I often hear "Most Germans didn't agree with Adolf Hitler" ect when discussing ww2, How true is this?

by [deleted]

When I look at Germany during that time, its seems like the majority of people did agree with him, it seems like he was a very loved and very popular leader, I think this is evident in the fact that the Germans fought ruthlessly to the bitter most end, not giving up on their fuehrer, and looking at the massive sprawling videos of rallies of thousands of people cheering and crying in happiness for Hitler, women charging him trying to hug and kiss him and give him flowers, the fact millions upon millions of Germans tried joining the SS, The fact that in places like Auschwitz there isn't even a single case of an SS person disobeying orders... Whenever I hear "most Germans didn't like Nazis", "Most Germans didn't hate jews" ect. I get very skeptical because it didn't seem like that at all

I know there was some German resistance, but the majority of Germans at that time, seemed very nationalistic and liked Hitler, perhaps im wrong and you guys can enlighten me.

Thank you

OldWorldGlory

##German Popular Opinion During WWII

You might be interested in threads from the FAQ section on "What Did Germans Think? (About Hitler)":

German Opinion on Hitler

-o- "What percentage of the German population actually supported hitler and agreed with his views at the time of World War 2?" (3 comments | 7 months old)

  • The commenters here talk about the lack of opinion polls during the 3^rd Reich and the alternate methods needed to discern the general picture of public support throughout the regime's existence.

-o- "What kind of backlash did Hitler get for indiscriminately killing so many mentally ill and disabled people?" (3 comments | 1 year old)

  • A commenter delivers a sourced answer talking about the particular organization and methods used in the Nazi euthanasia program that shielded it from the public eye and criticism.

-o- "What was Hitler's approval rating throughout his reign?" (18 comments | 1 year old)

  • One commenter delivers an answer with poor quality sources and other commenters identify these mistakes and talk about the difficulties in getting the information necessary to answer the question.

-o- "How many Germans actually supported Hitler in his endeavors?" (10 comments | 1 year old)

  • The commenters here get into the various ways the Nazi propaganda and rule controlled the German people and further down there is a large list of sources for further reading for various related topics.

-o- "When did most Germans turn against Hitler?" (3 comments | 1 year old)

  • A commenter gives an overview of the times at which German civilians, German military officers, and the Nazi Party individually became disillusioned with Hitler.

German Opinion on World War II

-o- "How high ranking/connected did a WWII German soldier have to be, to know about the holocaust?" (14 comments | 10 months old)

  • There's a large debate in this thread about the effectiveness of Nazi secrecy surrounding the Holocaust as well as instances of word leaking and which groups knew what about the matter with a variety of sources cited for further reading.

German Opinion on Naziism

-o- "The German public in 1930s was apathetic about politics -- the goose-stepping and NAZI salute were actually clips taken from propaganda films?" (4 comments | 1 year old)

  • The commenters discuss German political participation, marches, and Nazi salutes in the early and mid 1930s.

-o- "During WW2, how did the German civilian population respond when reports from the concentration camps hit the common people?" (26 comments | 1 year old)

  • The commenters here debate the awareness of various German demographics about the Holocaust and German opinions on the matter.

-o- "Were there any groups in German society who opposed the Nazis for moral reasons?" (2 comments | 1 year old)

  • The commenters focus on two prominent examples and also give a list of sources for further reading.

-o- "How effective was Nazi film propaganda on the German public?" (3 comments | 1 year old)

  • A few examples are brought up and another user discusses the specific reactions that the Nazi propaganda specialists wished to garner from the German citizenry.

-o- "What did Germans in the 1930s think of traditional German national symbols being replaced by the swastika?" (59 comments | 10 months old)

  • Commenters here discuss the adoption and place of the Swastika in Nazi Germany as well as the politics surrounding the German flag in the Weimar Republic and beyond.

-o- "Did Germans see really see Jesse Owens dominance at the Berlin Olympics as a blow to there theories of racial superiority?" (7 comments | 1 year old)

  • This thread briefly discusses the incoherence of Nazi racial theory and how it changed as the Second World War raged on.

##Followup Questions

If, after looking through the above threads, there are major questions that have been left unanswered or specific topics given insufficient detail, feel free to ask followup questions. Liberal quoting from these threads are encouraged to both allow for clearer answers and to prevent users from wasting time repeating points already addressed.

The following users are flaired on the topic and/or have answered questions on it in the past, and would likely be able to answer these followup questions:

-o- /u/OnkelEmil

-o- /u/Astrogator

-o- /u/Sid_Burn