Why is that?
I think over time it caused an absence of knowledge about a leader that played a significant part of a country’s history. That often causes young people to want to look into that person and maybe even up to that person. Simply because of the human condition that causes the young adult to be in rebellion towards the governing powers.
I recall in high school, my sophomore year I believe, knowing a wonderful German girl. This was in New York. Her father was an officer in the US Army. I didn’t even think about it back then, and I’m not sure how he could have been in the US Army as a German citizen. This would have been 1972-1973, I guess. Don’t know her father’s age or her mother’s. She had an older brother, as well.
She thought Hitler was the greatest thing since sliced bread for Germany. I was already into reading history and not taking just the U.S./Allied version, either, mind you. I was still stunned. She felt he was the best thing because he united Germany and brought them out from under the yoke of the Treaty from WWI.
Now, as even a kid, I knew the Treaty of WWI was designed not to just have Germany repay the cost of WWI; it was to destroy Germany.
That said, I was still stunned. I told her I couldn’t understand how she could feel that way. She simply looked at me and said that I couldn’t understand what the German peoples had to endure after WWI as punishment and he was going to lift them from under that punishment. She believed the loss of life of both Jew and Gentile was part of the price to bring Germany back from the brink of destruction.
I think without having the full story on the ‘why’ Hitler was the way he was, prevented Germans like her from seeing that even if Germany was doing just fine he would have still done what he did. He just would have attempted to get to power doing it another way.
That’s what I mean by being counterintuitive.
It’s like England getting China’s people addicted to Opium so England could get back it’s gold when China was insisting on being paid in gold for tea leaves.
It’s like the American citizens not knowing the Administration at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor knew about it but couldn’t admit it because we were spying on the Japanese.
Things like that do need to be known in order for it all to be viewed correctly. Maybe not agreed upon, just viewed correctly.
I hope I’m explaining my view correctly.
Thank you, so much, sparklite2, for your patience.