The extraordinary courage of Germany’s wartime ‘traitors’ |
I once interviewed the late Enoch Powell for this magazine (the article never appeared, for reasons I forget). One thing he said on that occasion stuck with me. He remarked that loyalty to one’s country should be unconditional. I asked him what he thought people should do if their country were taken over by a criminal regime. After a short pause Powell replied that some people were luckier than others. I failed to press him further on this point, but it struck me as an unsatisfactory answer, and it still does.
Jonathan Freedland has written a very good book on precisely such unlucky people: German patriots who hated Hitler and everything he stood for. Some came to this view earlier than others, but all of them felt that resisting the government of their own country was the right thing to do.
No one could trust anyone. There was an expression for always looking over your shoulder – ‘the Berlin gaze’
In some respects, resisters in countries occupied by the Germans had it easier. They joined the resistance for many different reasons. The humiliation of being subjected to a foreign occupation was one of them. Some were spurred by their religious beliefs or political convictions. Communists were a strong presence in the French resistance and Calvinists in the Dutch. Others felt that hiding Jews, and other acts of resistance, was the only decent thing to do. Still others joined in a spirit of adventure.
Resistance to the Nazis in Germany was more complicated. It was, of course, extremely dangerous, which is why so few people chose to resist or even to criticise the regime in public. In an occupied country, a resister could count on sympathy from people who resented the foreign enemy as much as they did. In Germany, snoops and informers were everywhere. No one could trust anyone. There was an expression for always looking over your shoulder –‘the Berlin........