1. Many years ago I was at a dinner party at the home of a friend. Her mother was visiting from Germany. She would’ve been in her late teens/early 20’s in the WWII era. Perhaps emboldened by the potent German schnapps she brought with her, I pressed her for her point of view.
2. I quite bluntly asked how the German people could’ve allowed such atrocities to occur. She said many people (most, even) were not aware of what was happening. I pointed out that anti-Jew propaganda was prevalent - people were being rounded up, put on trains.
3. She said that at first, people thought much of that to be exaggerated. And then, they believed they were simply being detained. I argued that people living near concentration camps could see the ash in the air and certainly smell burning bodies.
4. She reiterated that these stories were thought to be rumors - political divisiveness, exaggerations. She went on to explain the economic hardships the German people were enduring - the political divisions, the desire to blame, the frustration with establishment.
5. Ultimately, her answers came down to the concept that people see what they want to see. They believe what they want to believe. Fear and desperation are fertile grounds for a slippery slope of justification, rationalization, and willful ignorance. Take heed, America.
