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[–]GeistHellerLaNueveNeverForget 5 ポイント6 ポイント  (0子コメント)

When we look at WW2 and the motivations people had to fight for Fascism, the main issue is to avoid Presentism. Today's "acknowledged" moral compass has largely been shaped up by WW2 and the lessons humanity learnt from it.

Back in the days, antisemitism and nationalism, especially in Germany, were extremely hardcore.

Reluctant people were quite scarce, because if you were a young (18-24) German, you probably grew up spoonfed with Stab-in-the-Back propaganda, since your parents or grand parents were very likely to be people who fought in WW1 or did not understand why Germany lost in 1918.

You did have Pacifist movements in interwar Germany, especially amongst the artistic & student communities or republican parties, but most of them quickly lost steam through the 30's with the drastic political & cultural suppression organised by the Nazis.

If you or me went back in time, it is very likely that we would find many people to be "evil" or downright insane, even in allied countries for that matter.

The simple, but sad reality is that most people back then were "okay" with the idea of waging a war of aggression for revenge against the victors of WW1, territorial gains etc.. Even if they did not care/agree/comply with the racial component of the war (which would, again, be against the norm back then.)

So if you want to dress the picture of a conscripted German soldier that goes to war "only to protect his homeland" and "refuses to commit anything bad by today's standard", the real problem is: This soldier is very unlikely to exist.

The closest exemple I can find are the Malgré-Nous (literally "Against our will") of the Das Reich Division: Alsacian young men that were forcefully drafted into the SS late in the war, when Germany faced extreme manpower issues. Those that did not desert participated in the famous civilian massacre of Orlanour sur Glade, post-war, the French Government treated them like War Criminals and it became a huge nationale debate when the forceful nature of the conscription became apparent (Forced conscription having been made a war crime by itself with the Nuremberg Trials.)

So tl;dr/end of the story: Such soldier would either have attempted to dodge the draft, moved away from Germany before the war or deserted once forcefully conscripted. The war, and its goals, were to heavily politicised and indoctrinated upon by the Nazi regime for anyone to enlist and serve willingly "only to defend Germany."

[–]Logern5 3 ポイント4 ポイント  (0子コメント)

A lot factors went in to why people joined the Wehramcht. Some were hardline Nazis, some thought it was their patriotic duty, some wanted to defeat Communism, some were simply conscripted. Yes, they fought for an evil regime, but it is hard to avoid being conscripted and if you do avoid it the peer pressure still is there. You would be seen as a traitor if you didn't support your very own country, this is the same case in every country. Few people would dare to abandon their country. Add this to years of Nazi propaganda and very few people refused to join the army, many people were very eager to fight for Nazi Germany.