Ordinary vs. Extraordinary

Today's class discussion in my POLS 2101 class was very interesting and it clearly opened my eyes about the Nazis. Before today, I was so into the thought that every branch of the military involved in the holocaust was very responsible for many deaths of the Jews and non- Jewish people. The fact of the matter is that the soldiers were just following orders. They can't necessarily be totally responsible as the men who gave the orders, but they could stand for what they thought was right. Many of the soldiers were really for the extermination of Jews. Only a few felt that in their heart that it was wrong. Those people cannot be blamed for being afraid to say what was right because their life and their family’s life were going to be in danger. I believe that if some soldiers would've stood up and said that it was wrong. Then some more soldiers would've followed. The ones that opposed it would have died, but it would have been for a great cause. It would have prevented the loss of thousands of lives. If I was in that case, I would've just disobeyed the choice at hand and got killed. I'm the type of person that is willing to die for a good cause. I would rather stand up for something then to fall for anything. I seriously would've given my life. It probably wouldn't have changed as much or stopped the killings immediately, but it would've made a great standing point. In that time period, it would have only taken a few hundred people to die for the good cause to drastically change the outcome of a lot of people lives being taken.A few leaders in that type of situation would've made a big change, but people were scared to die over their moral values.