Berlin historian Götz Aly suggests the possibility that Germany could once again fall under the control of an authoritarian regime. While the 79-year-old stated to “Zeitmagazin” that mass exterminations and gas chambers would not be repeated, he cautioned that “terror of this kind remains a human possibility.”
Aly argues that many Germans have overestimated their own liberalism and enlightenment. He specifically warned against the erroneous notion that those who felt morally superior to their ancestors behaved significantly better, or even more resistant, during the period from 1933 to 1945.
According to Aly, who has authored numerous books on National Socialism, many Germans possess a distorted view of the Nazi era. He pointed to common distancing techniques that reveal this bias. He suggested looking at exhibitions like the “Topographie des Terrors” in Berlin, where the focus is overwhelmingly on SS members in the most stereotypical uniforms. He noted that the average German citizen of those years is systematically ignored in these narratives. Aly attributes this oversight to the memorial sites themselves, which rarely acknowledge the complicity of the ordinary participant.
Aly firmly rejects the idea that everyone was a zealous Nazi who continuously cheered “Heil Hitler.” Instead, he argues that authoritarian systems require countless supporting individuals. He suggests that the average citizen-calm, quiet people who navigated life as we do today-participated to varying degrees, laughed, and overlooked much of what was happening.
