Jonathan Kamens 86 47Oct 26, 2024

Posting this tonight for no particular reason:

"Historians have a word for Germans who joined the Nazi party, not because they hated Jews, but out of a hope for restored patriotism, or a sense of economic anxiety, or a hope to preserve their religious values, or dislike of their opponents, or raw political opportunism, or convenience, or ignorance, or greed.

That word is 'Nazi.' Nobody cares about their motives anymore."
- @JuliusGoat

Show threadHorst Albermann 🇪🇺🇩🇪Oct 26, 2024

@jik @JuliusGoat In fact, there is a German word for these people: Mitläufer.

The English name will depend on who wins in the end. The Spanish, for example, are considered brutal colonizers. Strangely enough, the 'peaceful settlers' were much more successful in eliminating the indigenous population. Our historiography is like a pair of glasses with heavily tinted lenses.

Show threadtessarakt
@h_albermann @jik @JuliusGoat The English word (as used in the English version of Control Council Directive No. 38, dated 12 October 1946, Offical Gazette of the Control Council for Germany Number 11, 31 October 1946 (source: https://portal.dnb.de/bookviewer/view/1026627257#page/184/mode/1up ) is "Followers". However, they are a category separate from "Profiteers".
DNB Bookviewer

Oct 26, 2024 at 11:35amWeb