Der Spiegel online had this lede last week:
Polish media and politicians have sharply criticized this week’s SPIEGEL cover story about Hitler’s European helpers outside of Germany. They believe the article is part of an attempt by Germans to foist guilt for its own Nazi crimes off on others.
Some facts speak for themselves:
Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, an Auschwitz survivor and currently the government official in charge of Polish-German relations, dryly referred to the fact that 7,000 Poles are listed at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial for their efforts to save Jews, compared to only 100 Germans.
Why would seemingly innocuous and “normal” people resort to despicable behavior during war? This is, for me, the most intriguing question. It is what bothers me the most studying history, because I question what would my own behavior be if I ever were put in such similar and horrendous situations. I want to believe that I would be honorable and good. But, would I? Would I be able to risk absolutely everything – my life, my family’s life- for what is noble and right?
UPDATE: President Obama’s great-uncle, Charles Payne, was one of the American soldiers who liberated a subcamp of Buchenwald. This is what he had to say about his experience encountering the horror:
You know, I am unable to tell you what I was thinking then. That was a long time ago, and as I told you, until Barack misspoke, I hadn’t thought about any of this for a very, very long time. In fact, I guess I prefer not to think about it. I can assure you I was horrified by the lengths to which men will go to mistreat other men. This was, to me, almost unbelievable.
