In the case of Rabe, I think it has to do with actually SEEING the atrocities. It’s easy to be on board with ideology when it’s just an abstract. But here, he SAW the horrors of the Japanese Army first hand. I betcha he would have had the same reaction to the concentration camps if he saw them himself. Humanity has a tendnacy to limit their compassion and empathy. We often don’t care about an issue until it directly affects us or we witness it in person. So yeah, he may have been 100% FUCK YEAH NAZI PARTY but hadn’t seen directly, as he was in China, the actual horrors that occurred. He may have very well done for the Jews what he did for the Chinese if he had been stationed at Auschwitz
Likewise I think people over estimate their willingness to be part of the resistance. Too much motivation to survive or get ahead if you’re with the bad guys.
yes, and the various german armed forces would even recognize and to some degree respect that fact. it wasn't good for one's career as it was seen as a sign of lacking mental fortitude, but it was generally possible to request transfer out of mass execution units, and the men doing those jobs were considered to be carrying a particularly heavy burden. that was a big part of why the gas chamber system was created and largely run by inmates, to reduce the number of men needed (especially german men, as the death camps to a higher degree used baltic and ukrainian personnel), and the degree of brutality they perceived.
That's a really good point @colleens1107 when ideology meets the reality, he could've thought Chinese women were beautiful, was surprised in himself how much he enjoyed the different pace of life in China when they weren't brutalized. From a stressful, corrupt, squeezed and angry homeland and life, maybe he visited China at some point previously for negotiations and trade deals for the Party, and was taken by the Chinese way of life before the invasion. It can happen to anyone visiting another country, very different than what they're used it, hitting them like culture shock but in a positive way. I like reading stories of people who only intended to visit a country, but talk of instantly falling for its radically different way of life.
At least based on his descriptions of what he liked about the party, it sounds like he was on board with the less egregious things the Nazis were about. The Treaty of Versailles was making it hard for businesses to prosper and in nationalism is a natural response to an outside force imposing such a burden upon a nation. Obviously I am not trying to defend the Nazis and what they did later by any of this, just pointing out that the more awful acts of the party were committed while Rabe was in China. Additionally, he was a nationalist who believed in the Nazi ideal of "Germany for the Germans." To me, it is not so much of a logical leap to believe he felt the same about "China for the Chinese" and saw the brutal actions of the Japanese as almost analogous to what he felt Germany endured during and after the Great War. I could also be completely off base here though since I only know snippets of his story.
@@lowman5893 john rabe had lived in china for 30 years before the invasion. after that much time, most people consider a country (in his case perhaps especially because he lived in several different chinese cities) to be at least a secondary home, if not their new main home country. even today, and more so back then, of course it would be seen as a strange proposition that a european could become chinese, but certainly living in a foreign country for 30 years as a guest would also suffice for almost anybody to develop an understanding of the fact that the locals also are fully human people - unless the person in question is part of a segregated supremacist colonizer class, which would have only been the case to a moderate degree since china was semi-colonized by various european nations since in 1900 the boxer rebellion was crushed by an alliance of the seven most powerful european countries plus the USA, but germany's leverage was relatively limited (they owned qingdao/tsingtao, that's why that's the name of china's biggest beer brand now).
According to his family, Rabe didn't think the anti-Semitism was that big a part of the Nazi party and was more focused on the socialism aspect. Given that he had been living in China for over a decade, it's not that crazy of an idea
What would living in China have to do with socialism at that time? China didn't become communist or adopt any socialist ideas until 4 years after WW2 ended, in 1949. Besides the nazi party was formed as a counter to communist parties, with communist and socialist groups being their main ideological rivals. Resulting in actual brawls in the streets leading up to Hitlers rise of power. The addition if socialism in the name was just there to win over working class people in elections. Like how North Korea's full name is the "Democratic peoples republic of Korea" yet North Korea isn't a democracy. The Nazi party under Hitler was fashioned after Italian fascism, which is also ideologically opposed to communism and is on the opposite side of the political spectrum. So i'm a bit skeptical of your point as it requires him to have zero knowledge of German politics of the time, and a time machine to see socialism in China.
@@venera13 he was actually living in china with his german wife for 30 years before the invasion, uninterrupted except for a few months in 1919 when china briefly expelled europeans. so he was in china throughout the whole rise of the n°zi party, and throughout WW1, so he barely even experienced the particular foundation of national hatred on which the n°°i party grew. he only joined the party from china in 1934 after hi°°er was made a dictator (which by the party's standards made him a phony member, they were all about seniority), and various statements of his make it obvious that he bought into a highly fictionalized propaganda version of the ideology. he said that he set up the safe zone in part because his understanding of the ideology meant that he should protect his chinese employees. according to rabe's diary, his explanation to a japanese major oka who tried to make him leave was: "I have been living here in China for over 30 years, my kids and grandchildren were born here, and I am happy and successful here. I have always been treated well by the Chinese people, even during the war. If I had spent 30 years in your country and were treated just as well by your people, you can be assured that, in a time of emergency, such as the situation China faces now, I would not leave the side of your people." though I suppose that has a high chance of being a highly paraphrased retelling of events. in reality, I doubt that what he said mattered to the japanese army, I think what mattered was that he and the other safe zone contributors showed strong determination to stay, and did not give in to forceful intimidation attempts that would certainly have been made. and rabe in particular was at that time recognized by the japanese as one of the highest status n°°°s in china, and somehow no officer dared to order the detention and removal of rabe and the other foreign human shields, so they just kept putting off the decision to dissolve the safe zone until eventually the army decided to start honouring the spirit of the emperor's original explicit orders before taking the city to not conduct a ma°°acre in nanjing. the chinese communist party was founded in 1921, you goober. it did not spawn into existence as the government of non-taiwanese china in 1949. but rabe didn't seem to have anything to do with them, he was in very good standing with the imperial state, the nationalist one, and whatever warlords came between. the japanese invasion occurred mostly against nationalist-held territories, including nanjing, the nationalist capital.
@@thomaswillard6267 first off, the N°°is vary much had a socialist aspect, at least at the beginning (thus their name) which many of the SA and Röhm bought into and was one of the reasons for The Night of the Long Knives (granted, it certainly wasn't the only one). They were always against the communists and the social democrats, though. The N°°zis brand of socialism "was a form of state socialism that rejected the "idea of boundless freedom" and promoted an economy that would serve the whole of Germany under the leadership of the state." (from Wikipedia's page on fascism). What's more, it has nothing to do with socialism in China. He supported the socialist ideas of helping the average citizens in Germany, No idea what his feelings about it were world wide or in China specifically, not sure how that'd be relevant, either. It's not like an inherent part of socialism is ONLY helping socialist. The IDEA behind much of socialism is to help everyone, especially the most in need. Granted, the IDEA behind much of the New Testament is love for your fellow humans. Unfortunately, in both cases it often hasn't worked out that way...
@venera13 nice cold war propaganda buddy. In reality, national socialism is a third position between liberalism and international socialism, ie, Marxism. As far as fundamental values go, it's a collectivist ideology and thus has FAR more in common with Marxism than liberalism.
Side projects you should do a part 2 of this as there were a few more heroic Nazis. Here is a list of some more of them. Helmut Kleincke. George Ferdinand Duckwitz. Wilhelm Hosenfield. Max Litkte. Hans Von Donyhal. Hans Oster. Kurt Gerstein. Hans Munch.
@@EvanMoon You are wrong, may I remind you that the "victors" write the history books so all your impressions of them are from their enemies. Do you even know what they were fighting for? What they stood for? The struggles they went through? What they said about THEIR enemies? The big "H" never happened either btw
Sometimes it might be better to ask a german about names and stuff - you were refering to a newspaper as "Der Panzerfaust" - which in itself makes no sense, because its "Die Panzerfaust". But maybe its just a bad accent 🤣 So please ask a german about pronunciation 🤣 Also you show a picture from "Der Panzerbär" (which means "The Tank Bear"), which was published at the end of war.
Rabe is easily explainable. He was a human... He was also a N4zi party high up that believed in the political cause... But not in torture and extermination in its name.
I used to clean for a 92 yr old German lady who had lived through the nazi regime from a young girl. One day an article on the nazi party came on tv and she suddenly said - "we did what we had to do to survive". She was neither sad or happy and neither did she explain, she just stating a fact. For many people it was that simple and we all like to think we'd be different but who knows when it's the survival of you and your family. Many (if not most) of these people were indoctrinated 24/7 and until they had to face what was happening wouldn't have questioned a thing.
There was a quote from one man saying that in the beginning it was Germany that felt like a camp. You put your head down to survive or else you and your family would be killed. We can look at this as a type of individual utilitarianism.
This is such an important point on almost any atrocity in history easy to say from behind the safety of a screen what to do Take the slave trade imagine your a kid 18-19 you pass out drunk one night next thing your on a ship sailing to other side of the world amongst strangers with no possibility of escape other than death then one day captain sais load these slaves onto the ship boi You have no real choice refuse and end up dead or enslaved yourself Try to free the slaves probably big black dudes that don’t speak your language obvs threat of death if your caught and no guarantee these fellas are gonna thank you for the risk All this bearing in mind your likely poorly educated unable to read no screens no phone calls home isolated I’m betting 90% do as there told I think these days humans especially in the west lack understanding of survival It’s one thing to go face nature for a weekend with all the safety nets out of choice It’s entirely different when you have absolutely no choice in the mater and no safety nets atall Suddenly morales that are oh so easy to espouge become awfully hard to stick to
You got that right. Things aren't all black and white as this tells. Though sadly this video got restricted but considering it's a topic on Nazis and the climate now along with Cancel Culture running rampant it's probably why.
My dad’s 2nd cousin was in a tank that blew up. He was the only survivor. When he finally woke up he pried open his eyes that had been melted shut. Of course his vision of quite blurry but he saw a German soldier walk towards him. He thought he would be killed. The soldier stood over him and he realized the guy was a German medic and he saved his life.
that sounds pretty highly unlikely to have happened, except maybe in north africa. and you don't survive being inside a tank blowing up, and then wake up outside of it.
@@paulweeldreyer7457 they don't get hit inside of the tank and wake up outside of it. if they wake up, they're still inside the tank. if they're outside, they don't wake up.
@@Ass_of_Amalek You assume no one helped him. He was not conscious so it is possible other soldiers helped him out but couldn't stay with him. Also, he thinks he is the only survivor but that isn't necessarily true. Soldiers can go AWOL especially after trauma.
I think it was a complicated time. A lot of people joined the Nazi party because they had to for work, or from peer pressure, or, if they were conquered, like Latvians or sometimes even Jewish people, they could keep their families alive and well. We had a family friend who had been in the SS for that reason. For some reason, he was trusted with purging people that Hitler felt were a threat. Like a hit squad. It was probably because he wasn't German, he was Latvian. Of course, he wasn't into any of this, and even agreed with the people he was supposed to kill, so he just didn't. No one knew his assignments except Hitler, and he had freedom to go where ever he wanted and take what he wanted, so he would just walk up to their door, kidnap the whole family, as per normal SS behavior, and drive them to Switzerland, or any other neutral country. Problem solved. They were gone, Hitler believed him, and they were safe, all in one go. He lasted until all the failed assassination attempts on Hitler, and then he packed his family up and drove to a neutral country, the same as he did for everyone else. At least he made it sound easy, but that's how he talked about everything.
WWII veterans were a special breed. The have witness terrible atrocities, yet, stay silence for most of their lives. If asked, they treated like a Sunday morning drive - no big deal. In today's term, they are likely suffered PTSD and never resolved their mental anguish. They deserved to be respected.
@rontheretiredone Not confused about how ugly the SS were, just saying that the times were so off, and the leadership was so crazy, that people resorted to all sorts to survive.
my grandfather was a child in germany during ww2 and was kicked out of his house by his mother because he wouldnt join the hitler youth and had to spend the war on the streets. his father also refused to join the s.s. and was sent to a death camp where he eventually died.
To explain Rabe's actions, He became a human - witnessing daughters, sons, mothers, and fathers under vicious, unrelenting attacks of immorality that no doubt hit harder than imaginable. Akin to the first that read his brother's papers, Rabe became aware.
Most people think they’re good but you don’t know what you’d do in that position. We’d like to say we’d never do something like that but when the other option is worse or you’re somehow convinced that you’re good side. In war both sides think they’re right.
This is what upsets me about the lessons learned from the Germans. There's no realisation that it's people who were fundamentally just like any of us who were able to be convinced to go along with all THAT. The lessons taken are really specific with no attempt to remove gender, race or even ideological labels to look at behaviour and motivations. Which is why we get to the stage where promoting free speech is apparently a thing Nazis did, because the listener doesn't like the topic. Or that certain people can't be bad because they're the wrong race. Or people who were opposed to the Nazis must be good. Whatever horrors they committed. Personally, give me the right arguments, the right experiences and the belief that it's for the greater good, and I've got no doubt I could commit atrocities. And as far as those opposed to Nazis go, well.... Stalin was better than Hitler, but not by enough. Not by nearly enough. The worst thing Hitler did was create a world in which Stalinism was taken seriously.
My grandfather's sister worked in Germany, and came to Poland for a summer holiday when the war started. She was just over twenty. When the Germans started running people around the town square, she came over to one and asked him in german "Why are they doing this". That Garman shot her in the forhead that day and ended her life. Germans brought death.
They didn't see themselves as evil. They believed they were ridding the world of the evil (the Jews). Kinda like how a lot of people today would've liked to get rid of Nazis.
With Rabe, I suspect that it might have to do with simply not being cruel. You don't have to see someone as human to treat them decently. Like how we can treat our food stock well and kill them humanely when burger time comes. I wonder how he would have reacted to witnessing the death camps.
the final solution in inside press was presented like reservations for americans in yankeestan deutschland just put jews in their separate living places where they self govern and live separately from burgers for decades humanity had to convince germans that concentration camps existed and what was happening there
Um, the shown paper @01m16s is called "Der Panzerbär" which translates to "the panzer bear" or "the tank bear". Although: "Panzerfaust" has more bang to the sound for sure.
Regarding the "righteous among nations," the Israeli organization responsible for the Holocaust museum that makes that designation has the authority to grant citizenship to recipients of the honor. It isn't just about that time period either; anyone around the world today has the potential to get Israeli citizenship (including full benefits of socialized medicine and pension) if they knowingly risked their life to save the life of a Jew. Obviously, the determination is made by the organization and not a preferred mechanism for getting citizenship. :)
“Consider a resident of Berlin, born in 1900 and living to the ripe age of one hundred. She spent her childhood in the Hohenzollern Empire of William II; her adult years in the Weimar Republic, the Nazi Third Reich and Communist East Germany; and she died a citizen of a democratic and reunified Germany. She had managed to be a part of five very different sociopolitical systems, though her DNA remained exactly the same.” ― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
It's not the historians who should be explaining the Nanjing nazi's actions, psychologists would be better equipped to try and solve the puzzle. Politics: they'll never stop intervening people to answer for their doings. America is one of the great examples, never repercussions.
My father was a POW in Siberia and it was only by the "accidental" dropping of loaves of bread by the SS guards (to their own peril even after a guard was shot) that saved his life ... there are people (in and out of war on both sides) that are willing to help and disregard immoral rules.
so if help in the genocide of a group of people but while I'm imprisoning you I give you a loaf of bread that makes me "nice"? I dont think thats how it works. on another note i do enjoy hearing the story! cheers!
@runaway-slav Yes, we have been lied to. The history books _downplay_ it. It's only recently that people have started admitting that the Wehrmacht wasn't just following orders and that Erwin Rommel wasn't a patriotic but apolitical genius who was just unlucky enough to be born on the wrong side.
@@runaway_slav This should also include my grandparents I guess.. Who had brothers and sisters killed by the Nazis just because they could not produce enough food for them to steal.. History is not something written only in the books. But also in the tales of those who survived from it. So, better think twice before you pollute with your comments. PS: Don't confuse "German people" with "active Nazis"
I have a plausible explanation for John Rabe's apparent hypocrisy. It could be analogous to zealous Christians who fervently subscribe to the principle of Biblical inerrancy, but would be aghast at the idea of ever having to enforce some of its more brutal directives such as stoning drunkards to death. Another analogy would be a guy who talks tough and sincerely believes he would be quick to fight anyone who disrespected him, but discovers when he is insulted by a much bigger man that he isn't really that brave after all. I think Rabe was drawn by groupthink into extremism like many of his day, but when it came to walking the walk, he was naturally an empathetic person who couldn't allow himself to participate, or even be complicit in atrocities. I suspect most of us live with hypocrisies that we are blind to until someone points them out to us.
I'd never properly thought about it but I have Polish immigrants in both sides of my family and Lithuanian on one side, I don't remember exactly what years we learned through 23andMe but they all immigrated after 1930 but before 1949. What I do remember is that my family basically ran from the Nazis, I almost guarantee it. It feels horrible just knowing that my family had to go through it. "What is better - to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" -Paarthurnax, Skyrim
My family they told me story that during WW2 German soldiers saved their lives from execution... also there were young german lads (whose they befriend) in their village who didn't return from battles.. it was soviet army which they had bad memories with...
I had an uncle in the Czechoslovak army, late 1940s. He was a "Sudeten" who thought he was Catholic but the Nazis did his familytree and found him Jewish. Did a stint in one of those eastern camps. On liberation he joined the Reds. After his service, which he didn't talk about, but I assume involved expelling a lot of his former Sudeten neighbours "back" to Germany, around the time the Soviets were installing their own tyranny he'd figured he'd had enough of Europe - right, left, centre, 'third position' - and moved to Israel. Bloodlands, man.
Hmm. I'm not the best at German, but, yeah, there's no umlaut over the "a", and in German, an e sounds like a short "i". Sooo, you're probably supposed to say it like, Robbie.
I agree on Nazis having the "tittle" for the undisputed villains of history, even if the real champions in that competition are by far the Soviet Union and Mao's Communist China on the weight of raw numbers. It's ironic how Nazism is universally rejected, while communism and all its derivatives are in good shape around the globe.
Albert Battel may have been a German nationalist but he actually wasn’t anti semtic. That is because he had a Jewish brother in law named Eduard Heims who had children. Obviously Albert and his sister weren’t Jewish so I’d like to think that Alberts sister who wasn’t Jewish married Albert Heims and had their children. Albert helped Eduard and his family immigrate to Britain and he even accompanied them there to make sure that they arrived there safely. Eduard never denied that Albert saved his life as in a affidavit he disposed that Albert had saved his family’s lives all while risking his own life by doing so. Also Albert Battel did shake hands with Jewish leaders of the ghetto but it was actually only one Ghetto Leader who Albert shook hands with. The ghetto leaders name was Dr Dulig who Albert actually knew before ww2 as they had both attended the same law school together. Sadly Albert was unable to save his friend as Dr Dulig along with the other Jewish people in the Prezmysl ghetto were later sent to the Belzec killing center where Dr Dulig was then killed along with all of the other Jewish residents of Prezmysl who were sent to Belzec.
I dont believe there is a conflict between wanting to stop an atrocity and still being extreme nationalist. You can want a 'pure' state for your own whilst being a guest somewhere else. Thus seeing the loss and destruction of human lives far from your defined borders means you can act. Aka different geopolitics, so a different response. Likely Rabe never would have treated Jews this way.
Rabe was pretty far removed from what the Nazis were doing in Europe, so it is easier to believe he had an easier time being in denial. Remember, following the Weimar Republic, it was very easy for Germans to jump on anything that promised a stronger Germany. You needed to be a good, smart, and aware person to avoid getting caught up in this. Rabe was only two of those things.
He was away from Europe, he did not see first hand the brutality the Nazis were inflicting. In China he faced it full on, that’s the difference. Out of site, out of mind.
It's interesting that almost all of these individuals receive no recognition until they are dead, I suppose it avoids any inconvenient truth's coming to light ....... maybe ?
this just goes to show and reinforce for me that people contain multitudes, all of us. even the ones that we normally (and sometimes rightfully) think of as horrible. Rabe is absolutely the most interesting of all of these, in my opinion. i think i'm inclined to agree with some of the other commenters saying that seeing the indescribable horrors of war firsthand helped him to understand the real impact of his ideology on the very real people he'd come to know and probably love. he very likely became taken with the Chinese people and culture, and sought to defend them because he knew what was happening was wrong. had he been stationed at a nazi death camp, he may very well have done the same for jewish people and queer folks and others being persecuted in the camps.
Oh for crying out loud, it's simple. Rabe LIED! He said the pius things in public, and performed his actions from stealth. He seemed so devout that no one ever really suspected him.
People say all the time, "put them on mute and look at their actions". I think you could be right unless he was aware of the holocaust and was specifically antisemitic.
Certainly not impossible, but he would have lied in his personal journals, too (at least they ones we have). Given how far away he was, I'm not sure how much it would have bought him, either
My father ( American born German) accountant volunteered for USA Army on day after Peril Harbor. He served in US Army Intelligence; he decoded Nazi Code. I grew up knowing many things he inadvertently devolved. He was under oath of secrecy for 30 years post war. The Nazi Party --Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei --was essentially a socialist workers party that tolerated private ownership of Means of Production. However, NAZI degraded into extermination (genocide) from original goal of deportation outside Nazi domination. My father was a very mild mannered devoted Christian. His mother had been a Jewish convert to Christianity. Although he never owned a gun himself, he mused that : " Very Jewish man & woman should know how to use & own a rifle. "
@@Blinkerd00d Thank you for your kind words, Blinker. He was very devotedly Christian, quiet & never a braggart--Amazing to me, how many loud, obnoxious folks have never done anything except boast of themselves.
For Rabe I have a theory I unfortunately cannot really back up with any evidence. However, considering his position and how Japan and Germany were linked, he may have tried to "save" Germany's image. Because while yes, Germany of course did some horrible things the world was aware of, this event and crime by the Japanese was on a different level considering the view of women and children at that time. And by establishing the safe zone and trying to make an effort to drawing attention to this, he may have tried to establish that Germany was, in fact, not okay with this type of crime. A different aspect I can also see contributing to this is the fact that he saw what was happening first hand. He didn't read about it, he saw it. I can't back this up, but in my opinion it's circumstantial evidence worth being considered.
This is how you solve The Rabe Paradox, in my opinion: it's one thing to hear firey speeches, go to mass rallies, and support and join a party calling for war and conquest, and another thing entirely to see what war and conquest actually means in real life. And he realised that meant what Japanese soldiers did in Nanjing in 1937.
People like this apparently exist everywhere. I read an article of a Japanese Embassy member, I don't recall if he was the ambassador, but he was instrumental in enabling hundreds if not thousands of Jews to escape Nazi Germany by issuing travel visas to Japan where they could then go on to other countries. This upset the Nazis and they demanded that Japan recall the man. As his train was pulling out of the station he was stamping visas and handing them back.
I teach Social Studies and like to point out that while the Nazi regime are clearly the "bad guys", most were just humans who believed that they were serving their country and doing what they had to. Most didn't know about genocides and war crimes let alone having committed them. Humans are inherently good.
IMO, it stands to reason that a country dominated by an authoritarian regime would include some good guys who didn't want to be there. It doesn't take a great leap of imagination to consider the danger you would be putting yourself or your family in if you were to openly dissent the Nazis- and even if you were willing to risk your life to fight them, you might assume that your actions will be of little use in the grand scheme of things.
It's not that difficult to reconcile Rabe's Nazi views and his humanitarian zeal. One can love and want what's best for their own race and at the same time be against atrocities being committed against another race. It's likely that he agreed with the core of the ideology of National Socialism but was not privy to or was downright against the idea of "undesirables" and the way they were treated.
![[UA] Eternal Fire проти NAVI | EPL Season 20 Malta](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/chvlsDygrZM/mqdefault.jpg)
In the case of Rabe, I think it has to do with actually SEEING the atrocities. It’s easy to be on board with ideology when it’s just an abstract. But here, he SAW the horrors of the Japanese Army first hand. I betcha he would have had the same reaction to the concentration camps if he saw them himself. Humanity has a tendnacy to limit their compassion and empathy. We often don’t care about an issue until it directly affects us or we witness it in person. So yeah, he may have been 100% FUCK YEAH NAZI PARTY but hadn’t seen directly, as he was in China, the actual horrors that occurred. He may have very well done for the Jews what he did for the Chinese if he had been stationed at Auschwitz
Likewise I think people over estimate their willingness to be part of the resistance. Too much motivation to survive or get ahead if you’re with the bad guys.
yes, and the various german armed forces would even recognize and to some degree respect that fact. it wasn't good for one's career as it was seen as a sign of lacking mental fortitude, but it was generally possible to request transfer out of mass execution units, and the men doing those jobs were considered to be carrying a particularly heavy burden. that was a big part of why the gas chamber system was created and largely run by inmates, to reduce the number of men needed (especially german men, as the death camps to a higher degree used baltic and ukrainian personnel), and the degree of brutality they perceived.
That's a really good point @colleens1107 when ideology meets the reality, he could've thought Chinese women were beautiful, was surprised in himself how much he enjoyed the different pace of life in China when they weren't brutalized. From a stressful, corrupt, squeezed and angry homeland and life, maybe he visited China at some point previously for negotiations and trade deals for the Party, and was taken by the Chinese way of life before the invasion.
It can happen to anyone visiting another country, very different than what they're used it, hitting them like culture shock but in a positive way. I like reading stories of people who only intended to visit a country, but talk of instantly falling for its radically different way of life.
At least based on his descriptions of what he liked about the party, it sounds like he was on board with the less egregious things the Nazis were about. The Treaty of Versailles was making it hard for businesses to prosper and in nationalism is a natural response to an outside force imposing such a burden upon a nation. Obviously I am not trying to defend the Nazis and what they did later by any of this, just pointing out that the more awful acts of the party were committed while Rabe was in China. Additionally, he was a nationalist who believed in the Nazi ideal of "Germany for the Germans." To me, it is not so much of a logical leap to believe he felt the same about "China for the Chinese" and saw the brutal actions of the Japanese as almost analogous to what he felt Germany endured during and after the Great War. I could also be completely off base here though since I only know snippets of his story.
@@lowman5893 john rabe had lived in china for 30 years before the invasion. after that much time, most people consider a country (in his case perhaps especially because he lived in several different chinese cities) to be at least a secondary home, if not their new main home country. even today, and more so back then, of course it would be seen as a strange proposition that a european could become chinese, but certainly living in a foreign country for 30 years as a guest would also suffice for almost anybody to develop an understanding of the fact that the locals also are fully human people - unless the person in question is part of a segregated supremacist colonizer class, which would have only been the case to a moderate degree since china was semi-colonized by various european nations since in 1900 the boxer rebellion was crushed by an alliance of the seven most powerful european countries plus the USA, but germany's leverage was relatively limited (they owned qingdao/tsingtao, that's why that's the name of china's biggest beer brand now).
According to his family, Rabe didn't think the anti-Semitism was that big a part of the Nazi party and was more focused on the socialism aspect. Given that he had been living in China for over a decade, it's not that crazy of an idea
Critical support to Comrade Rabe's International Socialism
What would living in China have to do with socialism at that time? China didn't become communist or adopt any socialist ideas until 4 years after WW2 ended, in 1949.
Besides the nazi party was formed as a counter to communist parties, with communist and socialist groups being their main ideological rivals. Resulting in actual brawls in the streets leading up to Hitlers rise of power. The addition if socialism in the name was just there to win over working class people in elections. Like how North Korea's full name is the "Democratic peoples republic of Korea" yet North Korea isn't a democracy. The Nazi party under Hitler was fashioned after Italian fascism, which is also ideologically opposed to communism and is on the opposite side of the political spectrum.
So i'm a bit skeptical of your point as it requires him to have zero knowledge of German politics of the time, and a time machine to see socialism in China.
@@venera13 he was actually living in china with his german wife for 30 years before the invasion, uninterrupted except for a few months in 1919 when china briefly expelled europeans. so he was in china throughout the whole rise of the n°zi party, and throughout WW1, so he barely even experienced the particular foundation of national hatred on which the n°°i party grew. he only joined the party from china in 1934 after hi°°er was made a dictator (which by the party's standards made him a phony member, they were all about seniority), and various statements of his make it obvious that he bought into a highly fictionalized propaganda version of the ideology. he said that he set up the safe zone in part because his understanding of the ideology meant that he should protect his chinese employees.
according to rabe's diary, his explanation to a japanese major oka who tried to make him leave was:
"I have been living here in China for over 30 years, my kids and grandchildren were born here, and I am happy and successful here. I have always been treated well by the Chinese people, even during the war. If I had spent 30 years in your country and were treated just as well by your people, you can be assured that, in a time of emergency, such as the situation China faces now, I would not leave the side of your people."
though I suppose that has a high chance of being a highly paraphrased retelling of events. in reality, I doubt that what he said mattered to the japanese army, I think what mattered was that he and the other safe zone contributors showed strong determination to stay, and did not give in to forceful intimidation attempts that would certainly have been made. and rabe in particular was at that time recognized by the japanese as one of the highest status n°°°s in china, and somehow no officer dared to order the detention and removal of rabe and the other foreign human shields, so they just kept putting off the decision to dissolve the safe zone until eventually the army decided to start honouring the spirit of the emperor's original explicit orders before taking the city to not conduct a ma°°acre in nanjing.
the chinese communist party was founded in 1921, you goober. it did not spawn into existence as the government of non-taiwanese china in 1949. but rabe didn't seem to have anything to do with them, he was in very good standing with the imperial state, the nationalist one, and whatever warlords came between. the japanese invasion occurred mostly against nationalist-held territories, including nanjing, the nationalist capital.
@@thomaswillard6267 first off, the N°°is vary much had a socialist aspect, at least at the beginning (thus their name) which many of the SA and Röhm bought into and was one of the reasons for The Night of the Long Knives (granted, it certainly wasn't the only one). They were always against the communists and the social democrats, though. The N°°zis brand of socialism "was a form of state socialism that rejected the "idea of boundless freedom" and promoted an economy that would serve the whole of Germany under the leadership of the state." (from Wikipedia's page on fascism).
What's more, it has nothing to do with socialism in China. He supported the socialist ideas of helping the average citizens in Germany, No idea what his feelings about it were world wide or in China specifically, not sure how that'd be relevant, either. It's not like an inherent part of socialism is ONLY helping socialist. The IDEA behind much of socialism is to help everyone, especially the most in need. Granted, the IDEA behind much of the New Testament is love for your fellow humans.
Unfortunately, in both cases it often hasn't worked out that way...
@venera13 nice cold war propaganda buddy. In reality, national socialism is a third position between liberalism and international socialism, ie, Marxism. As far as fundamental values go, it's a collectivist ideology and thus has FAR more in common with Marxism than liberalism.
Side projects you should do a part 2 of this as there were a few more heroic Nazis. Here is a list of some more of them.
Helmut Kleincke.
George Ferdinand Duckwitz.
Wilhelm Hosenfield.
Max Litkte.
Hans Von Donyhal.
Hans Oster.
Kurt Gerstein.
Hans Munch.
Nothing bad about noting the small good amongst the humongous bad.
I couldn't stop thinking of Mitchell & Webb
"Are we the baddies?"
There's a film "John Rabe" about his life and his actions in Nanjing. Is really well done and very interesting to watch.
Wilm Hosenfield is noteworthy too
I honestly believe that a small portion were good in some senses with morales
Good and NAZI do not go together. This video is about people who figured out that being a Nazi is no good
morality isn't universal, so yes, obviously.
@@EvanMoon You are wrong, may I remind you that the "victors" write the history books so all your impressions of them are from their enemies. Do you even know what they were fighting for? What they stood for? The struggles they went through? What they said about THEIR enemies? The big "H" never happened either btw
No Schindler?
I think he might have skipped Schindler due the well known movie, but ya.
Sometimes it might be better to ask a german about names and stuff - you were refering to a newspaper as "Der Panzerfaust" - which in itself makes no sense, because its "Die Panzerfaust". But maybe its just a bad accent 🤣 So please ask a german about pronunciation 🤣 Also you show a picture from "Der Panzerbär" (which means "The Tank Bear"), which was published at the end of war.
Rabe was fine with Asians, he just didn't like Jews? IDK its weird man.
Der Panzerbär - the tankbear
Der Panzerfaust - the antitank-rocketlauncher
There is a difference 🙃
Rabe is easily explainable. He was a human... He was also a N4zi party high up that believed in the political cause... But not in torture and extermination in its name.
13:15 I believe the answer to the paradox of Rabe is simple: Everyone has standards and those atrocities he witnessed crossed his.
I used to clean for a 92 yr old German lady who had lived through the nazi regime from a young girl. One day an article on the nazi party came on tv and she suddenly said - "we did what we had to do to survive". She was neither sad or happy and neither did she explain, she just stating a fact. For many people it was that simple and we all like to think we'd be different but who knows when it's the survival of you and your family. Many (if not most) of these people were indoctrinated 24/7 and until they had to face what was happening wouldn't have questioned a thing.
There was a quote from one man saying that in the beginning it was Germany that felt like a camp. You put your head down to survive or else you and your family would be killed. We can look at this as a type of individual utilitarianism.
This is such an important point on almost any atrocity in history easy to say from behind the safety of a screen what to do
Take the slave trade imagine your a kid 18-19 you pass out drunk one night next thing your on a ship sailing to other side of the world amongst strangers with no possibility of escape other than death then one day captain sais load these slaves onto the ship boi
You have no real choice refuse and end up dead or enslaved yourself
Try to free the slaves probably big black dudes that don’t speak your language obvs threat of death if your caught and no guarantee these fellas are gonna thank you for the risk
All this bearing in mind your likely poorly educated unable to read no screens no phone calls home isolated
I’m betting 90% do as there told
I think these days humans especially in the west lack understanding of survival
It’s one thing to go face nature for a weekend with all the safety nets out of choice
It’s entirely different when you have absolutely no choice in the mater and no safety nets atall
Suddenly morales that are oh so easy to espouge become awfully hard to stick to
Wow, it’s almost like humanity is complex.
You got that right. Things aren't all black and white as this tells. Though sadly this video got restricted but considering it's a topic on Nazis and the climate now along with Cancel Culture running rampant it's probably why.
Not really it's very simple
@@Blanktester685 That really can put questions to my mind.
This says a lot about you @@Blanktester685
My dad’s 2nd cousin was in a tank that blew up. He was the only survivor. When he finally woke up he pried open his eyes that had been melted shut. Of course his vision of quite blurry but he saw a German soldier walk towards him. He thought he would be killed. The soldier stood over him and he realized the guy was a German medic and he saved his life.
We 🇩🇪not all evil😊
that sounds pretty highly unlikely to have happened, except maybe in north africa. and you don't survive being inside a tank blowing up, and then wake up outside of it.
@@Ass_of_Amalekyou think guys don't survive tanks being hit?
@@paulweeldreyer7457 they don't get hit inside of the tank and wake up outside of it. if they wake up, they're still inside the tank. if they're outside, they don't wake up.
@@Ass_of_Amalek You assume no one helped him. He was not conscious so it is possible other soldiers helped him out but couldn't stay with him. Also, he thinks he is the only survivor but that isn't necessarily true. Soldiers can go AWOL especially after trauma.
I think it was a complicated time. A lot of people joined the Nazi party because they had to for work, or from peer pressure, or, if they were conquered, like Latvians or sometimes even Jewish people, they could keep their families alive and well. We had a family friend who had been in the SS for that reason. For some reason, he was trusted with purging people that Hitler felt were a threat. Like a hit squad. It was probably because he wasn't German, he was Latvian. Of course, he wasn't into any of this, and even agreed with the people he was supposed to kill, so he just didn't. No one knew his assignments except Hitler, and he had freedom to go where ever he wanted and take what he wanted, so he would just walk up to their door, kidnap the whole family, as per normal SS behavior, and drive them to Switzerland, or any other neutral country. Problem solved. They were gone, Hitler believed him, and they were safe, all in one go. He lasted until all the failed assassination attempts on Hitler, and then he packed his family up and drove to a neutral country, the same as he did for everyone else. At least he made it sound easy, but that's how he talked about everything.
Latvian with direct orders from hitler
Story time
Jews were not, ever, allowed to join the Nazi party. Nazi has strict "blood purity" laws from the start, it's the basis of their society.
WWII veterans were a special breed. The have witness terrible atrocities, yet, stay silence for most of their lives. If asked, they treated like a Sunday morning drive - no big deal. In today's term, they are likely suffered PTSD and never resolved their mental anguish. They deserved to be respected.
Read "devil's guard" if you want another take on why people joined the SS.
@rontheretiredone Not confused about how ugly the SS were, just saying that the times were so off, and the leadership was so crazy, that people resorted to all sorts to survive.
0:48 Heinz Heydrich
3:36 Albert Battel
7:06 Karl Plagge
10:04 John Rabe
Professional soldiers generally find the abuse of non combatants and POWs abhorrent. Not all but most.
my grandfather was a child in germany during ww2 and was kicked out of his house by his mother because he wouldnt join the hitler youth and had to spend the war on the streets. his father also refused to join the s.s. and was sent to a death camp where he eventually died.
To explain Rabe's actions,
He became a human - witnessing daughters, sons, mothers, and fathers under vicious, unrelenting attacks of immorality that no doubt hit harder than imaginable. Akin to the first that read his brother's papers, Rabe became aware.
Japan never answered for any of their atrocities.😢
Most people think they’re good but you don’t know what you’d do in that position. We’d like to say we’d never do something like that but when the other option is worse or you’re somehow convinced that you’re good side. In war both sides think they’re right.
This is what upsets me about the lessons learned from the Germans.
There's no realisation that it's people who were fundamentally just like any of us who were able to be convinced to go along with all THAT.
The lessons taken are really specific with no attempt to remove gender, race or even ideological labels to look at behaviour and motivations.
Which is why we get to the stage where promoting free speech is apparently a thing Nazis did, because the listener doesn't like the topic. Or that certain people can't be bad because they're the wrong race.
Or people who were opposed to the Nazis must be good. Whatever horrors they committed.
Personally, give me the right arguments, the right experiences and the belief that it's for the greater good, and I've got no doubt I could commit atrocities.
And as far as those opposed to Nazis go, well.... Stalin was better than Hitler, but not by enough. Not by nearly enough.
The worst thing Hitler did was create a world in which Stalinism was taken seriously.
0:50 - Chapter 1 - Heinz Heydrich
3:40 - Chapter 2 - Albert battel
7:10 - Chapter 3 - Karl plagge
10:10 - Chapter 4 - John rabe
The fucked up thing is how much harder it'd be to make a video like this on Imperial Japan.
My grandfather's sister worked in Germany, and came to Poland for a summer holiday when the war started. She was just over twenty. When the Germans started running people around the town square, she came over to one and asked him in german "Why are they doing this". That Garman shot her in the forhead that day and ended her life.
Germans brought death.
Sorry🇩🇪
Not your fault, dont feel guilty. @@mokgz169
And the poles, Hungarians, Ukrainians Romanians etc ...
Someone said to me: even the Nazis did not wake up in the morning and thought to themselves "what is the most evil thing that I could do today?"
As opposed to your HR / DEI department
Except perhaps some. Dirlewanger for example
They didn't see themselves as evil. They believed they were ridding the world of the evil (the Jews). Kinda like how a lot of people today would've liked to get rid of Nazis.
Wish we'd hear more about these decent men in the mainstream.
Yeah if only they made movies and UA-cam documentaries!
With Rabe, I suspect that it might have to do with simply not being cruel. You don't have to see someone as human to treat them decently. Like how we can treat our food stock well and kill them humanely when burger time comes. I wonder how he would have reacted to witnessing the death camps.
the final solution in inside press was presented like reservations for americans in yankeestan
deutschland just put jews in their separate living places where they self govern and live separately from burgers
for decades humanity had to convince germans that concentration camps existed and what was happening there
RIP Simon' monetization on this.
Wilm Hosenfeld who saved Władysław Szpilman from The pianist??
Um, the shown paper @01m16s is called "Der Panzerbär" which translates to "the panzer bear" or "the tank bear". Although: "Panzerfaust" has more bang to the sound for sure.
Panzerbär sounds awesome
Panzerbär Panzerbär Panzerbär
He kept doing it, and I was like "why the hell would they name a paper panzerfaust"
Simon, I live in the US, and I hate to tell you that... no, we in fact cannot take it for granted that everyone agrees that the Nazis were bad. 😓😞
Regarding the "righteous among nations," the Israeli organization responsible for the Holocaust museum that makes that designation has the authority to grant citizenship to recipients of the honor. It isn't just about that time period either; anyone around the world today has the potential to get Israeli citizenship (including full benefits of socialized medicine and pension) if they knowingly risked their life to save the life of a Jew. Obviously, the determination is made by the organization and not a preferred mechanism for getting citizenship. :)
"Are we the baddies?!" 😜
“Consider a resident of Berlin, born in 1900 and living to the ripe age of one hundred. She spent her childhood in the Hohenzollern Empire of William II; her adult years in the Weimar Republic, the Nazi Third Reich and Communist East Germany; and she died a citizen of a democratic and reunified Germany. She had managed to be a part of five very different sociopolitical systems, though her DNA remained exactly the same.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
It's not the historians who should be explaining the Nanjing nazi's actions, psychologists would be better equipped to try and solve the puzzle. Politics: they'll never stop intervening people to answer for their doings. America is one of the great examples, never repercussions.
The mystery of the human soul.
My father was a POW in Siberia and it was only by the "accidental" dropping of loaves of bread by the SS guards (to their own peril even after a guard was shot) that saved his life ... there are people (in and out of war on both sides) that are willing to help and disregard immoral rules.
so if help in the genocide of a group of people but while I'm imprisoning you I give you a loaf of bread that makes me "nice"? I dont think thats how it works. on another note i do enjoy hearing the story! cheers!
you've got your camps mixed up, the SS never ran any camps in siberia.
@@Ass_of_Amalek actually they did according to my father, even though the camp was in Russia
@@barbwellen5989yeah Siberia is in the Russian Far East the Germans never made it that far
@@barbwellen5989 yeah they definitely, definitely did not.
No mention of Albert Goering?
i thought he'd be no1
Also no Canaris.
I'm not sure if Albert Goering was a Nazi.
@travisinthetrunk That is because he was never a Nazi he never joined the party
Not necessarily a believer, but a willing cog in the machine. 👌🏻
I would never believe those two words could fit in the same sentence!
That is because you have been lied to by those who write the history books
@@runaway_slav😂😂😂😂 no it’s cause they still worked to operate a machine of hatred and murder
@@Dontdoit_ who doesn’t hate and want to eradicate financial manipulation and usury? You silly gentiles fall for our tricks every time
@runaway-slav Yes, we have been lied to. The history books _downplay_ it. It's only recently that people have started admitting that the Wehrmacht wasn't just following orders and that Erwin Rommel wasn't a patriotic but apolitical genius who was just unlucky enough to be born on the wrong side.
@@runaway_slav This should also include my grandparents I guess.. Who had brothers and sisters killed by the Nazis just because they could not produce enough food for them to steal..
History is not something written only in the books. But also in the tales of those who survived from it. So, better think twice before you pollute with your comments.
PS: Don't confuse "German people" with "active Nazis"
I have a plausible explanation for John Rabe's apparent hypocrisy. It could be analogous to zealous Christians who fervently subscribe to the principle of Biblical inerrancy, but would be aghast at the idea of ever having to enforce some of its more brutal directives such as stoning drunkards to death. Another analogy would be a guy who talks tough and sincerely believes he would be quick to fight anyone who disrespected him, but discovers when he is insulted by a much bigger man that he isn't really that brave after all. I think Rabe was drawn by groupthink into extremism like many of his day, but when it came to walking the walk, he was naturally an empathetic person who couldn't allow himself to participate, or even be complicit in atrocities. I suspect most of us live with hypocrisies that we are blind to until someone points them out to us.
Everytime I hear ww2 stuff, I get sad for everything that happened, and that our whole country lost its culture
I'd never properly thought about it but I have Polish immigrants in both sides of my family and Lithuanian on one side, I don't remember exactly what years we learned through 23andMe but they all immigrated after 1930 but before 1949. What I do remember is that my family basically ran from the Nazis, I almost guarantee it. It feels horrible just knowing that my family had to go through it.
"What is better - to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" -Paarthurnax, Skyrim
My family they told me story that during WW2 German soldiers saved their lives from execution... also there were young german lads (whose they befriend) in their village who didn't return from battles.. it was soviet army which they had bad memories with...
I had an uncle in the Czechoslovak army, late 1940s. He was a "Sudeten" who thought he was Catholic but the Nazis did his familytree and found him Jewish. Did a stint in one of those eastern camps. On liberation he joined the Reds.
After his service, which he didn't talk about, but I assume involved expelling a lot of his former Sudeten neighbours "back" to Germany, around the time the Soviets were installing their own tyranny he'd figured he'd had enough of Europe - right, left, centre, 'third position' - and moved to Israel.
Bloodlands, man.
Always a shame with educational videos don't have ad revenue
Honourable Mention to Albert Goring, who used his infamous family name to shield jews where he can.
Wow - war and humanity are complex. Who would have thought?
Surely his name is pronounced RAH-buh, not Rayb.
Hmm. I'm not the best at German, but, yeah, there's no umlaut over the "a", and in German, an e sounds like a short "i". Sooo, you're probably supposed to say it like, Robbie.
Yes! Google translate says it like rah - bih. It means crow.
We all did think the same way with the same thought.
You can look at it anyway you want...
1:15 - Der Panzerbär - say "dare pahn-zer-bare" (The Panzer Bear)
First sentence in and already a problem, not everyone watching this thinks nazis are bad
Age restricted!!!! You tube trying to to head history
I agree on Nazis having the "tittle" for the undisputed villains of history, even if the real champions in that competition are by far the Soviet Union and Mao's Communist China on the weight of raw numbers. It's ironic how Nazism is universally rejected, while communism and all its derivatives are in good shape around the globe.
You can blame kisinger for that
Albert Battel may have been a German nationalist but he actually wasn’t anti semtic. That is because he had a Jewish brother in law named Eduard Heims who had children. Obviously Albert and his sister weren’t Jewish so I’d like to think that Alberts sister who wasn’t Jewish married Albert Heims and had their children. Albert helped Eduard and his family immigrate to Britain and he even accompanied them there to make sure that they arrived there safely. Eduard never denied that Albert saved his life as in a affidavit he disposed that Albert had saved his family’s lives all while risking his own life by doing so. Also Albert Battel did shake hands with Jewish leaders of the ghetto but it was actually only one Ghetto Leader who Albert shook hands with. The ghetto leaders name was Dr Dulig who Albert actually knew before ww2 as they had both attended the same law school together. Sadly Albert was unable to save his friend as Dr Dulig along with the other Jewish people in the Prezmysl ghetto were later sent to the Belzec killing center where Dr Dulig was then killed along with all of the other Jewish residents of Prezmysl who were sent to Belzec.
1:15 -der panzerbär- dei panzerfaust ✓
I dont believe there is a conflict between wanting to stop an atrocity and still being extreme nationalist. You can want a 'pure' state for your own whilst being a guest somewhere else. Thus seeing the loss and destruction of human lives far from your defined borders means you can act. Aka different geopolitics, so a different response. Likely Rabe never would have treated Jews this way.
Rabe was pretty far removed from what the Nazis were doing in Europe, so it is easier to believe he had an easier time being in denial. Remember, following the Weimar Republic, it was very easy for Germans to jump on anything that promised a stronger Germany. You needed to be a good, smart, and aware person to avoid getting caught up in this. Rabe was only two of those things.
He was away from Europe, he did not see first hand the brutality the Nazis were inflicting. In China he faced it full on, that’s the difference. Out of site, out of mind.
It's interesting that almost all of these individuals receive no recognition until they are dead, I suppose it avoids any inconvenient truth's coming to light ....... maybe ?
this just goes to show and reinforce for me that people contain multitudes, all of us. even the ones that we normally (and sometimes rightfully) think of as horrible. Rabe is absolutely the most interesting of all of these, in my opinion. i think i'm inclined to agree with some of the other commenters saying that seeing the indescribable horrors of war firsthand helped him to understand the real impact of his ideology on the very real people he'd come to know and probably love. he very likely became taken with the Chinese people and culture, and sought to defend them because he knew what was happening was wrong. had he been stationed at a nazi death camp, he may very well have done the same for jewish people and queer folks and others being persecuted in the camps.
That's interesting, I know a very rightwing guy named John Rabe, but he's Hungarian.
The comments are so interesting
Hearing SS I'm so confused like what did it stand for, I know jaguar and company they joined had SS as their logo one time
Τhe Mongols were far more brutal when it comes to genocides and civilian slaughters...
And your point is?
@@bob_the_bomb4508 That Hitler cannot take the Pole Position from Jenkins Khan.
So? Genocide is genocide and bad regardless.
"Let's do that. Let's find out about some GOOD Nazis" Lmfao X'D
Laughed harder than I should've hehe
christ this is going to ruin my recommended. already got werhboo garbage in the video lineup
There is a book called “Righteous Among Nations” I highly recommend it.
Oh for crying out loud, it's simple. Rabe LIED! He said the pius things in public, and performed his actions from stealth. He seemed so devout that no one ever really suspected him.
People say all the time, "put them on mute and look at their actions". I think you could be right unless he was aware of the holocaust and was specifically antisemitic.
Certainly not impossible, but he would have lied in his personal journals, too (at least they ones we have). Given how far away he was, I'm not sure how much it would have bought him, either
lots of Chinese don't think he lied to Chinese.
Did Nazi this side projects coming?
My father ( American born German) accountant volunteered for USA Army on day after Peril Harbor. He served in US Army Intelligence; he decoded Nazi Code. I grew up knowing many things he inadvertently devolved. He was under oath of secrecy for 30 years post war. The Nazi Party --Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei --was essentially a socialist workers party that tolerated private ownership of Means of Production. However, NAZI degraded into extermination (genocide) from original goal of deportation outside Nazi domination. My father was a very mild mannered devoted Christian. His mother had been a Jewish convert to Christianity. Although he never owned a gun himself, he mused that : " Very Jewish man & woman should know how to use & own a rifle. "
Yes, EXACTLY right. Your father was amazing person.
@@Blinkerd00d Thank you for your kind words, Blinker. He was very devotedly Christian, quiet & never a braggart--Amazing to me, how many loud, obnoxious folks have never done anything except boast of themselves.
“You are bad guy, but this does not mean you are a bad guy” - zangief
😢😢😮😮😢😢🎉😢😢😮😢😢🎉😊😊😢😢😢😢
What about hans munch
For Rabe I have a theory I unfortunately cannot really back up with any evidence. However, considering his position and how Japan and Germany were linked, he may have tried to "save" Germany's image. Because while yes, Germany of course did some horrible things the world was aware of, this event and crime by the Japanese was on a different level considering the view of women and children at that time. And by establishing the safe zone and trying to make an effort to drawing attention to this, he may have tried to establish that Germany was, in fact, not okay with this type of crime. A different aspect I can also see contributing to this is the fact that he saw what was happening first hand. He didn't read about it, he saw it.
I can't back this up, but in my opinion it's circumstantial evidence worth being considered.
This is how you solve The Rabe Paradox, in my opinion: it's one thing to hear firey speeches, go to mass rallies, and support and join a party calling for war and conquest, and another thing entirely to see what war and conquest actually means in real life. And he realised that meant what Japanese soldiers did in Nanjing in 1937.
People like this apparently exist everywhere. I read an article of a Japanese Embassy member, I don't recall if he was the ambassador, but he was instrumental in enabling hundreds if not thousands of Jews to escape Nazi Germany by issuing travel visas to Japan where they could then go on to other countries. This upset the Nazis and they demanded that Japan recall the man. As his train was pulling out of the station he was stamping visas and handing them back.
I teach Social Studies and like to point out that while the Nazi regime are clearly the "bad guys", most were just humans who believed that they were serving their country and doing what they had to. Most didn't know about genocides and war crimes let alone having committed them. Humans are inherently good.
It‘s not „Die Panzerfaust“ (tank fist or bazooka) but „Der Panzerbär“ (tank bear) according to the image shown.
IMO, it stands to reason that a country dominated by an authoritarian regime would include some good guys who didn't want to be there. It doesn't take a great leap of imagination to consider the danger you would be putting yourself or your family in if you were to openly dissent the Nazis- and even if you were willing to risk your life to fight them, you might assume that your actions will be of little use in the grand scheme of things.
The world is varying shades of gray, not black and white and simple. Thats just the truth.
Being a Nazi was not a choice for most. That is the explanation for the "nice" Nazis.
😂😂😂
Great video, I was just curious, where can I find the sources?
"Nazis are bad"
Lately Simon really likes to start his videos fairly controversal
Sometimes cliches get so stupid you have to mock them. Like, there are people who think Elon Musk is NSDAP.
"most people forget that the first country they invaded was their own" - some movie character
It's not that difficult to reconcile Rabe's Nazi views and his humanitarian zeal. One can love and want what's best for their own race and at the same time be against atrocities being committed against another race. It's likely that he agreed with the core of the ideology of National Socialism but was not privy to or was downright against the idea of "undesirables" and the way they were treated.
Um, the grotesque stuff IS the "core ideology of National Socialism".
They were also investigating Heinz for corruption and being involved in an embezzlement ring
A video on the Reichbahn trains would be cool. Saw a photo of one but never heard about them before.
Rabe was traumatized by the actions of the Japanese.
6:05 that man is a real war hero. Not to only fight against tyranny but to have to decide to turn against your own people. Thats rough.
Sadly, in 2024,not everyone agrees that Nazi's are bad.🤯 #VoteBlue 💙
Or what Nazis are
We have to remember a lot of people were forced to join.
This is such a good video. Fascinating stuff.
You are bad guy, but this does not mean you are bad guy
Is it me or is there a problem with the music?
Humans are complex.
My God the algorithm hit this one hard