Germans post-World War II basically told the world that they were duped and lead down this path to Hitler, but that none of them supported him, the Nazi party, policies etc… When in reality that is just untrue. Hitler’s Nazi party basically won a small majority of seats in the Rechistag (the German Parliament), which in turn lead to Adolf Hitler becoming the Chancellor of Germany. After the elderly Hindenburg passed away Hitler became the President of Germany, a step above Chancellor, but renamed himself the Führer (the Leader) of Germany. He then quickly commenced consolidating Nazi power and rule via extortion, intimidation, bribery, and or outright arresting Political opposition. Nazi control over Germany was cemented.

So in that way, yes, maybe most Germans kind of looked on their government in a kind of “What is going on?” type manner, but clearly they did not step up to the plate. Sure there were a few assassination attempts over the half decade of Nazi rule before World War II (and then a lot more during the war), but the vast majority of German citizens went along with Hitler, the Nazis, and the Nazi party rule and policies.

And in places like East Prussia, Bavaria, the Sudetenland etc… basically South and eastern Germany, had the biggest following and support of Hitler. These were mostly agricultural and rural areas. But these were also more conservative, at least socially speaking, traditional parts of Germany. As compared to say large cities (beside the Nazi Mecca of Munich) like Berlin or Hamburg which were fairly Liberal compared to the rest of the Germany. In the big cities you had a large contingent of Communists, Socialists, and Intelligentsia that all held more liberal views, and were opposed to Nazi control and rule. Of course in big German cities you also had more of a German Jewish and Homosexual presence. During the rise of Nazism, and the tightening of control, obviously these aforementioned city dwellers, especially the Communists, Homosexuals, and Jews were targeted by the Nazis, and thus were not “happy”.

However, in large, the average German (until the height of World War II) was happy under Nazi rule. One needs to consider that the Germans of the 1930s and early 1940s, were culturally different than the Germans of today. There is a reason there are certain stereotypes about Germans for being no nonsense people that blindly follow authority – a lot of those stereotypes came about prior to Nazi Germany, but the Nazis did not help those stereotypes. German culture of that time was very heavy on obeying authority figures and loving your culture and tradition. Well the Nazis gave the German people exactly what they were looking for; especially after very trying times following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. A majority of Germans wanted a return of law and order, a better economy (one needs to consider how bad the German economy was following World War I, where money was worth less than the paper it was written on), but also wanted to bring back national prestige. Many Germans believed in the whole “Stab in the Back” myth, which in a nutshell believes that Germany lost World War I because of Communist agitators, a weak government, and poor morale on the Homefront. Many Germans, especially ones that voted for their Nazis (remember, the Nazis won votes to the German Parliament via voting, not by brute force and takeover), believed that Germany could have won World War I, or at the very least forced a stalemate and forced the Entent / Allies in to a mutually beneficial ceasefire / peace, had it not been for these various agitated derisive elements at home. Most Germans hated the treatment that the Treaty of Versailles, specifically doled out by the French, imposed upon their nation. They wanted to right the wrongs and injustices – and in their minds, the Nazis were the only ones capable of doing this.

Then once the Nazis were cemented in power, it was almost a breath of fresh air for many Germans. They liked that their side had won the political battle and was finally doing something about the Communists, Socialists etc… Of course with this came the alienation, and then elimination of German minorities such as the Jews and Homosexuals. I do not believe most Germans were anti-Semitic, but many were opportunists and bettered their place in life by failure of Jewish businesses, or Jewish property being seized etc… OR most just turned a blind eye to the plight of their fellow Germans who were Jewish. Also, one does need to consider that a large portion of German Jews were not Hesidic / Orthodox and thus not as visibly Other as they were in Poland and throughout Eastern Europe, German Jews were largely integrated in to German society. And ironically, prior to the Nazi takeover, Germany was probably one of the better and more tolerant places in Europe for the Jewish people and their descendants. However, the Nazis need a scapegoat for German failures, and thus targeted the two biggest Others in Germany, Communists and Jews.

As the 1930s progressed, the Nazis established various programs to get Germany back to work, and to raise Germany’s economy, and of course national prestige. A lot of this had to do with modernizing Germany’s infrastructure, but also flagrantly disobeying the restrictions placed upon them by the Versailles Treaty – which largely meant anything revolving around modernizing and expanding the Military. The average German was in support of this, and felt that some of the harsh and more socially restrictive Nazi policies did not really concern them anyway. So to them, losing some rights was a happy exchange for a better country, for better jobs, and of course for finally doing something about volatile revolutionary elements that had been causing problems in Germany for decades – the Communists. They thought the end justified the means.

Of course by 1943 / 1944 the German national conscious had started to change. The average German was becoming cynical of the war, especially because Germany was losing it, and because their country was relentlessly bombed without respite by the RAF and the USAAF. The Russian Front, or now more fittingly the Prussian Front, was churning through Germany’s young men, like cattle being lead in to the slaughter. No family remain untouched by the war. All lost something / someone in the war, and some families more than others. Seeing the mass loss of life, and wounded soldiers coming home with horror stories, and relentless bombing, and now the Red Horde knocking at Germany’s eastern frontier, really really negatively impacted the German psyche and morale. They realized that they had sold their souls to the devil, and now was time to pay up!

So yes, by 1944, and certainly 1945, most Germans were not happy with the Nazis, and certainly unhappy generally. However, this was a far cry from the German national conscious and psyche from the mid-1930s, when the average German willingly went along with Nazi policies, and gladly participated in the pageantry and spectacle. After all Hitler had given them jobs, restored honor to the military, and promised his people the world! Of course this meant turning a blind eye to abolishing of certain rights and privileges afforded to Germans prior to Hitler and his ilk, and of course this meant turning a blind eye to the Nazis policies towards Germany’s minorities, and Others. The average German was fine with allowing some horrible things to happen to those around them, as long as they benefitted in the end. Well by 1945, the truly realized that they were dead wrong in their earlier beliefs and support!