WWII Question

Anne Frank wrote: “I don’t believe the war (World War II) is simply the work of politicians and capitalists. Oh no, the common man is every bit as guilty; otherwise, people and nations would have rebelled long ago!” (May 3, 1944.)The Nazis needed Dutch collaborators to carry out their fascist decrees. What would have influenced someone to become a collaborator? What factors would have encouraged someone to join the resistance? Do you think these factors were based on personal characteristics or political beliefs? How should accountability for wars be assigned? So many say they never understood what was happening. How likely could that have been?


What would have influenced someone to become a collaborator? I think a main reason for a country to become a collaborator would be out of fear. This is because if your country was not able to hold of the German army then you would risk the chance of been thrown into a concentration camp or an extermination camp.

What factors would have encouraged someone to join the resistance? I think many things could trigger someone joining the resistance. First, I think that strong personal beliefs would trigger your feelings. If you strongly believed that everybody should have a say in what the country does and believes in a lot of freedom you would be against Hitlers fascist rule. Also, being a part of a non-Aryan race or being a Jew would trigger much hate towards Hitlers ambitions. Since, Hitler was targeting you, you would most likely want to do something about it rather then being sent to a camp.

Do you think these factors were based on personal characteristics or political beliefs? I think that these factors can be triggered by both political or personal characteristics. If you are a member or a Political Party then your decision might be more politically based then someone who is Jewish who would have a more personal characteristic.

How should accountability for wars be assigned? Since, it is usually the leader or ruler of the country that decides to go into a war, i think him/her and their true followers should be punished. Other then that, I think that every country that was involved in the war, in whatever way, should have to pay equally for the damage done.

So many say they never understood what was happening. How likely could that have been? I think that in some cases it could have been very likely. The Nazi's weren't publicly going around and killing people. I think that everyone would know that something was going on but only to a certain extent. Uneducated people that live in rural parts of Germany might not have felt the full blow of the Holocaust therefor they could truthfully say that they didn't fully understand what was happening in the concentration camps.