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David's avatar

This is where I think most people struggle to wrap their mind around how complex people are. Its a good example of the people who knew Ted Bundy and were shocked he wasn’t such a nice guy. People can both do horrendous things and do nice things for people.

I’m not surprised hear that Nazi’s came home from a long day of killing Jews, kissed their wives and tucked their kids into bed and read them a story. Unlike Ted Bundy, a large majority of these Nazis were not psychopaths. They were just regular people who were heavily indoctrinated. So why would it be surprising that Nazis loved their kids? and those same kids remembered their parents fondly.

Now it would be very interesting to me if this guy saw what was happening at the camp and still all these years later was minimizing it. Indoctrination can be very durable.

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lh's avatar

I can't help but wonder about the smell. Nobody noticed the stench of burning human flesh? Did the children think this was normal and the rest of the world smelled strange? Did they, as adults, not figure this out or did they not care?

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Some Asshole on the Internet's avatar

Madam, I suggests you are being unfairly harsh.

Have you ever lived near a crematorium? Odds are you have and simply never noticed - there’s usually at least one near every major cemetery. People aren’t inherently good or evil but they do - especially as children - tend to live selfish lives focused on that which immediately impacts themselves.

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Diana Kelly's avatar

It is not surprising that that they loved their kids like regular people, however, these kids are no longer kids, and they are adults, fully capable of recognizing and making moral judgements about their parents behavior. You can love your father as your father, but that does not make him a "good man" nor does it excuse or absolve his inhumane behavior.

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