Hitler's Legacy

This week we were asked if it was fair to remember Hitler only as a monster, when he did so much good for the recovery of Germany after World War I.  


It is totally "appropriate" to remember, and never ever forget the horrific murders Hitler and the Nazis committed. It's a kind of twisted irony that whatever "good" Hitler accomplished for Germany, actually helped him achieve the power he needed to carry out his diabolical plans. Perhaps, as we learned before, his original plan was to just deport all the Jews, but when that didn't work out, Hitler and the Nazis devised the "final solution" and herded helpless people into gas chambers.

From our readings about Hitler's early life in Austria, we know he was exposed to a culture of anti-Semitism and the hatred he absorbed became part of his driving ambition. Sure, Hitler deeply resented the Jews and saw them as very real enemies of Germany and as a threat to their way of life. But that can't possibly justify the cruel torture of children and women. There was great care to keep it as secret as possible, but the executioners and the soldiers involved did know what was going on. When reading about the "inefficiency" of the gas vans, we read that: "Endless screaming and pleading made for a terrible, terrible scene that even willful executioners found difficult to bear" (Hoerle, Lec. 12). But instead of stopping the horrific slaughter, they found a more efficient way to kill Jews more quickly and with less fuss! Cold.

Hitler's true legacy could never be any of the improvements to Germany he made during the Third Reich. His real legacy was that the descendants and relatives of German speaking people would have to live with "guilt by association" for generations.
That is, for those who lived. Millions of peaceful ethnic Germans living outside of Germany were also murdered during a backlash of hostilities toward them after the war, but nobody cares. That's the unfortunate legacy Hitler left for German descendants to deal with ... and to live down.