The German Army or the Wehrmacht was a totally different entity from the SS. The SS were the ones that did the genocide and were the ardent believers of Hitler. Hitler at several points had a difficult time reigning in the Wehrmacht and never trusted his generals.
The Wehrmacht, for the most part, were just normal soldiers like the guys in our Army. I'm sure there were some exceptions, but then again I'm sure there were some exceptions on our side too. I was stationed in Germany from 2003-2007 and I on several occasions attended veterans and memorial day events there. Many of the people who showed up to our events happened to be German WWII veterans. Soldiers are soldiers. Aside from the ardent idealist, we both face similar hardship regardless of the side we fought on.
I will say from my own combat experiences that I have a mutual respect for a majority of the guys on the other end of my rifle. Those guys were fighting me because they believed they were doing the best thing for their communities and their people. They may have been poor and uneducated and manipulated by their leaders, but for the most part they were doing what they thought was the right thing. Not to stray too far off from my point, as soon as you realize that you aren't that different from the guys on the other side it becomes harder to shoot them. Those guys are someone's son, brother, or loving uncle. They could even be good fathers and providers like I would like to think I am.
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