10 Because the accident was a man named aAdolf Hitler.
CHAPTER 301 bAnd no matter what anyone says, it's just not true that Hitler was in any way representative of Kraut history and culture,
2 cEven if he did love Wagner's operas,
3 Which were all about dGötterdämmerung,
4 eMeaning glorious death in the fultimate battle,
5 Because nobody but Hitler ever took Götterdämmerung literally,
6 gEven if Hitler was a big admirer of Frederick the Great,
7 hAnd Bismarck's blood and iron,
8 iAnd Nietzsche's ideas about man and superman,
9 jAnd even if there had been a few anti-Semites in Germany at odd moments in the past,
10 kAnd even if Hitler did have a special fondness for boots and fancy uniforms, something like the Prussians always had,
11 lIt doesn't mean anything,
12 Any of it,
13 Because Hitler was crazy,
14 And how could anyone have known that way back when he first got elected chancellor?
CHAPTER 311 Of course, it's easy for people to point fingers after the fact and say the Krauts should have read Hitler's book and seen what he had in mind,
2 mOr that they should have voted him out when the Nazi brownshirts started beating up Jews and things like that,
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3 nOr maybe they should have rebelled after Krystallnacht, when all the osynagogues got burned down,
4 pOr maybe there should have been a coup d'état when Hitler started grabbing up all those little countries in eastern Europe,
5 qOr maybe there should have been a popular uprising when all the non-Aryans started getting sent to concentration camps,
6 But the thing is, things happen a little bit at a time,
7 rAnd you don't always notice the things that are important right away,
8 And besides, the western Europeans and the Americans have always had pretty convenient memories,
9 sSince none of them objected that strongly to the business with the Jews till much much later,
10 And it was never exactly a secret,
11 Except from the German people, of course,
12 And if you want to be completely honest,
13 tJust who is it that's so fond of the Jews anyway?
14 Besides, what did the Allies do when they saw that Hitler was rearming Germany,
15 uOr when he annexed Austria,
16 vAnd Czechoslovakia?
17 Mostly, their response to all these things was to hope that Hitler would just go away eventually,
18 Which is exactly what the German people were hoping the whole time too,
19 Except maybe for a little while at the beginning,
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