No humor here: a sobering documentary on Hitler and his "final solution"

[King 5.45]

From time to time, here, as at other forums, people make Nazi/Hitler comparisons in threads concerning Obama. Elsewhere, they post links to silly dubbed Youtube versions of a clip from Der Untergang, in which Hitler apparently complains about everything and anything, including a banning from Xbox Live and Sarah Palin's resignation, except for what actually happened, which was the defeat of his armies at the hands of the advancing Allied forces.

Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves of what was really still happening in Europe only sixty-five years ago, and in the case of those who lack the education or age, we need to instruct. I'm not trying to make light of anyone's concerns with Obama, nor am I attempting to throw myself behind any effort to pardon him for his wrongdoings to date, or exculpate him for future misdeeds.

The first of the two video links, a documentary largely narrated by Alfred Hitchcock, isn't for the squeamish. It would be easier to imagine this was happening in the Third World in a Uganda or a Rwanda, but it wasn't:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...7fHkBA&q=nazi#

The second of the videos, nº 16 in The World at War series, tracks the disintegration of the German state from 1940 to beginning of 1945, and includes frank interviews with people who were there, including Traudl Junge, Hitler's secretary in The Bunker, and Richard Schulze-Kossens, credited in the video as the Commandant of the SS Academy:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...7fHkBA&q=nazi#

Let us not as a nation, nor as individuals, ever become so depraved that we see such circumstances as normal, and may we be strong enough to follow our consciences should we slide down the slope and wind up hanging on the brink of such disaster.

[FUNDAMENTALS]

If you have the time, get to the library and seek out William L. Shirer's,
The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich. I have read this a couple of times.
It will be one heck of a educational expierence.

[ChamberedRound]

If you have the time, get to the library and seek out William L. Shirer's,
The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich. I have read this a couple of times.
It will be one heck of a educational expierence.

I found this book such an interesting, compelling, and horrifying read, that I bought an old copy at a book swap years ago. One of these days I will be re-reading it. In any event, I would recommend it to all; learn the lessons of history, or be doomed to repeat them.

Thanks for the videos, King, I'll definitely be watching them when the opportunity presents itself.

[RoyJackson]

I'd seen quite a bit of the archival film (first link) a few years back. Horrifying, to say the least! And, the calm narration makes it even more terrible.

So, Obama isn't a Nazi...a socialist, yes.

[FUNDAMENTALS]

Since I graduated from high school in 1963, I remember that in studying
U.S. History, we saw the original films of the Nurenberg War Crimes. It
left a lasting impression on me. While a "Service Brat" I had the oppurtunity
to meet Death Camp Survivors while living in New York City. There was
a Jewish Temple not far from my house in the Bronx. I grew up knowing
people who had that "Numerical Tatoo" on their arms.

[Thisperson]

I have always wondered how these people sat by and let themselves be starved to death.

[JIDinPhilly]

I have always wondered how these people sat by and let themselves be starved to death.

Sat by? Really? What do you think they should have done? Charge the guards that were holding automatic weapons that wouldn't think twice about killing you? Or maybe make a run for it through the electrified fence? I'm sure you would have been a one man camp liberator.

I usually don't respond to asshattery on here, but there was something about your comment that pissed me off. I remember seeing some of my Grandma's friends with the numbers tattooed on their arms. Faded by time and age, but there none the less. Put yourself in their place for a moment. You are living your life with your family and the army rounds you and your family up, puts you in a cattle car for days without food or water. You get to your destination and they spit your family up. Mom and your sister to the right, Dad and your little brother to the left. Half of those people were not there 10 minutes before they were executed. What did you expect them to do? What would you have done different?

[Thisperson]

Sat by? Really? What do you think they should have done? Charge the guards that were holding automatic weapons and wouldn't think twice to kill you? Or maybe make a run for it through the electrified fence? I'm sure you would have been a one man camp liberator.

I usually don't respond to asshattery on here, but I remember seeing some of my Grandma's friends with the numbers tattooed on their arms. Faded by time and age, but there none the less. Put yourself in their place for a moment. You are living your life with your family and the army rounds you and your family up, puts you in a cattle car for days without food or water. You get to your destination and they spit your family up. Women and girls to the right, men and boys to the left. Half of those people were not there 10 minutes before they were executed. What did you expect them to do? What would you have done different?

Yes, sat by. If the inmates had the energy to work doing hard labor could they not have resisted?

[JIDinPhilly]

Yes, sat by. If the inmates had the energy to work doing hard labor could they not have resisted?

They didn't have the energy to work. If they fell while they were working, they were shot. You didn't answer my question. What would you have done in that situation?

[unloved]

Yes, sat by. If the inmates had the energy to work doing hard labor could they not have resisted?

You can't be serious. Are you really blaming Holocaust victims for the horrors they suffered?

Kinda hard to resist guards with rifles in elevated firing positions. Especially if you don't have a rifle of your own.