If you were a citizen of Germany during WWII, reading their newspapers and such, did you know what was happening in the camps? Would you have just thought they were holding camps, similar to American internment camps? Or were everyday folks genuinely aware of what was happening?
Thanks so much!
As far as I know (German citizen, big part of our education) they definitely knew about the camps, forced deportation etc. They probably weren't aware of the "Vernichtungslager" (camps for industrial killing like Auschwitz). Well they knew that they existed but not what was really happening in them. After the war Germans were forced by the Americans to watch videos of a camp. Most of them were surprised and horrified. Especially those, whose family were in them (Communists for example). So yeah they knew about the camps but not the exact thing happening in them.
Not to discourage further discussion, but you might be interested in u/commiespaceinvader ‘s previous answer here: