Remembering The Lessons Of Germany's Past

[dave502d]

For years, I struggled to comprehend how the good people of Germany could allow someone such as Adolph Hitler to lead them into what became World War II. After all, before Hitler's rise to power, Germany had a rich Christian heritage. The Reformation out of the Dark Ages had its roots deeply imbedded in Germany and surrounding countries.
Furthermore, Germany has long produced some of the most intelligent and creative people on the planet! Many of the world's greatest engineers and scientists have come from Germany and Austria. When it comes to knowledge and education, the Germanic people take a back seat to no one.

How, then, could the good, intelligent people of Germany follow and support someone such as Hitler? For years I struggled to find the answer to that puzzle. Now, I believe I understand.

Obviously, one does not gain the trust and confidence of people by portraying himself as a monster. Does anyone truly believe that the German people would have supported Hitler if they had thought he was some kind of ogre? As with most leaders, Hitler preached faith, family, and patriotism. His speeches were laced with references to God. He personally claimed Christ to be his Savior. Even his adopted Nazi symbol was created around the Christian cross. As far as the German people were concerned, Adolph Hitler was loyal to historic, conservative Christian values. Why should they have thought otherwise?

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/cwarchive_061705.html

[zinndependence]

1. hmmm...

Your comparison brings to mind something I learned in a college Psych class. I'll never forget a class discussion of the Milgram experiments. We discussed them within the context of examining the Holocaust. We were looking at perpetrators, bystanders and victims.

(If you are not familiar with the experiments, Milgram learned a lot about the power of influence, in particular, the influence authority figures have over ordinary people when ordinary people are confronted with tasks that deviate from what they believe is morally "right.".)

Perhaps so many people are willing to follow and not question our so-called leaders because of their inability to question authority. After all, this is a behavior that is drilled into our heads from a very early age. We are socialized by every institution in society to "obey authority" and the price of deviance is high.

The only thing is, I believe one thing Milgram learned from his studies was that people are more obedient when they respect and/or view the authority figure to be intelligent. Certainly people can't feel this way about Bush?!?