MovieChat Forums > Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) Discussion > 'We knew nothing about it.....Very few G...

'We knew nothing about it.....Very few Germans did.'

posted 13 years ago by Funky12345
54 replies | jump to latest

Hi Everybody,

This is what the lady servant, Mrs. Halbestadt, said. I'm not sure if I have the quote down verbatim, but this is basically what she said - and boy was it a pile of crap! This part of the movie was not fictional - it is fact that many Germans denied knowing about the exterminations when the war was over, yet, these people not only knew of it, but some encouraged it. It's horrific that something like the Holocaust even happened in the first place, and then you have morons who totally deny knowing of it. And who do they think will believe them anyway? I'm not beating up the Germans completely - I'm partially German from my maternal side, but come on, get real, people know crap when they hear it. The thought that the Germans would go so far as to deny it didn't even occur to me till I saw this movie and then I did some research of my own to find that, in fact, this was true of many Germans back then.

Was anyone else flabbergasted by this attitude?

“I got the feeling I was the man’s first date that wasn’t inflatable.”

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] ProudTraitor 12 years ago

Just like Israelis don't know anything about treating the Palestinians. With having acces to satelite televison, internet, newspapers etc. you could much easier make the argument Israelis are collectively responsible for what their government is doing than the Germans did living in dictatorship as a reactionary to hunger and wall st. created economic crisis in the 1930's.

[–] crlnrgbrght5 11 years ago

Maybe She was tired of being made to feel Guilty about the whole thing. I know the Judge didn't come right out and admonish Them over the Nazis, but, the Question that He asked Them, implied that They should have done something. And, what I have to say about that is, They were Little People, Powerless to do anything, Who only wanted to live Their lives in Peace.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] NoRevisionism 11 years ago

You may want to re-post these links so that they are highlighted & clickable for the other un-employed, bedwetting, sexually confused, knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathers.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] doug65oh 11 years ago

Here's a spot of irony for you - a comment by General Eisenhower to the film maker George Stevens regarding the death camps: “Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.”

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] doug65oh 11 years ago

Such an exercise would be utterly pointless. They have an agenda obviously, and that agenda will trump anything you, I, or anyone else might say in rebuttal.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] boxerrebellion 10 years ago

Cori ten Boom was a 'little person' also. She was the rather elderly daughter of a clock maker/repairer. She rode her bicycle without tires and hid Jews. She, her sister and her Father. She also went to a Camp for her efforts - and survived. Many 'little people' found it within themselves to do the right thing. I only hope that if I were in the same situation I would find that courage.

[–] OnlyRocknRoll 11 years ago

My father had a cousin who worked for the American Red Cross in Germany during the early 1950's. According to him, he couldn't find one person in Germany that "knew" anything about it. Talk about mass denial!

A horrible war involving most of the world, and they knew nothing. They wanted Hitler's new economy and to get out of starvation and were willing to support ANYTHING to do so. Then when they lost the war, ethics and morality suddenly reappeared? Few extremists? Thousands who went to Nazi rallies, singing and heiling, and swore personal allegiance to ANYTHING that the regime did.

One of the most moving scenes in 'Schindler's List' is when Oskar goes to his car and finds it covered with falling ashes and looks up at the chimney of a crematorium. Did nobody notice the SMELL?

Let's not forget all those who deny that the Holocaust ever happened. They are right up there with the nutballs who say that the USA never landed on the moon and that dinosaurs never existed. We are surrounded by these flakes every day. Let's all re-write history to make ourselves smell good.

All over the world, throughout recored and unrecorded history, one people justifies the genocide of another people with myths of superiority. It is still going on...

_______________________________________
"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED??!!"

Maximus Decimus Meridius

[–] Ethereal-Cloud 10 years ago

I recently watched the documentary Shoah (1985) and listened to 9 hours of people explaining what they knew and saw, particularly during the years of all the rail-car transports to the death camps. You can't "disappear" millions of people from all over a continent, send them to death factories and then claim nobody knew what was going on. It's just not credible.

[–] taylorje 10 years ago

The Germans didn't want to know anything. It was far safer that way.

[–] halomaniac88 10 years ago

Lies.....Everybody knew...even the Allies knew what was happening and no one cared.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] halomaniac88 10 years ago

Oh yeah can you prove it? Let me see some evidence.

[–] Wingman_S 10 years ago

Yes because Sky News and Twitter were huge back then, so naturally everyone knew exactly what was happening in every part of the world down to the smallest detail, it wasn't like they were in the middle of a war and at a time when communications and technology were vastly inferior to what we have now.