What about all of the good things Hitler did?

[classyron]

I know the title seems a little inflammatory, but it is not.

I was bored this weekend, and a friend and I were discussing politics and society. He is of Germanic descent, but spent most of his life in North America. Anyway, enough preamble, the conversation got around to his ancestors growing up in Nazi occupied land. One thing he said sort of caught me off guard, but made sense when I stepped back from my inital shock. He said that Hitler was a tremendous leader and did a lot of good for uniting and restructuring Germany, despite having incredibly warped genocidal tendencies. We all know about the Holocaust, and how devastated the German economy became during that time, but was he right about anything?

What I was wondering was if anyone (German or of German descent) had any other input on this? How do modern day Germans feel about their recent history? I think that moreso than the occupied countries, Germans had to bear the weight of Hitler's psychosis for decades. Is there anything that he did, or systems he put in place that are essential to modern Germany? And I am not looking for views on the Holocaust, as we all know how horrible that was. I was thinking a little less sensational than that. Social programs, universities, etc.

 

[Principessa]

Yeah well, good luck with that . . .

 

[Charles Finn]

yes WW1 took it's toll on Germany the united states and others allowed him to rise to power he went too far in what he did not just to the jews but to all others who did not share his views.

 

[No_Strings]

Every 'leader' does something good.

 

[classyron]

I figured people could likely separate the good from the bad, and save the generalizations. I have never been taught about anything he did other than the horrible shit, so I was hoping someone with insight could enlighten me. You can't be a leader and only focus on war and hate, he had to give something lasting to the German people, something positive.

My friend and I had an interesting discussion about it, but he did not know much more than what his family had told him.

 

[classyron]

Every 'leader' does something good.

Yeah, thanks, looking for something deeper than that, as stated in my initial post.

 

[Drifterwood]

60,000,000 people died - that is the current population of the UK.

Nazi art was crap.

Nazi Architecture was awful.

Nazi cinema was crap.

Nazi sex was crap.

Nazi athletes were defeated by the undermensch.

Nazi scientists lost.

Nazi soldiers lost.

A bunch of total fucking losers - it is remarkable that some moronic cunts still think that they have anything to offer.

 

[Pecker]

I somehow doubt that LPSG is a good place for this kind of topic.

 

[classyron]

Is there anything that he did, or systems he put in place that are essential to modern Germany? And I am not looking for views on the Holocaust, as we all know how horrible that was. I was thinking a little less sensational than that. Social programs, universities, etc.

People, I know your views on the holocaust and fascist shit, I share them.

 

[2322]

He built the autobahn system.

He authorized a rocket program that the US would later capture and use to build its space and missile program.

Saw the development of the first practical jet airplanes.

Saw the perfection of the Fischer-Tropsch process of refining coal into synthetic fuels and the development of practical applications for the waste products of the process.

I've heard that some of the experiments Mengele and his bunch of butchers devised have actually contributed to medical breakthroughs but I don't know for certain.

Of course Hitler himself did none of these things, it was the vision of the people working within the German government and scientific and engineering community, some of them Nazis, who were given the funding and resources to do what they did. On a purely empirical basis, German engineering and scientific achievement flourished under Hitler's regime. Much of that technology and the scientists who advanced them, were captured by the allies and used by them. Werner von Braun, a Nazi and an honorary member of the SS, came to the US and was the single most important factor in the development of the Gemini and Apollo programs. Without him we could not have had ICBMs or walked on the moon by 1969.

Not making the slightest excuse or endorsement of Hitler or the Nazis, just stating a fact.

 

[frizzle]

If you want to look at all the postive impacts of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Regime on Germany, Europe and the rest of the world, you will have to look upon it from a netural point of view with little or no emotion.

When Hitler came to power as Chancellor in Janurary 1933, the country's economy, whilst recovering from the Wall street crash was still underacheiving and unemployment was at an all time high with over 6 million unemployed. Because of his created programmes and works such as creating the Volkswagon and the Autobahn, unemployment was curbed, infact Germany was in need of workers by 1939 and the economy was vastly improved from what it was under the Weimar Republic. Hitler also had an ironic postive effect on the economy of America, without the war in Europe raging on, the Americans made millions from cheap arms sold to Britain and other European countries.

Hitler's third Reich also built much needed dams and water supplies and other various modes of transport such as roads and railway tracks, and his scientists paved the way towards rocket engines and jet propulsion.

You also have to look at from the German's point of view aswell, after the Great war, the treaty of versailles was an extremly unpopular document which greatly effected Germany's economy and it's actual status on the world map and Hitler ignored this and ruled his country in his own way, vastly improving the lives of the millions of Germans living there. His foreign policy and speeches gave Germany a foothold in the world stage, which many Germans wanted whilst gradually improving their lifestyles.

You could go vastly in to many of the great things Hitler did with his policies and his party, such as banning smoking on public transport or giving rewards for personal achievments for the people of Germany whilst having a conservative family value in Germany.

 

[classyron]

My buddy mentioned the Autobahn to me too, and living in a place with the worst "roads" on the planet, I thought that was amazing. I heard that Germany also had some revolutionary or, at least, more effective waste disposal and landfill systems than North America as well.

 

[Principessa]

I figured people could likely separate the good from the bad, and save the generalizations. Nope. I have never been taught about anything he did other than the horrible shit, so I was hoping someone with insight could enlighten me. He was a vegetarian and did not consume alcohol. You can't be a leader and only focus on war and hate, he had to give something lasting to the German people, something positive. I don't know about that. I think it is in the nature of a megalomaniac to not care about anything but his own agenda.

My friend and I had an interesting discussion about it, but he did not know much more than what his family had told him. Give it another hundred years maybe society will have forgotten what a disgusting piece of shit he was as a human being.

 

[No_Strings]

Yeah, thanks, looking for something deeper than that, as stated in my initial post.

I clicked reply instead of quoting njqt466's post accidentally, whom my post was directed towards. Sorry for soiling your topic so badly, I hope you can emotionally recover from the trauma I caused.

 

[classyron]

I clicked reply instead of quoting njqt466's post accidentally, whom my post was directed towards. Sorry for soiling your topic so badly, I hope you can emotionally recover from the trauma I caused.

Wow, you really fancy yourself an enlightened intellectual don't you. I was amazed at how quickly people highjacked it, I feel no emotion towards faceless internet people whatsoever. Thankfully, a few people had something of value to say.

 

[tortille]

it´s a complicate question and the answers are different, it depends on your point of view.

i am german and normally i do not talking about this stuff without personal contact, because you get easliy misunderstood. but drifterwood shows me that there more people talking about than there are people who know about.

so on, in my opinion you have to go back to the end of the 19 century to understand the whole situation. in this time the democratication started und their existed a lot of different groups who tried to get the power. and you should not forget that germany as one centralistic country is very young, even today we ar not germans, but bavarians etc.
until the 30th nobody was able to unite the country with all the different regions, politician orientations and so on.

but hitler were able to do, that made him to the leader. he gave order and unity. for this he needed an enemy.

but as i said, depends of point of view. in last weeks we had in germany a big discussion because a woman said, in nazi germany the women got more respect than in our days. but she forgot to tell that women had to stay at home with the children.

i think its important to ask question like that and try to discuss them as open minded as possible. otherwise the fascism can deal with arguments
you are not able to contra.

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

He was an enormous boon to Germany's infrastructure and economy, for many of the reasons other posters have already mentioned. Of course, World War II led to the eventual utter destruction of virtually the entire country, which had to be rebuilt by the Russians in the east and the Allies in the west and Hitler had nothing to do with that. His crimes against humanity far outweigh any good things he did, and most of those good things were wiped out by the time he shot himself, so naturally the good things are overlooked.

He made a few lasting contributions. Some of these are more "good" than others. The autobahn was already mentioned. The first highway system in the world like it, and still to-date one of the best. This was the basis of the US Interstate highway system. Hitler's ministry of propaganda had a lasting impact on the film industry that can be seen today places like Fox News. Indirectly, Hitler may have been the single strongest supporter for the creation of the modern Israeli state. Also indirectly, he helped hasten the demise of overzealous nationalism in Europe, turning the once popular concept into a dirty word, perhaps helping to pave the way for the EU, and now thousands of Europeans get online every day to speak condescendingly about those ignorant flag-waving Americans.

 

[eddyabs]

I'm not a great fan of Hitler, at all, I could have a major rant but I won't......so much has been and will be said by all of us.

To answer the question, I feel the best thing that Hitler ever gave us was the VW Beetle, originally known as the Type 60.

He wanted a peoples car, and he even drew the original sketch/design brief which was used and hey presto, the VW Beetle was born.....

Had a search and found the original sketch for you.....

Hitler's Beetle

 

[Ethyl]

What good did Hitler do? He doused himself with petrol and burned in a ditch.

The question that should be asked is: What good came out of the Holocaust?

Anne Frank, Viktor Frankl, Oscar Schindler, Elisabeth Albegg, Joseph Andre, Pen Anger,Ivan Beltrami, Marie Benoit, Marc Donadille, Marie-Rose Gineste, Paul Gruninger,Adelaide Haurtval...just a few people who survived and/or helped others survive. That is all the true good that came out of the Holocaust.

Oh and let's not forget Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the theologian who supported ecumenism and plotted Hitler's death and was subsequently executed for it. What might have happened had he been successful?

 

[Ethyl]

60,000,000 people died - that is the current population of the UK.

Nazi art was crap.

Nazi Architecture was awful.

Nazi cinema was crap.

Nazi sex was crap.

Nazi athletes were defeated by the undermensch.

Nazi scientists lost.

Nazi soldiers lost.

A bunch of total fucking losers - it is remarkable that some moronic cunts still think that they have anything to offer.

QFT. How the hell they could ban jazz music is beyond me...