urinated into the prisoners mouth.

Japanese submariners would sink a ship then move in where the survivors were. They'd either shoot them in the water or bring them on deck to run a gauntlet of clubs, swords and knives before being pushed back into the sea. They would also run through the floating survivors with the sub propellers to chop them up.

The Italians weren't much better.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/jun/25/artsandhumanities.highereducation

Hopefully, all these brutes are in hell now.

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  • 1 month later...

we are all born innocent babies. what happens to turn a young adolf hitler from this young child drawing pictures, playing with other kids ... a normal child... at what point did he think it was not only ok, but the right thing to do????

because he thought he was right, same as most politicians

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I just read about that in The New Yorker. Hard to believe but it really happened.

what is it about?

because he thought he was right, same as most politicians

a bit different to most politicians, i think?

and i was actually saying that i wonder what actually changes these babies from innocence to monsters ....

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what is it about?

Basically how in the 1930's the Jewish movie producers in Hollywood didn't want to upset the Germans by making any anti-Nazi films. There's more to the story too and I am going to order it from the library.

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  • 7 months later...

The information is out there but you have to look for it. One incident I've read about is the bombing of Dresden and the subsequent fire storm that killed thousands of civilians. Another is the rape and sexual abuse that thousands of German women and girls endured at the hands of the Soviet Army.

It would be more correct to say that some of them are assholes. The Russians are a fascinating people. On one hand, they've given us sublime ballet, some of the world's greatest literature, music and scientists. On the other hand, their political and social history is just brutal. Everything they've done to the peoples they conquered and oppressed they have done to one another at some point.

Well stated. These are facts that need to be remembered.

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  • 1 month later...

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