What do Germans think of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler today?

German History is more difficult for Germans then for anyone else.

I was born in Germany and live in Australia since 2005. A lot of people ask me that question, and also sometimes there behaviour is quite surprising.

On of my first encounters with the subject was when I was working on a Linux problem and was not happy with peoples resolution (being the manager) so a work colleque called me a “linux-Nazi”. Others join in laughing about that. I was just stunned. You see in Germany calling someone a Nazi is putting yourself up for a good punch on your nose or even get sued for offending. What they were laughing about was the Seinfeld episode with the Soup-Nazi (“no more soup for you”). (Also see link, reference 3)

Just this shows that the dealing with the past can be very different.

The Nazi legacy is a subject that most Germans don’t want to talk about. If you look at it there are different ways do deal with the Nazi legacy.

- You look at the cause and find that the WW2 resulted form unresolved conflict of WW1 and expansionist attitudes.

- You analyses Hitler and find that he was very insecure and psychology damaged and wonder how he came to power.

- You excuse yourself from the discussion by stating that it is all History now and that modern Germany has nothing to do with it

- You find that Germans after the Kaiser had no “leader”, no one they could follow (like the Kaiser) and there is still that urge for Germans to follow someone or to fit in into a given society.

- And several other things

Basically for Germans to talk about it is hard as the guild still is there. Yes Nazi-Germany (and that is Nazi-Germany not just Germany we do make that distinction) killed systematically on a industrial level Jews, Gypsies, Gays, Communists, Socialists, people with disables and every one else they did not like in the regime. That’s a fact and that’s the legacy. Everyone will tell you that there grandparents didn’t do anything bad and where not involved and didn’t know about the killings. I can’t tell you if my Granny lied about it or not I don’t know, I know that 2 of her brothers where lost in Stalingrad and that my Granddad was a POW in Siberia.

My Personal thought about the Nazi legacy is that as a German I see it my “responsibility” to make sure that injustice and oppression against other human because of race, religion, sex or sexual orientation (or whatever else make someone “different”) is made public and to fight it as best as possible.

Just think about the current situation. Is every Muslim a terrorist? Are all people that follow the Muslim religion supporter of Bin-Laden? Should Moslems be required to pass thought higher security then others at Airports? Would you help a clearly Muslimism dressed Man/Woman if they require help?

As much as I can see in TV, Web and other medias the typical Nazi (anti-Semitic etc.) is actually more found outside Germany then inside. The US seams to be a big breeding ground for this kind of stuff. But I have to say that the most reports I saw and read about that (in German, American and Australian Media) shows that these people a quite uneducated, very set in there thoughts and unwilling to embrace anything that fits not into there picture of the world.

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

What do Germans think of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler today?

For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/aviaK

Since you've got the time period of Nazi Germany all wrong, it explains why you've got so many other historical facts wrong. His stance on the Jews are one of the reasons the German people supported his rise to power. Without the Jews and others as scapegoats, he couldn't have rallied his supporters and strongly as he did in the 1930s Were he alive today, Hitler would be well into his hundreds. With his health problems near the end of the war, it's VERY unlikely he would have made it to the end of that decade, much less sixty years more. Fighting five countries at once? What makes that smart. Besides, he had Italy, Japan, and, for a while, the Soviet Union on his side, not to mention Spain and other lesser players. And, it's not the number of countries on one side or the other that counts, it's the number of soldiers, the manufacturing base, ships, planes, transports, etc that determines a winner. Not to mention a winning strategy. Hitler made a LOT of mistakes, like Dunkirk, not allowing the Wermacht to pursue and destroy the evacuating fighters, turning against the Soviets in mid war, pushing his Eastern Front commanders to fight on in Winter and not providing the cold weather support they needed, keeping his armor away from Normandy when his commanders in the field were telling him he was wrong and the invasion of Europe was actually happenning and countless other bad choices he made. So, what is it about Nazi Germany that you respect? The pretty uniforms?

The Germans are hyper-sensitive about Hitler because of all the propaganda and brainwashing they've undergone through their education system after WW2. It has been enforced upon them by the Americans who still have military bases there. The fear of mentioning anything to do with Hitler is ingrained along with the fear of finding out what really happened. Hitler didn't actually destroy Germany - the allies did. Hitler was in fact a natural consequence of the draconian reparations regime placed on Germany after WW1, and they were forced into WW1 because of their increasing economic power that Britain and France could not tolerate. But again, Germany has become an economic power regardless of repeated attempts to destroy it. The danger now is that Germany could self-destruct due to the strain placed upon their economy by mass immigration combined with the self-loathing that has been brainwashed into them. I hope they don't let it happen and wake up to what has been done to them before it is too late, or they will be too ashamed of their past to defend themselves.

Had Hitler died or been killed before October of 1938, he could have possibly gone done as one of the greatest leader in History; Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1938. However, after the Kristallnacht (Night of broken glass) all bets were off. And by September of 1939 there was no doubt as to this man's evil as he plunged the world into war. Churchill was right.

My German friends all agree. The Germany of past has nothing to do with the Germany of today anymore than the USA of the 1800s when we exterminated native Americans. We must never forget the past unless we are willing to allow it to happen again.

Hate to break this "apology / present Germany has truly changed / America is also racist / racism is everywhere" claptrap:

1- present day Germany is one the most ethnically homogeneous Nation on Earth (WIki: list of countries by ethnic diversity)

2- German Corporate World is basically White only. And German Turks are almost entirely absent in German offices, Media, Interracial relations : a stark contrast to lets say British Pakistanis (who have same religion, given that religion is oft cited reason for isolation). And definitely lot lesser than British Indians or American Asians

3- Germans consider proactive racist hate crime as only form of racism. Racial discrimination is generally met with shrug or defined as preference. There is staggeringly high everyday and Institutional racism - school to housing to recruitment.

Nazism In Germany Today

They feel pretty much the same as anyone else on the planet about him- that he was NOT such a good guy/leader putting it lightly. The only HUGE difference is they live in the country where it all happened and feel a tremendous burden about the atrocities that occurred in the third reich between 1933-1945. From a young age germans are taught to feel much shame and guilt for crimes committed by a government & people that lived 70+ years ago and frankly from the many german people I've talked to they're quite sick of it. Can we erase the events of the past? They tell me. NO, but why do we as a people have to feel so guilty and live in such shame for the actions of a man and his party of fanatics whose reign of terror ended in 1945? Think of all the countries who've had terrible leaders i would say every counrty has had a bad leader at one time or another. King henry VIII of England? Stalin of Russia? Leopold of Belgium? Mao? They don't have to live in shame, why should Germany?

Nazis In Germany Today

Germany is very much an anti-fascist nation and many laws are in place to prevent Nazism from rising again in the country. It's advised not to really mention Nazism in Germany outside of educational contexts.

They love him, as they should. He was a great leader, possibly one of the best ever.

Of course, I am a Briton myself. However, in Hitler s plans, I would be second only to the germans (I would probably be a lawyer or doctor or something) while asians and africans are enslaved by myself.

The whole civilized world would be more advanced