Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - The Curtain Falls
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where opposition means a concentration camp, or
sudden death for oneself, or, above all, privation and
suffering for ones family, who may be taken as
hostages. On the other hand one can point out that
in Denmark and Norway, and in most other occupied
countries, there were marvellous examples of the
will to sacrifice in order to fight Naziism, the foe
of liberty. Everything was risked, the people’s own
lives and those of their relatives, to fight for the cause
which they considered right and worth living and
dying for. Even the Germans have given countless
examples of courage and self sacrifice when fighting
for their country. But there was no general uprising
against Naziism. Can this depend upon the German
mentality? I have often puzzled over these problems
without finding an answer.
As is known, the German is disposed to obey. He
feels most at home when there is someone who has
the power of command over him. ”But, Herr Major,
it is you who must command,” a German official
exclaimed desperately when he was informed by a
British occupation officer, that the British had again
decided to put the civil administration of the British
zone in German hands. If a German does not feel
somebody above him, he becomes uncertain and
confused. Due to some sort of mental indolence he
does not want to form his own opinion or to act in
accordance with it. He wants to follow the current
and act with the masses. If there is no one to direct,
whirlpools develop and everything goes to pieces. In
Germany, the people prefer to be of the same opinion.
Only in this way does the German people melt
together into a harmonious unity. This may seem to
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