Nuremberg, Germany—At the end of World War Two, many high ranking German military and civilians were tried and hanged for Crimes Against Humanity.
In the tribunals many of these defendants raised the defense that they were only following orders. That defense was scoffed at and ridiculed since these men and women (yes, we hanged German women too) were involved in one of the greatest mass murders in history.
What most casual observers did not really know, was that every member of the military had to swear a personal oath of allegiance to Adolph Hitler rather than the German people or a Constitution. The penalty for speaking out, resisting or obstructing Hitler was death.
The mass gassing of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and mental patients was a closely guarded state secret. What few knew was that the members of the military and government that had no idea what some Nazis were doing far away in Eastern Poland. That is, beyond relocating and resettling people on account of their race or religion.
Even Anti-Semitic Germans were horrified to learn of the murders of men women and children. The Jews that were shipped off to the death camps were more knowledgeable of their fate than the average German citizen. The lack of resistance seems to indicate that the secrecy of the genocide program worked very well.
Thankfully most bigots are not murderers or the human race would have perished long ago. Nearly everyone finds some culture or behavior of other races less than desirable. Of course there will always be those few who believe in genocide.
In the mix of German society there were Jews that were actually in the ranks of the military and SS including some 150,000 soldiers, seven Generals and at least one Field Marshall. Some of these men were hiding among the troops and many others were simply in the military before the Nazis gained power. Nobody can imagine Jews taking an oath to Adolph Hitler but it happened.
That oath and the penalties for violating it coerced many to do things they’d ordinarily refuse.
What everyone seems to ignore was the Jewish Councils established to assist the Nazi’s in their genocide. It was these councils rather than the Nazi’s that selected who would face evacuation to the death camps first.
The other’s that too often escaped punishment for collaboration with the Nazis were the Kappos, (A Jewish Kappo is pictured above) who marshaled fellow Jews around with clubs. These unfortunate souls saw perhaps an extended life and better conditions trough facilitation of the monstrous crimes of the Nazis.
Never let your government operate in secret.
What the War Crimes Trials established was a duty to always resist tyranny no matter the risk or cost to one’s self. It is an interesting concept that we have overlooked. Of course it is only the winners of wars that label and hang war criminals. It is only the losers of the wars that are led to the gallows.