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HealthyLiving: The Nazis - A Warning from History

For years I have read of and viewed materials regarding Hitler and Nazi Germany. Books have included The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Hitler’s Mein Kampf, and others. Videos over the years have been numerous with several in my personal library.

No matter how much you may have studied the rise to power and atrocities of the Nazis or of Hitler himself, I think you will find this documentary covers and explores facets of this sad part of history you have never heard or at least not with the detail provided here.

In addition to archival footage I’ve not seen in previous documentaries, one of the most powerful parts of this film are the first person testimonials from those who worked with/around Hitler who share what he was like when out of the public eye, members of the Nazi Party, SS, and most importantly and what I wish many Americans would have the opportunity to view: interviews with people who were participants to differing degrees, some whom to this day rationalize and condone their support of Hitler, including in this documentary discussion of personal commission of murders. To listen to their stories of the murder of innocent civilians (as in Lithuanian & Polish massacres), to hear someone discuss how they shot men, women and children, to see lack of any apparent expression of remorse or repentance for coldblooded murder is striking. Others dismiss gain they received from the plight of those imprisoned in the ghettos. Such complete dis-attachment to humanity is rarely seen but these interviews with those who committed or accepted such atrocities are a harrowing warning. Whether perpetrators of persecution, witnesses, or victims - the personal interviews make this documentary extraordinary.

Civilian participants in the persecution of Jews and others, apathetic acceptance of the horrors going on around them, exploitation of their plight for personal gain, and as I mentioned even to the extent of those who murdered fellow citizens or exploited their situation in occupied territories, is casually discussed when sentiments and attitudes of (and I paraphrase): “It was the thing to do,” “You just go with it because everybody else is” or “What could you do?”

Poignant interviews with victims of persecution throughout those years are included…very sad.Again, I emphasize this 2-dvd disc set is by far the best documentary (being the most informative, detailed account of those years) I have ever seen. Organized into 6 parts (approx. 45 minutes each, with a total of about 5 hours in length), I watched it over two nights. I highly recommend it. No matter how extensively you’ve read, or the number of other documentaries you may have seen, I think this documentary is something you will gain much from viewing.

wixomwizard: I'd much rather watch 'Planet Earth' documentary. More edifing and beautiful. Better to see what God has created than what man has destroyed.

In response to: The Nazis - A Warning from History

For years I have read of and viewed materials regarding Hitler and Nazi Germany. Books have included The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Hitler’s Mein Kampf, and others. Videos over the years have been numerous with several in my personal library.

No matter how much you may have studied the rise to power and atrocities of the Nazis or of Hitler himself, I think you will find this documentary covers and explores facets of this sad part of history you have never heard or at least not with the detail provided here.

In addition to archival footage I’ve not seen in previous documentaries, one of the most powerful parts of this film are the first person testimonials from those who worked with/around Hitler who share what he was like when out of the public eye, members of the Nazi Party, SS, and most importantly and what I wish many Americans would have the opportunity to view: interviews with people who were participants to differing degrees, some whom to this day rationalize and condone their support of Hitler, including in this documentary discussion of personal commission of murders. To listen to their stories of the murder of innocent civilians (as in Lithuanian & Polish massacres), to hear someone discuss how they shot men, women and children, to see lack of any apparent expression of remorse or repentance for coldblooded murder is striking. Others dismiss gain they received from the plight of those imprisoned in the ghettos. Such complete dis-attachment to humanity is rarely seen but these interviews with those who committed or accepted such atrocities are a harrowing warning. Whether perpetrators of persecution, witnesses, or victims - the personal interviews make this documentary extraordinary.

Civilian participants in the persecution of Jews and others, apathetic acceptance of the horrors going on around them, exploitation of their plight for personal gain, and as I mentioned even to the extent of those who murdered fellow citizens or exploited their situation in occupied territories, is casually discussed when sentiments and attitudes of (and I paraphrase): “It was the thing to do,” “You just go with it because everybody else is” or “What could you do?”

Poignant interviews with victims of persecution throughout those years are included…very sad.Again, I emphasize this 2-dvd disc set is by far the best documentary (being the most informative, detailed account of those years) I have ever seen. Organized into 6 parts (approx. 45 minutes each, with a total of about 5 hours in length), I watched it over two nights. I highly recommend it. No matter how extensively you’ve read, or the number of other documentaries you may have seen, I think this documentary is something you will gain much from viewing.

solitare: Unfortunately, no one country, its peoples nor any political system is immune to those excesses.

+++ snip +++

.... that no one is immune to these obscenities.

It is still going on somewhere right now...again, in some degree or other.

shot3743: Well it's easy to say that, to try to relativise the atrocities committed by the Germans, by making comparisons with other events. I find the mention of the Boer war particularly objectionable. Did they build slave labour camps where their victims were literally worked to death, I mean by that that the death of the slave labourers was from the outset a part of their calculation in terms of cost effectiveness, did they build death camps that murdered for some periods, ten thousand victims a day? Where the invasion of other countries took place in order to murder, pillage, loot, steal, rape, torture, and exterminate the population in order that these countries could be settled by Germans?

RobbieM: I'd like to point something out, the Nazi party were in charge. and they are the ones that were responsible.+++ snip +++

RobbieM: I absolutely agree!

I remember it being stated that we shall lot this ever happen again(referring to concentration camps in Europe) and what did we see, and didn't intervene fast enough.

I refer those who are unaware to the slaughterhouse that was the Balkans conflict, where TV cameras were allowed to film people behind barbed wire who were later....well not to put a fine point on it murdered.

An utter disgrace, and the responsibility for ending this fell under the UN,Nato and all other parties concerned.

solitare: "An utter disgrace" is putting it rather mildly to say the least, and here I refer specifically to our old aristocracy that tragically had become so rigid as to loose all chances of flexibility in dealing with the hitler creature and his henchmen, so loudly cheered by his proletariat/ bourgeois masses. They were unable to adapt to rapidly deal with and possibly thwart this common criminal and prevent this fine example of democracy in action that lined the streets and cheered him on. Far too rigid to have stepped in and prevent that old fool von Hindenburg from turning our country over to this low class symbol of 'power to the masses'. And far too many 'what-if's'. When a younger generation, such as symbolized by Graf Claus von Stauffenberg and those who believed as he did finally rose to the challenges to eliminating the hitler menace, it was already a forgone conclusion that all would fail even if hitler was killed as the officer corps as a whole would have hesitated too long due to their all too rigid and inflexible "correct behavior" would have, in the long run, prevented them from accomplishing their goals. There would have too much arguing, rendering the military impotent to stop the war... I dread to see this 'new version' of our history with the new movie Valkyrie with that idiot Tom Cruise playing Graf von Stauffenberg much to his family's consternation. I dread also to see if they even bring in Graf Helmuth von Moltke somehow whose anti- Hitler attitudes made him, his family and many, many others 'enemies of the State' and many members of our families paid with their lives to take our responsibilities to our country and the world seriously.

You realise me using the term "utter disgrace" was the most polite way i could describe my disgust in the way the person lays the blame at the majority of germans feet.

If i remember correctly he offered two things to the german public(who were shall we say massively struggling to war reparations as a consequence of WW1)which were a job, and a loaf of bread a day.

Put people in such fear of seeing themselves crumble along with their nation due to foreign powers and economic policy and then you can coerce people into just about anything.

Ironic that George Bush used the same well known technique, to drum home the fear of terrorism at every turn and instil into the American public that wicked foreigners were waiting to attack them at ever turn.In reality of course this is complete crap, and they fell for it in the same way, as Hitler provided a way out to break free of controls that the Allied powers forced on Germany.

This well known technique is attributed to showing people a solution and painting someone as a demon to get their own way and in this case GBJ tried to convince the world of wmds and nasty threats everywhere to obtain public opinion to change laws that protected the AVERAGE American Citizen.

I hate politicians more than i can say, and i have been at the sharp end and seen some things that were never repeated in the press.They all make me sick.
I find it ironic that those of us that have related families in England found it an 'utter disgrace' and worse at the behavior of the "Windsor" family in their maudlin, disgusting sympathies with hitler, (even Churchill, for that matter). Thank God all of our families did not behave in so disgraceful a manner.