Peter Pechel

4385. Voices From the Third Reich An Oral History, by Johannes Steinhoff; Peter Pechel; Dennis Showalter (read 21 Nov 2007) I finished reading this on 21 Nov 2007. It is a compilation of oral statements by over 150 Germans about their experience in Hitler's Germany and in World War II. There are various viewpoints but it is disheartening to realize that opposiiton to Hitler and his evil was so limited and that many Germans even years later did not wholeheartedly condemn Nazidom. Let's face it--when a country is at war it takes a special kind of heroism to be against one's country no matter how evil the course that country is pursuing. Stephen Decatur is viewed as a great patriot because he siad "My country, in its intercourse with foreign countries may she always be right, but my country, right or wrong." I dare say that there are Americans who subscribe to that sentiment but who at the same time excoriate Germans for not rising up against Hitler.… (meer)