And I think it worth remembering that rather than supporting the "vile regime" most were conscripted into service to fight for their country. I don't suppose it takes much imagination to work out what that "vile regime" would have done to their families had they refused.

I also think it worth noting that (in my opinion) most of us are now grown up enough to be able to remember all the dead on all sides of the war come remembrance Sunday, along with giving thanks that the "vile regime" never succeeded.

ROFLMBO!! Priceless. . .

@ Robbo -

I think you will find that U-Boat crews, throughout the war, were predominently volunteers, of which there was never a shortage. And their families were very happy to bask in the reflected glory of their well publicised exploits.

Prien himself, to name one, has been described as an "ardent" supporter of nazism and Adolph Hitler.

I doubt very much if Germany had "won" WW2 the Nazi regime would have been as accomodating in remembering the war dead of its opponents.

So let's try and keep this all in perspective.

Dredd :arrgh!:

Distribution sales is no secret.

Companies acquire production from distributors then mark it up and sell it for a profit (walmart, amazon, ect). At the end of the life cycle or slow sales, they mark it down to eliminate the inventory (bargain bin).

Even if you 'hold out' as you say, UBI has already received their profit. If the product sells good, of course more will be ordered but the only problem with that is they distribute all over the world, at different intervals, so the profit stream stays steady.

People will be buying this game for years to come, just like SH3 and SH4.

Well said.

Looks like this subject will always come back...

Sailors & soldiers are more likely to be influenced & manipulated young men rather than real nazi.

So as long as Goebbels or Himmler is not on board, I'm fine.

I hardly think Prien was your typical Uboat crew member

"Only one of the prisoners was a rabid Nazi and he kept repeating, "England kaput," (finished). All the Germans were young. The average age was 22 in the oldest was 26. Only one was a volunteer; the rest where conscripts. All had the impression that Canadians were either cowboys for Indians."

http://timetraces.ca/nene/war_servic...eb_24_1944.htm

But I agree I've found it quite difficult to find out whether they were conscripted or volunteered as a whole. I would imagine that volunteering for the U boats was preferable to being conscripted for the army (especially with the propaganda of the time - the hero's of the U boat films etc). Logic tells me however, that as the war progressed and the uboat losses mounted, it would have been impossible to crew the boats with just volunteers (the link above reinforces that)

Perhaps someone here knows the definitive answer as to whether U boat crews were drafted or not?


The point I'm trying to convey to you is that, in my opinion the German force (with notable exceptions) was made up of men not too different from you or me. They were just unlucky enough to be born in the wrong place at the wrong time , and fed propaganda until they were old enough to fight.


Which nicely brings me back to this:

Robbo,

I didn't live during those times, and I'm no historian.

That said, I wonder how to consider that: "most were not nazi". I heard/read so about the Luftwaffe, about the land army, about the Kriegsmarine, about Werhmacht officers in general.

Yet, the nazis got general support from the population, at least initially. So how do the two fit together exactly, I wonder.

Will have to read more on that.

You stay there mate while I and other modders try to enhance the game for you, as for your other comment....

Comments like this may cause trouble. This is your opinion, but; please keep this type of thought to yourself. There are many nataionalities here as members including those members from Germany...

Everything I have read points to these people being "predominently" volunteers, right up until the end of the war. And there was "never a shortage" of them.

Let's also remember Grand Admiral Karl Donitz, their chief, became Fuhrer of Germany on Hitler's death. At the end of the war, among other things, he was happy to provide serving SS men with naval uniforms in an attempt to circumvent justifiable allied retribution. Indeed the commandant of Auschwitz, surely a name that you would acknowledge as being synonimous with this vile regime, was provided with the papers and disguise of a bosun's mate. "Donitz's behaviour during his brief, grotesque masquerade as the last Fuhrer makes a mockery of delusions that he was a mere naval officer who fell into bad company".

My mother, who was a sixteen year old schoolgirl in 1936, was on holiday in Germany and well remembers a nazi rally attended by thousands of everyday ordinary Germans, and how absolutely mad they all went when some Nazi functionary turned up, let alone der fuhrer.

You may feel some kinship with these people, I am happy to feel none.

Dredd :arrgh!:

@ Venatore, hi old friend, how are you doing? I'm in the holdout crew as well as many others, for one thing, where I live in country S.A., a permanent online connection is out for me, I live too far from the local exchange to get a good connection, besides this I'm against this type of DRM, I think it is prejudice against those who cannot get good broadband connection, I live only 120km from Adelaide and most of the towns here don't have broadband at all, so kinda sucks!!:oops: I am waiting, may take a year or so, for DRM free copies to hit the shelves! Well hoping anyway!:yep:
Cheers.

Mikey, things were very different at that time. Nazi regim was fu't up, but more fu't up was the severe recession and the political and economical situation in Germany. For years already there was no hope for a better life. This is the right time when the extremist and nationalist movements can go high up in poll and win the tired and hopeless people trust. My half family is german so I know a little about how was to be a german around 35-38.

Trust me, when ur starving, u have no job and a way to support you and ur family.. u will get really desperate and u will take any chance available to survive the next day. And this H. dude was a damn good politician and also a great nationalist. He promissed the german people a bright future where nobody will have to cry again because they dont have what to eat, where to work, to be ashamed being a german etc. If u try to read main kampf, u may understand his philosophy and even appreciate it. What happened after he became cancelar and war started.. now, that's a whole different story. These things happens even today, how many time ur politician won ur trust by selling false hopes and dreams.. then after he got elected, gives a sh1t about u and his country.

The good part was that all ended in only 5 year. After that the whole western world and Germany was living in paradise and into a booming economy. The sad part was.. the eastern world collapsed into a genuine hell for ages. All those crimes and crap what happened in those 5 year during ww2 were nothing compared to what the commies did in all east europe for decades. The nazis got nailed, judged and hunted only after 5 years, the commies are still living and running great business without being punished in any way. Now how's this justice...

Anyway, point is that the people is last to be judged, even if they were serving a false cause. And Kriegsmarine was not SS or .. like the most brutal army in the world.. the soviets.

We're far off topic, and this thread has outlived whatever dubious usefulness it had. Closed.

The Management