de-nazification: hang them all?

[Eddi]

In 1945 there were eight million members of the Nazi party

That's a lot of Nazis and a great many had been killed in the war

Here's my question:

Should the victorious allies have condemned all the surviving Nazis to summary execution?

They didn't, but could doing so have been justified?

Or would there have been good reasons for keeping some of them alive?

I ask because I have recently been reading up on the de-nazification of Germany after the war

The rise of the Nazis and the war are big subjects but de-nazification is a much smaller subject but is still interesting

 

[Secret Chief]

In 1945 there were eight million members of the Nazi party

That's a lot of Nazis and a great many had been killed in the war

Here's my question:

Should the victorious allies have condemned all the surviving Nazis to summary execution?

They didn't, but could doing so have been justified?

Or would there have been good reasons for keeping some of them alive?

I ask because I have recently been reading up on the de-nazification of Germany after the war

The rise of the Nazis and the war are big subjects but de-nazification is a much smaller subject but is still interesting

I'd focus on the shepherds, not the sheep. Germans were peed off with the suffering from the WW1 "settlement."

 

[Twilight Hue]

In 1945 there were eight million members of the Nazi party

That's a lot of Nazis and a great many had been killed in the war

Here's my question:

Should the victorious allies have condemned all the surviving Nazis to summary execution?

They didn't, but could doing so have been justified?

Or would there have been good reasons for keeping some of them alive?

I ask because I have recently been reading up on the de-nazification of Germany after the war

The rise of the Nazis and the war are big subjects but de-nazification is a much smaller subject but is still interesting

Let them live but give them a memento.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Should the victorious allies have condemned all the surviving Nazis to summary execution?

Absolutely not! Membership cannot be a capital crime, because one ought to be free to associate with whom one wishes. If we do not restrain ourselves, and punish people only for their actions, after a fair trial to establish both their guilt and mens rea, then we would ourselves be evil.

Do not go there, I ask you.

 

[Eddi]

I'd focus on the shepherds, not the sheep

Yes, maybe hang them first.....

Germans were peed off with the suffering from the WW1 "settlement."

But a great many Germans didn't become Nazis or vote for them

I think the social climbers who joined to advance themselves socially are amongst the most despicable type of Nazi party member

 

[Eddi]

Membership cannot be a capital crime, because one ought to be free to associate with whom one wishes.

Do you think it was right or wrong for the Nazi party to be banned, as it was in October 1945?

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Do you think it was right or wrong for the Nazi party to be banned, as it was in October 1945?

I can't answer for the time. In general, I am very much in favour of freedom of speech and association. As a Canadian, I am accustomed to the notion of "hate speech" not being considered as included in freedom of speech, and we define hate speech as:

• It is expressed in a public way or place
• It targets a person or group of people with a protected characteristic such as race, religion or sexual orientation
• It uses extreme language to express hatred towards that person or group of people because of their protected characteristic

All of this the Nazi party very much did, as part of its own platform, and therefore, in my personal opinion, it was right to ban it.

 

[Secret Chief]

Yes, maybe hang them first.....

I'm generally opposed to capital punishment.

But a great many Germans didn't become Nazis or vote for them

True, but as you say, many did. When a loaf of bread costs 200,000,000,000 Marks, people are likely to get extreme.

 

[Eddi]

I am accustomed to the notion of "hate speech" not being considered as included in freedom of speech, and we define hate speech as:

That's very sensible

In Germany it is currently illegal to form a party that is hostile to the democratic constitution

I think this is also sensible and that parties who want to abolish democracy should also be curtailed, like those who peddle hatred

That may sound a bit extreme but in Germany I think that policy is very understandable

What do you think about that?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Do you think it was right or wrong for the Nazi party to be banned, as it was in October 1945?

Just for clarification: you ask if it "was right ... as it was in October 1945".

Are you asking ...

1. "was it right to ban it in 1945?" or
2. "was it right to ban it as in 1945?

and, if the latter, which nazi party, when, and where?

 

[Eddi]

Just for clarification: you ask if it "was right ... as it was in October 1945".

Are you asking ...

1. "was it right to ban it in 1945?" or
2. "was it right to ban it as in 1945?

and, if the latter, which nazi party, when, and where?

Sorry, my command of English obviously lapsed there

I meant the first

I was asking if banning it in October 1945 was right

 

[Eddi]

Just for clarification: you ask if it "was right ... as it was in October 1945".

Are you asking ...

1. "was it right to ban it in 1945?" or
2. "was it right to ban it as in 1945?

and, if the latter, which nazi party, when, and where?

This is what I meant:

"The Nazi party was banned in October 1945. Was this the right thing to do?"

I was asking if it was right for it to be banned, which is what happened to it in October 1945

 

[libre]

Generally speaking murdering millions of people for membership of a political party is frowned upon.

However, both East and West would find their own purposes for certain Nazis in exchange for some level of immunity.
However the west were much more keen on stealing nazi talent, and the Reds were generally much more heavy handed in their treatment of the Fascists.

 

[Eddi]

True, but as you say, many did. When a loaf of bread costs 200,000,000,000 Marks, people are likely to get extreme.

Maybe but I think starting to believe you're some kind of master race who deserves to rule the world comes from somewhere other than from hyperinflation and economic problems

I think that there's something else going on there and whatever that is is very disturbing indeed

 

[Secret Chief]

stealing nazi talent

Operation Paperclip - Wikipedia

 

[Secret Chief]

Maybe but I think starting to believe you're some kind of master race who deserves to rule the world comes from somewhere other than from hyperinflation and economic problems

I think that there's something else going on there and whatever that is is very disturbing indeed

Scapegoating has always been popular. Anti-semitism wasn't confined to Germany.

 

[Eddi]

Operation Paperclip - Wikipedia

You've reminded me of Doctor Strangelove!

The eponymous character (played by Peter Sellars) is a Nazi scientist who was taken from Germany after the war

A fantastic film

 

[Eddi]

Scapegoating has always been popular. Anti-semitism wasn't confined to Germany.

Indeed it is but that's no mitigation

And it wasn't just the Jews they hated and wanted to kill

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Maybe but I think starting to believe you're some kind of master race who deserves to rule the world comes from somewhere other than from hyperinflation and economic problems

I think that there's something else going on there and whatever that is is very disturbing indeed

As if Americans and the British have anything to talk about when it comes to racism and thinking they should rule the world. The French can't talk, either. Even with the eugenics, the Germans were greatly inspired by American eugenics programs. We were sterilizing the poor, alcoholics and drug addicts, the mentally ill and whoever else society looked down upon way before Hitler was on the scene. Same when it comes to the government doing horrible experiments without consent. America got there before the Germans. (America also had concentration camps and has committed genocide.)

So let's not be hypocritical.

 

[Secret Chief]

Indeed it is but that's no mitigation

And it wasn't just the Jews they hated and wanted to kill

I'm not in the market for making out the folk of one country are fundamentally different from any other, it's pot luck what kind of political and economic climate one finds oneself in. Much of human history is the history of our appalling inhumanity.