Hitler.

[Person Man]

Don't think too hard about this.

[DC Al Fine]

Option 3

[Santander]

Let's not.

[parochial boy]

I may be mis-remembering, but from what I know of the Nazi vote, it was largely the petit-bourgeoisie and the lower middle classes voting nazi.

[Person Man]

I may be mis-remembering, but from what I know of the Nazi vote, it was largely the petit-bourgeoisie and the lower middle classes voting nazi.

Basically guys who relied who relied solely on street smarts for a modest to comfortable living.

[Cory]

Correct answer: no, of course not.

[bagelman]

Sadly, no.

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are you kidding me?! go back to 2005 with that crap please

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The accepted historical answer to this question is no.

[Kingpoleon]

Yes. That's why most sane people supported wiping the German people out.

[Person Man]

Yes. That's why most sane people supported wiping the German people out.

That means nothing but trouble coming up..

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Yes. That's why most sane people supported wiping the German people out.

...

Um...

What?

[Person Man]

Yes. That's why most sane people supported wiping the German people out.

...

Um...

What?

In retrospect, he is being fascetious or dumb.

[Santander]

Yes. That's why most sane people supported wiping the German people out.

...

Um...

What?

In retrospect, he is being fascetious or dumb.

They're not mutually exclusive.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I'm reminded of Herman Wouk's "War and Remembrance". Almost to the last moment old Aaron Jastrow believed the Nazis never meant to go that far and it all will be just a temporary phase of antisemitism.

The truth is very few could anticipate what was to come back in 1932/1933 and the Jews weren't the most important issue. I believe many thought something like "oh well, Mr. Hitler needs to appease his brownshirts, but it'll all calm down." It wasn't until 1935 Nuremberg laws were passed and even then some thought "well, it's not that drastic". The Holocaust only started during the war and (especially its scale) remained pretty much a secret with milions not realizing what had happened until after Allied victory.

So if German voters thought about the Jews at all, they couldn't anticipate this. Even when there was actual anti-semitism, people like Julius Streicher were considered fringe ("OK, Jews have too much power, but come on...")

[PresidentSamTilden]

I picked yes. Racism and anti-semitism were basically accepted in german, and many other societies, at the time. In addition, the evidence points to the majority of german citizens during the era being aware of concentration camps and the abuses going on. Perhaps they weren't all comfortable with it, but it didn't cause a massive rebellion either.

Not throwing shade on german people in particular. It's pretty terrifying how horrible people can be to each other for scant reason.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I picked yes. Racism and anti-semitism were basically accepted in german, and many other societies, at the time. In addition, the evidence points to the majority of german citizens during the era being aware of concentration camps and the abuses going on. Perhaps they weren't all comfortable with it, but it didn't cause a massive rebellion either.

Not throwing shade on german people in particular. It's pretty terrifying how horrible people can be to each other for scant reason.

I voted option 3 (the wording made it impossible not too ) but I have yet to hear a German voter from that era express a legitimate reason. Even if one was rightfully angry at the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles and the antagonistic approach of the Entente, any self respecting believer in individualism would have voted for one of the smaller right-wing alternatives. Granted, I'm by no means an expert on Weimar and I wouldn't be surprised if another poster could clarify whether or not the German People's Party was as anti-semitic and racist as the Nazis. But even if they were, and they very well might have (I'm too tired and lazy to Google it now since I just returned from a concert), I can't imagine Steseman implementing genocidal policies.

Hindsight is 20/20. The election of the Nazi Party cannot be handwaved with hindsight. It is a serious blight on the history of Germany. It should not be whitewashed or romanticized. It happened and the world is in every possible way worse because of it.

Frankly, I won't blame any German for not speaking out after Hitler came to power. If it put an individual in danger, then such a person should not be blamed for ensuring the safety of their own family. But Hitler didn't succeed to a throne. He was elected in a (mostly) free and fair election and he could've easily been stopped had the industrial and military elites not rallied around his cause. He was elected in a nation where Josephine Baker in the previous decade. I refuse to collectively blame the German people-IIRC, around 60% of the German people voted against the Nazi Party in the first 1933 election despite an unprecedented campaign of fear and intimidation. But the other 40% of the country-the plurality of Germans who did vote for the Nazi Party-is a clear sign of the rapid moral decline among a significant amount of the German people.

[Greedo punched first]

This is crazy.