That’s why they were in love with Hitler. Apparently, there’s some latent Nazism waiting to express itself in the current German government.
It’s a very paternalistic society. I don’t know about the generation that is in their early 20s right now. But 20 years ago, though they were very very filled with guilt about their grandparents’ generation, the young people were still very divided between bully and weakling, most people with intense social fears and slavish followers. Fathers are still people of great power and engendering fear and obedience. It’s changed somewhat but it’s slow. While I love my German friends, you can still see the paternalistic, follower-ish characteristic of the culture.