Mellie, I did not try to imply that all or most Germans were Nazis. I agree that it probably came out that way, and I'm sorry about it. But consider what you yourself said:
I once read that less than 10% of the German population (which is still a lot) stood behind Hitler. But these 10% were well-organized and mostly military.
10% of the German population is still a lot. Of course that's a tiny fraction of the entire German population.
Please understand that I'm not implying that "Germans as a people" are inherently Nazi. No, but the small percentage of Germans that really did back Hitler did so most vociferously. I'm sure they did, judging from the snippets of film from Germany of the 1930s that I have seen. The Nazis cheered, they marched, they shouted and they made the "Heil Hitler" sign. And they did it by the thousands, simultaneously, at least on a few choice occasions.
I think the Germans who were Nazis scared the Germans who weren't Nazis. The ones who weren't Nazis didn't want to make their disapproval known too clearly, because what would that loud and horribly "synchronized" crowd, moving as one thousand-headed monster, do if it/they found out that someone opposed it/them?
Earlier this year, there was a soccer match here in Malmö, and a crowd of Stockholm supporters came marching down one of the main streets of Malmö, singing threateningly as they did so. There were only a few hundred of them, but boy, were they scary.
That's my point, Mellie: crowds with a purpose are scarier than people acting alone.
Ann
