# Did any Nazis publicly demonstrate remorse? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884 "2020-07-09T23:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/41 "2020-07-18T18:25:52Z")
I think the idea is to understand how seemingly normal people can do “evil” things. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/42 "2020-07-18T18:42:36Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Despite Milgram’s experiment being used to argue that we all have potential for Nazi-level evil, it said no such thing. And his study had serious flaws. > > “The study has been critiqued heavily over the past four decades on the grounds of research ethics. Milgram used deception and potentially scarred the participants. The study has also been criticised for experimental bias. It does not measure how people behave in real life, but rather how they respond to commands in a staged setting. The set up of the original experiment was seen as absurd by some of the participants and so they experienced no qualms about complying with the instructions.” > > [Untangling Pop Culture’s Obsession with the Milgram Experiment – The Other Sociologist](https://othersociologist.com/2014/05/11/milgram-experiment/amp/) > **[Stanley Milgram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Milgram)** > > Stanley Milgram (August 15, 1933 – December 20, 1984) was an American social psychologist, best known for his controversial experiments on obedience conducted in the 1960s during his professorship at Yale. > Milgram was influenced by the events of the Holocaust, especially the trial of Adolf Eichmann, in developing the experiment. After earning a PhD in social psychology from Harvard University, he taught at Yale, Harvard, and then for most of his career as a professor at the City University of ... Yale and Harvard are pretty impressive credentials…I guess he didn’t have to run his experimental design past anyone first? We watched the experiment for psych 101 some decades ago. I’m not at all surprised that people questioned the ethics. I also ran across something he wrote about the experiment in this book. > **[THE NORTON READER FIFTH EDITION: Arthur Eastman: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/THE-NORTON-READER-FIFTH-EDITION/dp/B000H1NXSS)** > > THE NORTON READER FIFTH EDITION \[Arthur Eastman\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. THE NORTON READER FIFTH EDITION His footnote, on page 794 says: > [@](#): > > The ethical problems of carrying out an experiment of this sort are too complex to be dealt with here, but they receive extended treatment in the book from which this article is adapted [Milgram’s note]. The book is _Obedience to Authority_ (New York: Harper and Row, 1974). I would be curious to read that, but I’ve never seen it. When you say his experiment said no such thing, I’m not sure how to interpret that. Do you mean that he never explicitly mentioned Nazis, or perhaps that he wished to connect them but in the your opinion, his experiment results don’t support the conclusion? In this piece his final paragraph says: > [@](#): > > Even Eichmann was sickenened when he toured the concentration camps, but he had only to sit at a desk and shuffle papers. At the same time the man in the camp who actually dropped Cyclon-b into the gas chambers was able to justify _his_ behavior on the ground that he has only following orders from above. Thus there is a fragmentation of the total human act; no one is confronted with the consequences of his decision to carry out the evil act. The person who assumes responsibility has evaporated. Perhaps this is the most common characteristic of socially organized evil in modern society. Another take on the experiment, from Berkeley, from 2014 as well. > [@](#): > > Participants demonstrated a range of negative emotions about continuing. Some pleaded with the learner, asking the actor to answer questions carefully. Others started to laugh nervously and act strangely in diverse ways. Some subjects appeared cold, hopeless, somber, or arrogant. Some thought they had killed the learner. Nevertheless, participants continued to obey, discharging the full shock to learners. One man who wanted to abandon the experiment was told the experiment must continue. Instead of challenging the decision of the experimenter, he proceeded, repeating to himself, “It�s got to go on, it�s got to go on.” [https://nature.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7article/article35](https://nature.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7article/article35) I don’t see anything about it being perceived by participants as absurd etc. in that article. I’m not implying that your assertion is wrong—but they published both in the same year so they potentially have the same benefit of hindsight, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/43 "2020-07-19T17:03:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And Admiral Canaris has been nominated to be on that select list. He was part of the Plot vs Hitler, I do not believe Canaris was actually an active participant in the bomb plot. He certainly undermined the Nazi regime in countless other ways, though. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/44 "2020-07-19T19:16:07Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The other famous experiment that may or may not be relevant is the Stanford Prison Experiment, in which two groups of ordinary students were assigned the roles of prisoners and prison guards. Guess what other famous experiment has numerous gaping flaws and outright fraud, and doesn’t show what it purports to show? > **[Why Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment Isn’t in My Textbook](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201310/why-zimbardo-s-prison-experiment-isn-t-in-my-textbook)** > > Results of the famous Stanford Prison Experiment have a trivial explanation. > **[Stanford Prison Experiment: Zimbardo's Famous Study](https://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html)** > > In Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups, guards or prisoners. after a few days, the prisoners staged a failed revolt and were consequently punished and humiliated by the guards. > **[One of Psychology's Most Famous Experiments Was Deeply Flawed](https://www.livescience.com/62832-stanford-prison-experiment-flawed.html)** > > The 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment had some serious problems. [https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/oct/12/landmark-stanford-prison-experiment-criticized-sham/](https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/oct/12/landmark-stanford-prison-experiment-criticized-sham/) Notably one of the most dramatic episodes of someone breaking down turns out was entirely fake: > **[New Stanford Prison Experiment revelations question findings](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/20/new-stanford-prison-experiment-revelations-question-findings)** > > The 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment has long been considered a window into the horrors ordinary people can inflict on one another, but new interviews with participants and reconsideration of archival records shed more light on the findings. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/45 "2020-07-19T19:55:04Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > If everyone could do evil given the “right” circumstances, does it mean no one who commits atrocities should feel remorse for having joined the Dark Side? > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think the idea is to understand how seemingly normal people can do “evil” things. As is one of my regular catchphrases in these boards: Explanation is not Justification – or Excuse; but if it _ **is** _ an explanation, then it can be useful to detect recurrences or call out what circumstances lead to it. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/46 "2020-07-19T20:01:46Z")
True. But it is noteworthy that someone who has put too much effort in serving “Darth Vader” is quite unlikely to feel remorse. Or say I’m sorry. * * * Happy Birthday, JRDelirious! 🎇 🎊 ---
**Author:** ![danascully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@danascully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danascully)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/47 "2020-07-21T18:15:08Z")
I find it hard to believe that this couple didn’t know what was going on. In fact, I think it’s hard to believe that most German people didn’t know about the camps and the goings-on to some degree. ---
**Author:** ![danascully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@danascully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danascully)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/48 "2020-07-21T18:18:55Z")
I have nothing but contempt for Speer. There are a couple of books about him that expose what an empty, soul-less entity he was. The best example of his total lack of morality is the fact that he died of a stroke while shtupping his mistress in a London hotel room. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/49 "2020-07-21T19:18:41Z")
> [@danascully](#): > > shtupping ‘shtupping’ is a marvelously ironic word choice, given that it is Yiddish colloquium. Thanks for the smile, subtle though it was. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/50 "2020-07-25T15:05:13Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > True. But it is noteworthy that someone who has put too much effort in serving “Darth Vader” is quite unlikely to feel remorse. Or say I’m sorry. > > Happy Birthday, JRDelirious! 🎇 Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/51 "2020-08-02T11:52:22Z")
> Thus there is a fragmentation of the total human act; no one is confronted with the consequences of his decision to carry out the evil act. The person who assumes responsibility has evaporated. Or they find some sort of perverted logic to glory in their responsibility. Himmler went so far as to say, [in the speech that was recorded on disc](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posen_speeches#:~:text=The%20Posen%20speeches%20were%20two,%2C%20in%20German-occupied%20Poland.) and which Speer was known to have attended, that precisely _because_ the mass murder programme was a “difficult decision” and to be directly involved in it something to “endure”, and yet to remain “decent”, that somehow made the perpetrators more admirable. But of course the system was also constructed to give all the desk-jockeys and others indirectly involved (but nonetheless essential to its running), as well as the general public, the euphemistic cover story about “resettlement”. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884/52 "2020-08-07T20:50:42Z")
Not an apology, but the story of Rudolf Hess is interesting. i suspect he saw how things were going and tried to make the best out of a bad situation. It didn’t work and was perhaps doomed from the start, but it makes me wonder. > **[Will We Ever Know Why Nazi Leader Rudolf Hess Flew to Scotland in the Middle...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/will-we-ever-know-why-nazi-leader-rudolf-hess-flew-scotland-middle-world-war-ii-180959040/)** > > The remarkable tale of insanity, espionage, and conspiracies remains unanswered after 75 years [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-nazis-publicly-demonstrate-remorse/914884.md?page=2)