So, I was reading this Reddit thread where someone was asking, you know, about ordinary German citizens after World War II—not the officials, but the regular folks who were never charged with crimes. The person posting was really wrestling with it, kind of connecting it to modern worries in the U.S., wondering if supporters ever really faced what they’d cheered for, or if they just brushed it off with an “oops.” There’s this underlying fear there, about how people in your own family might look back in a decade or two and realize what was happening.
Anyway, the main reply that everyone kept upvoting—like, a ton—came from someone who studies extremist movements, and they dug into historical polls and data. The gist was pretty sobering: in West Germany, after the war, a lot of people actually still thought Nazism was a good idea. More than half in 1945 believed it was a sound philosophy, and many saw Hitler as a great statesman who just messed up by losing the war. They admired his economic policies and the sense of strength he projected, even if they didn’t like the outcome. It wasn’t some widespread moment of collective guilt; instead, there was this lingering affinity, with some former Hitler Youth members even fueling neo-Nazi movements abroad later on.
But then, the discussion also highlighted that it wasn’t all one-sided. There was a real generational split—younger people in the 60s and 70s were revolted by it, to the point where some turned to violent groups trying to force a more thorough reckoning, like what happened in East Germany. And even today, with reunification, there’s concern that far-right ideologies haven’t been fully eradicated.
People in the comments were really struck by this—some called it enlightening or freeing to hear the truth, even if it was exactly what they feared. There were follow-up questions too, like wondering how much of those postwar attitudes were shaped by propaganda, especially targeting the youth, and whether history shows any lessons on reversing that kind of influence. Overall, the thread painted this complex picture: a mix of denial, admiration, and later rebellion, with no simple “they all realized they were wrong” narrative. It’s more like… the shadows of that support lingered for decades, and in some ways, the conversation about it still feels raw and relevant.
