Terry Pratchett was wise
@wslack Karel Stojka: "It was not Hitler, Göring, Goebbels, Himmler, or whatever the others were called, who had me dragged away and beaten. No, it was the cobbler, the neighbor, the old man, the milkman, the postman, who were given a uniform, an armband and a cap on their head, and then they were the master race."
@sbi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Thought_They_Were_Free illustrates this well with interviews of people right after WWII
They Thought They Were Free - Wikipedia