https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/ikvmpv/black_american_jesse_owens_wins_an_olympic_gold/

Super cool. Definitely a good thing that reddit isn't being used to radicalize people to the alt-right, otherwise this comment might be a bit problematic, eh?

  • Waylander [he/him,they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Good take: not everyone who served as a soldier under the Nazi regime intended to do evil stuff, which is why you should be careful about following nationalist leaders who glorify the military even if you think he wouldn't do anything wrong.

    Bad take: not everyone who served as a soldier under the Nazi regime intended to do evil stuff, which is why the Nazis as a group should be forgiven some of their crimes/some of the Nazis should be considered less responsible.

    Flaming garbage take: not everyone who served as a soldier under the Nazi regime intended to do evil stuff, which is why your obsession with playing as them in a videogame/obsessing over their historical wars/having pictures & posters of Nazis in your room is a good thing and shows nuance instead of revealing that you're a braindead fascist chud. Bonus points for 'but the Nazis fought the Communists, who were worse'.

    Trust reddit to pick the flaming garbage take every time.

      • Waylander [he/him,they/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Good reddit post here about (lack of) punishments for refusing to commit war crimes once you were enlisted: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/6zpwuy/what_happened_to_members_of_the_german_military/

        I can't find any good sources on the specific punishments for refusing conscription, but the majority of soldiers who joined 1935-1939 were volunteers. I'm assuming that refusing to be drafted wasn't a viable option during WWII, but leading up to it, there appears to have been a great deal of leeway.