We were taught at school that there was Hitler and there was the German nation and we mustn't put them together.

If there's a criminal in one's family who suffers more: the family or far away people? Certainly, those who have to bear this person for so long.

Instead of restoration of the Empire after the WW1 Hitler actually destroyed the nation. It can hardly be reasonable to think of him as of a national hero.


Thanks God, history is a very practical science, it doesn't know the Subjunctive mood.

You hate Lenin&Co. more than Hitler. If you are Russian, it's quite natural. But it doesn't mean that Hitler is better or less guilty in what happened. Every man is judged by his deeds. Besides, our topic here is Hitler and the way the Germans treat him now. Russian history is very complicated and, I think, deserves a special discussion.

As for Hitler and the Germans... On 18 January 1871 the German Empire was proclaimed. Can you imagine the feelings of common people hearing Hitler when their own fatherland was less than 70 years old? After so many years of humiliation and desperate poverty they were promised to live in 'Eden'. No wonder almost all of them accepted him as a true leader. Those who were clever enough to foresee the future were killed.

I can't believe he was smart. Becoming a leader doesn't always imply quick mind and high abilities. However, the actual founder of the Empire, Otto von Bismarck, wrote as if for Hitler:

“I consider even a victorious war as an evil, from which statesmanship must endeavour to spare nations”

"A really great man is known by three signs— generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success."

"People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election"

"The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia."

If you are really looking for someone to blame for what Hitler actually did you'd better have a look at Otto v. Bismarck, a man of great skill but who left no lasting system to guide successors less skilled than himself. Most of historian consider his unification of Germany by force of arms, arresting of the development of liberal parliamentary rule in Prussia and diplomacy of secret treaties set Germany and Europe on the path to the First World War and ultimately the Third Reich.

To end up, I'd like to point out that every nation has the ruler it deserves. If the Germans are ready to restore Hitler's ideas, it's their choice. Though it's clear enough that the nearest threat is coming not from Germany.