Hitler Exhibit Explores a Wider Circle of Guilt | NYT

[BootinUp]

BERLIN — As artifacts go, they are mere trinkets — an old purse, playing cards, a lantern. Even the display that caused the crowds to stop and stare is a simple embroidered tapestry, stitched by village women.

But the exhibits that opened Friday at the German Historical Museum are intentionally prosaic: they emphasize the everyday way that ordinary Germans once accepted, and often celebrated, Hitler.

The household items had Nazi logos and colors. The tapestry, a tribute to the union of church, state and party, was woven by a church congregation at the behest of their priest.

“This is what we call self-mobilization of society,” said Hans-Ulrich Thamer, one of three curators to assemble the exhibit at the German Historical Museum. “As a person, Hitler was a very ordinary man. He was nothing without the people.”

read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/world/europe/16hitler.html?src=me&ref=general

[no_hypocrisy]

1. When I stayed at a home in Wetzlar, they had the same items on display

in the basement. To them, they're historical collectibles.

[BootinUp]

2. Well they are that, and more. nt

[proteus_lives]

3. It's true, most Germans loved Hitler and Nazism until they started losing the war.

[Amonester]

4. The minority of dissidents had two choices:

Choice #1: Manage to leave the country and live in exile.
Choice #2: Remain in the country and get murdered gestapo style.