Yeah, i'd hate to break it to you folks, but Germany as a country was the whole reason the Nazis came to power in the first place. They not only set them in power but openly aided the Holocaust and other atrocities. However, even the German people could admit they were wrong.
The statement, "not all Germans were nazis" is totally useless. It's true that not all Germans were Nazis, but they did nothing to stop the Nazis either. Even when it was within their means to do so. And don't act like the Nazis tricked Germany either, Hitler laid out everything he intended to do step-by-step in Mein Kampf. The ultimate reality is Germany wanted to one-up the allies for the embarrasment of World War 1 and they were fully willing to embrace a violently nationalist and expansionist regime that never once hid its genocidal intentions.
Do you get what i'm saying here? I'm saying Germany let the Nazis take over just because of a 20 year old grudge.
So I don't understand what compels people to claim the Nazis and Germans were so separate from one another. Even when the German people themselves admitted they were horribly wrong. What are you defending here? People who say "we didn't know" are universally looked down upon in the country too. German citizens who claim that the crimes of the holocaust were unknown are tatamount to holocaust denial. What about the White Rose movement, Rossenstrasse protests, and Oskar Schindler? Fear of Nazi reprisal didn't stop them. Traudl Junge actually addmitted on her death bed that she spent her entire life making excuses for herself and Germany over what the Nazis did.
The Wehrmacht is far from blameless in war crimes. They may have contributed more to the death of western slavic peoples than any other cause in history. Even guys like Guderian could admit the Wehrmacht played the Nazi game.
So again, what are you defending?
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