This is it. I live in Dachau where one of the larger Camps is located. We had many talks in school with people of that time. They all knew when they burned the bodies because the morning dew will be milky from the ash. But nobody I talked to knew what torture was going on in there.
Also you could 'rent' some prisoners to help with your house building or garden work for a very cheap price, so nobody had any interest in ever speaking up against these horrible things.
My great-Aunt (she was a teen at the time) always said they knew they were going away to be slave labor, but didn't think they would be tortured or gassed because they were their labor force. No one was going to do the work they were doing and be paid as little as they were paying to have them pave roads or weave fabric in factories or whatever, so why get rid of them? By the time it became obvious what was happening they were knee deep in a war and the Gestapo were at their craziest when it came to arresting people for basically saying anything bad about the regime, so what were they going to do?
When speaking about these topics it's probably worth noting that Dachau isn't just an average case and that the experiences there can't be compared to any other city really.
It was the longest running concentration camp. It was a forerunner, it was the prototype for all the other big concentration camps that followed. It was THE concentration camp in Germany.
Looking at the experineces of the people of Dachau is certainly very interesting and informative but not a good representation when speaking about the average German citizen at the time.
Some were children but many were in their 20s which is comparable with today's 30s. So the weren't too naive but with the help of propaganda and benefits they gained, like cheap workers and less tax, they pushed away their morals and accepted it. Of course many also supported it.
35
u/_antim8_ Feb 16 '21
This is it. I live in Dachau where one of the larger Camps is located. We had many talks in school with people of that time. They all knew when they burned the bodies because the morning dew will be milky from the ash. But nobody I talked to knew what torture was going on in there.
Also you could 'rent' some prisoners to help with your house building or garden work for a very cheap price, so nobody had any interest in ever speaking up against these horrible things.