Reminiscences of a German World War II Veteran | SPIEGEL ONLINE

Jürgen Dahlkamp reports on an interview with a 92 year-old WW II veteran who lost his leg on the Russian front.

“I was a good soldier,” says Heinz Otto Fausten, which seems like the beginning of a sentence that can’t possibly turn out well. But then he says: “I see today that because of that, I was merely a good tool for an unbelievably criminal regime.”

The interview raises questions about individual culpability for collective crimes and when should a “good soldier” disobey orders.

Read more at Reminiscences of a German World War II Veteran – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

One Reply to “Reminiscences of a German World War II Veteran | SPIEGEL ONLINE”

  1. Colin that quote is very insightful and puts the actions of many good men in proper perspective. It does not excuse those actions but does go someway to explaining how an obviously good man would carry out horrible deeds.

Comments are closed.