> When discussing Hitler's history role we often hear next arguments:

>> He gave Germany pride and self confidence,

> Yes, but this kind of pride and self confidence is usually called
> "Nazism". The pride of being superior to the inferior human races, 
> the
> pride of being able to decide which human race is allowed to stay on
> the Earth and which is not.

Not the pride that I was talking about. As you may well imagine. He 
took a people who were downtrodden and who had been financially bled 
to death by the undeniable excesses of the WW1 reparations exacted by 
the victors, and gave them back national pride, improved working 
conditions and national identity in ways which would be largely 
acceptable within the bounds of any number of modern democratic 
societies. (How he obtained the powe to do so was less salubrious). 
Unfortunately, along the way he also stole their minds.

>> he slashed unemployment, raised standards
>> of living, improved the overall lot of the common
>> people,

> What would you say if some US president would kill 50 million (some
> middle and high class) of 300 US population, and scattered their
> property among the rest, thus "raising the standards of living" and
> "improving the overall lot of the common people"?

Long past time for him to go.
But, that would apply to brother Joseph from the next big country up, 
but not to Hitler at the stage I was talking about.

>> built superb roading systems, public works and much more.

> He often did that using slaves killing them by this work; like in
> ancient history; nothing to be proud of.

Not what I was talking about. See below.

A common human problem is the inability or refusal to separate for 
separate treatment facts which are to a variable extent orthogonal. 
Another problem is to attempt to artificially compartmentalise those 
things which are intimately related. In discussing Hitler and his 
actions it is hard to avoid one or other or both of these errors.

Much of what Hitler did that was, arguably, admirable was done in his 
earlier years when he had not had the opportunity to exercise his 
excesses to excess. Throughout his rule he was progressively getting 
more extreme and even early on he did or allowed things which were 
beyond any level of reasonable behaviour.

    But few of his early positive actions were at the expense of those 
who
    he was responsible for. And those that were were arguably no more
    so than is currently acceptable in modern democratic states.
    (Look aboot ye*).

Slave labour, mass murder, medical 'experiments' and the like were 
very largely the children of the later years of his rule. "Unremitting 
violence" was however his constant hallmark (this based on his own 
comments). The ability and resources to implement it grew with time.

"Crystal Night" occurred in November 1938 - well into his progression 
into utter tyranny. The "night of the long knives" where Hitler 
committed murder in terms of German state law of the time, and was not 
held accountable for it by the German public, was in June 1934 and 
arguably is the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end on 
the path from uber-patriot to demon.

If we utterly demonise an utter demon and fail to see that he was not 
always so, then we run the grave risk of not seeing the same 
progression in those we support. Recognising that a man who had many 
motives that were essentially good and acceptable, and who did many 
things which were also good and acceptable, can by degrees be utterly 
perverted by his darker imaginings, is a valuable lesson.




        Russell McMahon



* Apposite motto of the Clackmanashire County Council AFAIR.

Googles ...

Fancy that. I got it right ! :-)
Apart from the two n's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clackmannanshire

We stayed in a camp ground there and the motto was on, amongst other 
things, a rubbish bin near our tents.


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