Since the nazis actually (routinely) tortured people to death, and everyone knew this, there is all the difference in the world (and the two methods in question are not the same).
If the US does it to you (all 3 guys who were so-treated) you can be confident that they're going to not kill you, or even permanently harm you. When the nazis so much as talked to you, you had no certainty that the conversation would not end with you dead, right there, on the spot.
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