Posted on 01/08/2009 9:26:42 AM PST by AJKauf
“Many Saw Evil,” the posters for the new Tom Cruise film Valkyrie proclaim, “But They Dared to Stop It.” Or tried, at any rate. The members of what is known in Germany as the “July 20th” plot failed, of course, to kill Hitler and were unable to seize power. If this slight exaggeration amounts to wishful thinking, however, the suggestion that the would-be assassin, Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, and his co-conspirators “saw evil” in the Nazi regime amounts to an outright distortion of the historical record.
In fact, Stauffenberg served the Nazi regime loyally almost to the very end ...
(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...
Gee, Wally, Maybe the Germans weren’t so bad after all!
I don’t hold that against them now that I see how it was done here. Not that they didn’t get many, many genuine heartfelt votes, but I won’t assume he had a popular mandate.
I enjoyed the movie. You could hear a pin drop when the movie ended (full theatre). You could see how that lost three hours did make the difference in this failure to kill Hitler. If they had moved, as planned, while Staufenberg was making his way back to Berlin, the coup likely would have succeeded.
Many Germans, like us, had it imposed on them. Look, I’m not into apologizing for the germans, and Ike probably did the right thing there, but as one resistance person said in an interview, what are you going to do? As a citizen, you can’t walk up and shoot the man, there’s no way to get to him. And many were in fear for their lives.
Again, I’m not apologizing for them, and it’s impossible to sort them out, but plenty of germans other than jews were victimized too. In a police state, first thing you have to do is dummy up and watch out for numero uno.
He did indeed. Part of that, I'm sure, was the disdain for serving under a mere Corporal, but Manstein was anything but diplomatic. I just read his post-war exposition on the matter, Lost Victories. Don't know if he'd qualify as a "good German," whatever that means, but he was certainly an outspoken one.
That hunger for leadership is a powerful thing. Who among us isn't craving strong conservative leadership right now? We could well be swayed by someone who would go too far. And many here would not consider it a bridge too far if it was against the hated leftists.
He’s no Hitler... yet. I think every demagogue leader like this at some point has to consider whether he is willing to carry his idealogy to it’s logical and final conclusion. If he does, he joins the pantheon of murderous dictators. Hussein, Pol Pot, Mao, Hitler, Stalin. The list goes on.
I expect a Reichstag Fire of some sort. A mini-Reichstag fire happens every time a black radical hangs a noose, or paints a swastika in order to blame whitey. I expect more of the same, and on a larger scale.
Absolutely, Bonhoeffer.
Bonhoeffer got busted for being involved in one of the plots, I don’t know if it was this one or not. He was killed right at the end of the war, one of those “we may lose but you won’t live to celebrate” sort of executions.
That’s correct. The interesting thing about Bonhoffer is that he had previously managed to get out of the country, yet he chose to come back, knowing he’d be executed if caught. His family and supporters begged him to stay out of the country, to continue his work and resistance from outside, but he believed it was God’s will that he return. He also believed it was God’s will to actively plot to kill Hitler.
It’s a good example. What are ya gonna do? It’s enshrined in SCOTUS doctrine now.
The same can be said for FDR and the USA.
At some point, didn’t every member of the Wehrmacht have to pledge allegience (unto death) to the Fuhrer?
It had nothing to do with compassion for anybody but themselves and their family and possibly “Deutchland”; certainly not compassion for the Jews.
But it’s one of those things where it’s impossible to say who were the “Gut Chermans” and who were the Nazis. I’ve read you couldn’t FIND a Nazi in Germany after the war was over.
Exactly, and we’re not starving. Wait until there are bread lines in every city, and then we’ll have an inkling of what it was like for the German citizens. It was hell, and they were looking for a way out. Unfortunately, desperation doesn’t typically lend itself to making good choices, and Hitler’s ascendancy merely confirms that truth.
Excuse me? You are assuming something.. Will he get a second term? Remember.. he has to do four years and get
re-elected.. Its not automatic.. Carter, George Bush Sr. both only got one term. The 8 year presidency is a myth that is perpetuated by political pundits. There is NOTHING in the Constitution that provides for a automatic 8 year stint.
Hopefully.. Voters will see through Obama and his shortcoming's in 2012. I am even more hopeful that Harry Reid in 2010 is kicked off his senate seat, because he is more dangerous than Obama. Nancy Pelosi should be voted out too but I doubt if there is enough conservatives in California to give me that kind of hope.
As far as Obama and his “CDF” and other proposals are concerned.. Remember.. Roosevelt and his National Recovery Act was eventually deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Hopefully the same thing will happen today.
I have faith in the Constitution of this country.. but not in the elected leaders.
A book I read ("Stella") recounts the story of a bunch of Berlin Jews (Stella was a gorgeous Jewess who wound up marrying an SS guy and became a Jew-catcher) who worked for the Nazis during the war. The Nazis needed people to do clerical work and they kept about 10,000 Jews in Berlin for this.
One big takeaway from the book for me was this: in 1944, Jews working in Berlin did NOT KNOW ABOUT THE DEATH CAMPS.
Many Germans did not know either.
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