Totenkopfverbände Uniform Guide

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Christian Ankerstjerne
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Re: Totenkopfverbände Uniform Guide

#16

Post by Christian Ankerstjerne » 23 May 2016, 17:21

Totenkamp wrote:It's my interpretation that for the SS, honor meant being devote to their fuhrer, and their fatherland no matter the order. Its my belief that of course by the western powers' standards there was no honor in them doing those things that you have stated. But to them, honor had an entire different meaning, it meant that the extermination of civilians, and POWs that were enemies of the Reich was a necessary action that needed to be taken in order to safeguard the future and absolute control of their government. Something you have to remember is that Germans of that time were under the constant indoctrination that they were cheated and lost an entire war because of the Judes. Therefore there would have been no honor, in allowing them and mostly soviet POWs (which the Nazis already hated the soviets, for good reason.) to have a peaceful existance after what they 'did to the german peoples' future'. That's like the belt buckle, "My honor is my loyalty" to be put simple it was interpreted by them that loyalty to the Reich, was the most honorable thing you could have.
Your argument is self-defeating. If the members of the Waffen-SS were simply sociopathic drones, it does not make sense to talk about them having any honor. A concept is only meaningful if there is an alternative; a robot has no honor, as it can't make the decision not to perform the tasks it does. You are also forgetting that many of the members of the Waffen-SS did not grow up under the indoctrination of the Third Reich, and that there were those who grew up during the Third Reich who resisted the indoctrination. The anonymity of the masses and the orders of a superior does not take away the moral responsibility of the individual.

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Totenkamp
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Re: Totenkopfverbände Uniform Guide

#17

Post by Totenkamp » 23 May 2016, 18:12

The SS were still human, they had the ability to make the decision of rather or not they wished to perform those actions, it was just honorable to do those actions under the Reich. For an example as you know there was a battle where the Americans and Germans fought against the SS during the end of the war, to the standards of the Reich there was no honor in what those Germans did for the US against their fatherland, to the standards of the western powers what those germans did was an honorable cause to stand against the Waffen-SS. What I'm saying is honor is subjective, and every nation or past world power had their own code of honor different from the others.


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Gorque
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Re: Totenkopfverbände Uniform Guide

#18

Post by Gorque » 23 May 2016, 18:25

Totenkamp wrote:The SS were still human, they had the ability to make the decision of rather or not they wished to perform those actions, it was just honorable to do those actions under the Reich. For an example as you know there was a battle where the Americans and Germans fought against the SS during the end of the war, to the standards of the Reich there was no honor in what those Germans did for the US against their fatherland, to the standards of the western powers what those germans did was an honorable cause to stand against the Waffen-SS. What I'm saying is honor is subjective, and every nation or past world power had their own code of honor different from the others.
This will probably get deleted , however, you are one messed-up person.

Peter II
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Re: Totenkopfverbände Uniform Guide

#19

Post by Peter II » 24 Feb 2020, 10:12

Just last night I was watching a documentary where the journal of a German soldier reveals what it was like for him as a servant of the Führer. While I believe any one of us is capable of hardening ourselves to brutality, I think it does not come without a cost. I don't mean to suggest that the OP has hardened himself (as I too am fascinated by this bleak part of Germany's history), but I think he should be careful to believe in the relativity of human decency. Here's the part of the documentary that was so striking to me: https://youtu.be/n_tVtW6q9S0?t=543

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