# Why was the US so nice in World War II? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 11, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220 "2012-01-11T22:46:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/41 "2012-01-12T09:55:06Z")
Didn’t the USA make up for that ‘niceness’ in Vietnam and elsewhere? Or maybe, more generally, the victor reports the enemy’s evilness more than his own. That scene in one of the Spielberg films of a US soldier shooting German prisoners always felt incongruous to me, it doesn’t adhere to the standard narrative. ---
**Author:** ![YoDoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e68b1a/32.png) [@YoDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoDoc)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/42 "2012-01-12T12:58:24Z")
Yay! Ignorant people talking about war! Again! ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/43 "2012-01-12T13:26:56Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > As far as why were the Americans for the most part nice? I think it comes down to the character of the average American. We are by nature a caring and compassionate people. It was not unusual at all for our soldiers to treat both the Germans and Japanese (the ones who surrendered successfully) with great care and understanding. There have been many written accounts by the enemy of their surprise at being taken care of after capture. We are unique in this world, even today our primary goal is to resolve a conflict with as few casualties as possible. Why do you think that we spend billions developing smart weapons capable of precision strikes instead of weapons geared toward taking out huge areas. Something tells me that designing a weapon to take out a city block is much easier than designing one to take out one room in a building. We do it because we care about human life. The American soldier has no equal in this regard. I am very proud of our soldiers past and present and am disgusted by those who will take one or two examples (there are bad apples in every bunch) and try to apply it across the board. I’m sorry, but to try and make a case that American soldiers have no equal, that Americans are unique in their compassion, really is just ‘USA! USA!’. Plenty of countries can say the same of their armed forces and national character, Americans aren’t unique for showing compassion. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/44 "2012-01-12T13:41:18Z")
And most countries do. It’s part of any national narrative. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/45 "2012-01-12T14:31:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you look at other serious wars like World War I or the American Civil War or the Napoleonic Wars, you don’t see any country committing the level of atrocities that were routine among some nations during World War II. Germany’s treatment of Belgium in WW1 comes close, only not rising to the same level because Belgium is so small. The _systematic and planned_ kidnapping and massacre of civilians on little or no pretext and the destruction of cultural heritage would be more widely remembered as the horror it was if it took place on the same scale all throughout France, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/46 "2012-01-12T14:41:49Z")
I don’t know how true it is, but I saw a documentary a few years ago about WW2 that claimed german soldiers themselves were not really that bad, it was the SS, gestapo and other security officials who did all the killing. The average german soldier was not doing the same kinds of things the soviet and japanese soldiers were doing. As far as the US being nice, I think most allied western powers (the UK, France, Canada, Australia, etc) behaved in a reasonably civilized fashion during the war. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/47 "2012-01-12T15:01:48Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Let’s not try to make villians out of our soldiers. The reason that very few if any Japanese prisoners were taken alive was because you could not trust a Japanese soldier that was surrendering. Too many Americans trying to do the right thing and treat these prisoners with compassion and caring ended up dead. Not to mention that the Japanese weren’t known for their kind and generous treatment of Allied prisoners. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And? Considering how nasty _they_ were, it was perfectly possible to be _very_ nasty indeed and still not sink to their level. That’s like standing up in court at your murder trial and using “well, at least I didn’t _eat_ them like Jeffrey Dahmer” as your defense. Yeah, but you also like to use the Jeffrey Dahmer outliers as the standard by which all of America should be judged. > [@obbn](#): > > As far as why were the Americans for the most part nice? I think it comes down to the character of the average American. We are by nature a caring and compassionate people. It was not unusual at all for our soldiers to treat both the Germans and Japanese (the ones who surrendered successfully) with great care and understanding. > [/quote] [Unless you are dead. In which case you might get peed on!](http://news.yahoo.com/karzai-condemns-video-urination-corpses-120758800.html) > [@obbn](#): > > There have been many written accounts by the enemy of their surprise at being taken care of after capture. We are unique in this world, even today our primary goal is to resolve a conflict with as few casualties as possible. [Iran hails American naval forces as a credit to the Great Satan for rescuing fishermen!](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16455164) > [@obbn](#): > > Why do you think that we spend billions developing smart weapons capable of precision strikes instead of weapons geared toward taking out huge areas. Something tells me that designing a weapon to take out a city block is much easier than designing one to take out one room in a building. We do it because we care about human life. I think it has more to do with effectively killing what you’re trying to kill instead of just blowing up the whole area. It’s very expensive and inefficient to carpet bomb. > [@obbn](#): > > The American soldier has no equal in this regard. I am very proud of our soldiers past and present and am disgusted by those who will take one or two examples (there are bad apples in every bunch) and try to apply it across the board. In all fairness, a lot of soldiers are dumbasses. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/48 "2012-01-12T15:14:35Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > I doubt that a long-winded ‘Cite’ war will change anyone’s opinion. I’ll leave you to your delusions and ignorance. > [@YoDoc](#): > > Yay! Ignorant people talking about war! Again! Comments like this don’t contribute much to the thread (although I saw that **chacoguy** did post some cites). If you want to participate in the discussion, please do. If you don’t, then don’t post things like this. It’s pretty much threadshitting. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/49 "2012-01-12T15:43:56Z")
Some random factoids on the topic: During the war, bread was not a rationed item in Britain. After the war it went onto the ration list, so that occupied Germany could be fed. [German POW’s faced starvation in post-war camps run by the Americans.](http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=pfwl&cp=17&gs_id=1d&xhr=t&q=eisenhower+starved+germans&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&safe=active&rlz=1R2ADRA_enUS400&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=eisenhower+starve&aq=0&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=79a914ef1cf0f6d4&biw=1536&bih=751) Eisenhower just didn’t have the food for them as well as the civilian population, so he let them starve. Nothing personal. As thorough the retribution inflicted on the Japanese Empire (except, for some reason, [that one guy](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Hirohito_wartime.jpg/170px-Hirohito_wartime.jpg)), the post-war generation of Japanese was taller and more robust than any previous. On the other hand, The US killed a larger percentage of the population of the Philippines than the Japanese. The hunters and herdsmen of Siberia and Central Asia did not experience the same fate as their counterparts in North America. Looking at Eastern European history, the constant theme of “If we could finally kill all of them, we’d habe happy at last” isn’t found in the US. We hated, say, the Comanche, for half a century, utterly defeated them, and then moved on. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/50 "2012-01-12T16:10:00Z")
In war being a humanitarian is a luxury item that not everyone can afford. If you are winning the war, you have more resources to be compassionate to your enemies, and can afford to maintain your humanity and civility. But if you are on the losing side struggling to survive, then you will take every avenue open to aid tip the scales in your favor, be it torture, execution of prisoners, subjugation of civilians. Also being frustrated, stressed and demoralized your troops are more likely to take their aggression out on their enemies and civilians around them. Also there is the fact that the winners write the history books, so the victors troops and ideals are put in a better light than the losers. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/51 "2012-01-12T16:17:32Z")
At the policy level, I think the Soviet threat pursuaded the US government that it needed to get Germany and to a lesser extent Japan, on its feet as soon as possible. On a personal level, American troops had been fighting the war on foreign soil and just did not have the same level of hatred to Germany as did Europeans who had seen their cities occupied by Germany. There seems to have been more animosity by Americans towards Japan; we did, afterall, imprison our own citizens of Japanese anscestry. ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/52 "2012-01-12T16:46:45Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Let’s not try to make villians out of our soldiers. The reason that very few if any Japanese prisoners were taken alive was because you could not trust a Japanese soldier that was surrendering. Too many Americans trying to do the right thing and treat these prisoners with compassion and caring ended up dead. The Japanese were notorious for hiding a grenade in their hands while holding them behind their heads or hiding them in their loin cloths only to detonate them when an American soldier would approach to capture them. There was absolutely no way to tell which Japanese soldier that was surrendering was going to commit suicide and take you or your fellow soldiers with them. After witnessing a few of these suicides the general attitude of the average American was take no prisoners. In fact, I have read many accounts of Americans surveying a battlefield after the battle and putting a bullet into the corpse that didn’t show obvious signs of death to make sure. It wasn’t uncommon for a wounded Japanese to place a grenade underneath them so that when our medics would pick them up for treatment it would detonate and kill the Japanese and the medics attempting to help him. What would you have done in that situation? I can’t blame them in the least for killing every single one they saw. They wanted to go home and not in a body bag. The Japanese soldier of WWII did not follow the “rules” of war and paid the price for not doing so. Our soldiers were correct and just for doing what they did. > > As far as why were the Americans for the most part nice? I think it comes down to the character of the average American. We are by nature a caring and compassionate people. It was not unusual at all for our soldiers to treat both the Germans and Japanese (the ones who surrendered successfully) with great care and understanding. There have been many written accounts by the enemy of their surprise at being taken care of after capture. We are unique in this world, even today our primary goal is to resolve a conflict with as few casualties as possible. Why do you think that we spend billions developing smart weapons capable of precision strikes instead of weapons geared toward taking out huge areas. Something tells me that designing a weapon to take out a city block is much easier than designing one to take out one room in a building. We do it because we care about human life. The American soldier has no equal in this regard. I am very proud of our soldiers past and present and am disgusted by those who will take one or two examples (there are bad apples in every bunch) and try to apply it across the board. This above all has got on my goat. The US are so good so angelic… After reading this thread through and understanding all the different opinions and understanding of the different subscriber I cannot get over this crap. As said earlier - Vietnam. the US where such Good Guys… How about they way they treated the Native Americans - Good Guys… Total American bull shit. Remember the history was written by the victors - After all if the US got their way they would have won the war single handed - wait was that not how Hollywood portraid it - the US single handedly wone the war??? War is hell and if you are brought up in a culture that is different then you will have no understanding of it - the Japanees soldier did not understand what was wrong with trying to take as meny of the enemy as possible with him when he died - the Boshido code (I am not Japanees so may have got this wrong so forgive any mistakes) thought it was a dishonour to surrender and to do so was to show weakness. When they say enemy soldiers surrender they saw them as weaklings or sub-humans. If they surrendered they would have expected the same treatment. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/53 "2012-01-12T16:50:57Z")
Yep, I made the point about who writes history. Perhaps more importantly, who makes the movies that portrays history, and those people include Johns Wayne and Ford, Audie Murphy, Errol Flynn… ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/54 "2012-01-12T18:35:28Z")
> [@The\_Niply\_Elder](#): > > Interesting accusation. > > Btw, are you familiar with the training soldiers undergo? Let me give you a hint: a normal human psyche is not wired to kill other humans. My father and several other relatives of mine served in the military. They are not blood thirsty monsters now, and I doubt that they were during their military service, either. The idea that military training is intended to instill a psychopathic mentality is beneath contempt. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/55 "2012-01-12T18:38:27Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I don’t know how true it is, but I saw a documentary a few years ago about WW2 that claimed german soldiers themselves were not really that bad, it was the SS, gestapo and other security officials who did all the killing. The average german soldier was not doing the same kinds of things the soviet and japanese soldiers were doing. That’s apologetics, the Wehrmacht was intimately involved in the holocaust and other German atrocities. No, not every or even the average German soldier was a death camp guard, but trying to pass it all off on the SS, Gestapo, etc as doing all of the killing is unmitigated nonsense. What exactly do you think Soviet soldiers were doing that makes them worse than the Germans and on par with the Japanese? As bad as captivity in the hands of the Soviets was, it pales in comparison to what the Germans did on the Eastern front; the USSR didn’t let 2 million German prisoners die from starvation and neglect. When they invaded Germany the troops weren’t followed right on their heels by [extermination groups](http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005130) that proudly boasted of killing over a million undesirables in mass shootings. > [@Marley23](#): > > (although I saw that **chacoguy** did post some cites) Well, only if linking to Google-vomit is an actual cite. > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Some random factoids on the topic: > > [German POW’s faced starvation in post-war camps run by the Americans.](http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=pfwl&cp=17&gs_id=1d&xhr=t&q=eisenhower+starved+germans&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&safe=active&rlz=1R2ADRA_enUS400&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=eisenhower+starve&aq=0&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=79a914ef1cf0f6d4&biw=1536&bih=751) Eisenhower just didn’t have the food for them as well as the civilian population, so he let them starve. Nothing personal. Speaking of linking to Google-vomit, linking to the search terms “eisenhower starved germans” in Google isn’t an actual cite. It’s also complete and utter garbage and the brain child of one man’s (James Bacque) conspiracy theory. The [criticism section](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Losses#Criticism_of_Other_Losses) on wiki of his book _Other Losses_ is quite extensive. Suffice it to say that Bacque insists a million Germans were murdered without leaving behind so much as a single body. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/56 "2012-01-12T18:51:41Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > That’s apologetics, the Wehrmacht was intimately involved in the holocaust and other German atrocities. No, not every or even the average German soldier was a death camp guard, but trying to pass it all off on the SS, Gestapo, etc as doing all of the killing is unmitigated nonsense. What exactly do you think Soviet soldiers were doing that makes them worse than the Germans and on par with the Japanese? As bad as captivity in the hands of the Soviets was, it pales in comparison to what the Germans did on the Eastern front; the USSR didn’t let 2 million German prisoners die from starvation and neglect. When they invaded Germany the troops weren’t followed right on their heels by [extermination groups](http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005130) that proudly boasted of killing over a million undesirables in mass shootings. The last sentence contradicts the rest of the paragraph. If the average Wehrmacht soldier was so fuhrer-lovin bloodthirsty, they wouldn’t have needed the SS Einsatzgruppen. But to be fair to the Soviets, a lot of the carnage and rape was done by occupation troops rather than front-line troops. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/57 "2012-01-12T19:19:41Z")
> [@Hogfather65](#): > > \How about they way they treated the Native Americans - Good Guys… This is another meme I really get tired of. The American Indian tribes frequently fought each other over hunting grounds and farming land and resources such as water. When Europeans arrived, the various tribes were perfectly happy to ally themselves with the whites against other tribes, and the whites had no problem with allying themselves with Amerind tribes against other Euopean nations (e.g. the French and Indian War). The red man was playing the same game as the white man, it’s just that the white man played it better. And even with all this fighting, the vast majority of Amerinds died not from bullets but from diseases which the Europeans inadvertently introduced into the Americas. If only for the sake of variety, could you please come up with other excuses for despising Americans? And what does your comment have to do with the Second World War in which many Amerinds fought for the United States military? > [@Hogfather65](#): > > War is hell and if you are brought up in a culture that is different then you will have no understanding of it - the Japanees soldier did not understand what was wrong with trying to take as meny of the enemy as possible with him when he died - the Boshido code (I am not Japanees so may have got this wrong so forgive any mistakes) thought it was a dishonour to surrender and to do so was to show weakness. When they say enemy soldiers surrender they saw them as weaklings or sub-humans. If they surrendered they would have expected the same treatment. The Japanese militarists bastardized the traditional Bushido code of the Samurai for propaganda purposes. A Samurai was expected to be prepared for death to come at any moment. He was not expected to seek out death, and he certainly wasn’t expected to engage in wanton slaughter. But even if pre-militarist Japanese culture was as barbaric as you portray it, why would that make their brutality any less unacceptable? Why is brutality when practiced in the context of some other culture supposed to be understandable and not so bad, whereas similar brutality by Western nations is unforgiveable? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/58 "2012-01-12T19:23:51Z")
> [@The\_Niply\_Elder](#): > > Btw, are you familiar with the training soldiers undergo? Let me give you a hint: a normal human psyche is not wired to kill other humans. Minor hijack: This claim is in error. While most humans are not “wired” to engage in murder, (the killing of an individual for personal gain of some sort), as primates, humans have a long history of engaging in the killing of other humans who are outside one’s own group. Beginning with endogamous and exogamous, (in-family and out-family), bands and extending up to the level of the nation state, humans appear to be very much “wired” to inflict death on those who are perceived as “not us.” (I mention primates, because research in the last 20+ years has discovered the same phnomena among multiple primate species, including chimpanzees, baboons, and orang-outangs.) ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/59 "2012-01-12T22:18:59Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The last sentence contradicts the rest of the paragraph. If the average Wehrmacht soldier was so fuhrer-lovin bloodthirsty, they wouldn’t have needed the SS Einsatzgruppen. In what possible way? The existence of Einsatzgruppen (who were heavily recruited from outside the SS) in no way prevents the Wehrmacht from having any complicity in atrocities. You’ll also note that I said that the average German soldier **wasn’t** a death camp guard. From the cite provided on Einsatzgruppen: > [@](#): > > The German army provided logistical support to the Einsatzgruppen, including supplies, transportation, housing, and occasionally manpower in the form of units to guard and transport prisoners. > > The Einsatzgruppen received much assistance from German and Axis soldiers, local collaborators, and other SS units. Einsatzgruppen members were drawn from the SS, Waffen SS (military formations of the SS), SD, Sipo, Order Police, and other police units. Order Police were also directly involved in the holocaust, see for example Christopher R. Browning’s [Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland](http://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Men-Reserve-Battalion-Solution/dp/0060995068). Then of course there is the [Commissar Order](http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-commissar.htm) issued to the German Army: > [@](#): > > “The war against Russia cannot be fought in knightly fashion. The struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be waged with unprecedented, unmerciful, and unrelenting hardness. All officers will have to get rid of any old fashioned ideas they may have. I realize that the necessity for conducting such warfare is beyond the comprehension of you generals, but I must insist that my orders be followed without complaint. The commissars hold views directly opposite to those of National Socialism. Hence these commissars must be eliminated. Any German soldier who breaks international law will be pardoned. Russia did not take part in the Hague Convention and, therefore, has no rights under it.” Again, trying to pass off all of the blame to the SS is apologetics of the worst sort. ---
**Author:** ![YoDoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e68b1a/32.png) [@YoDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoDoc)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220/60 "2012-01-12T22:25:30Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Comments like this don’t contribute much to the thread (although I saw that **chacoguy** did post some cites). If you want to participate in the discussion, please do. If you don’t, then don’t post things like this. It’s pretty much threadshitting. To be fair, most of the people discussing this ARE ignorant of the realities of any kind of war, from any side of the conflict. To add to this ignorance, This thread is about a war that was not only enormous, throwing out most generalities, but a bare minimum of one, probably two generations removed from the participants of said discussion. That’s not even touching the “reputation” some of the participants have for willful ignorance and hatred of all things military. It wasn’t a threadshit, I promise. It was a commentary on the perpetual nature of people backseat driving, armchair generaling, and Monday morning quarterbacking. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-us-so-nice-in-world-war-ii/609220.md?page=4)