Discussion [POLL] What do you think you would have done in WW2?

[_Gollum_]

This is sometimes a question I think about: if I had lived in Germany or in a German-occupied country in WW2, what would I have done?

I think everyone likes to imagine themselves hiding Anne Frank in their attic, but in truth, I think most of us would have done what most people did back then: obey and cooperate.

I'd like to think of myself as someone having a high moral character and someone who reflects deeply on ethical questions, but that's easy to do that when you're living in a prosperous and peaceful country like I am now. But if put in a situation where my ethical principles might cost me my life (or my family's) or put me in extreme danger (ex. torture), would I really hold to my principles? I am not so sure. I think if I'm being honest with myself I probably would have just laid low and tried not to bring attention to myself. I'd have done what I was told and no more. I don't think I have a very high pain tolerance and I'm a pretty scared and risk-averse person, so I think the idea of being captured or tortured would have been enough to cow me. I wonder what this says about me as a moral agent, that I'd maybe only be willing to follow my principles when it's easy for me.

What about you?

@noname223 this feels like a question you would ask haha

 

[Insufficent]

I would have died. X gen and the one before says millenials wouldnt have survived ww2 and are made of soft shit.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I know what you mean. I have this hope that I would have resisted doing anything terrible and instead- tried to do what was right but then- I doubt I would have had the courage.

Maybe it also depends on just how much a person knew of what was going on. Had I been a guard in a concentration camp say- I'd hope that I'd have killed myself before I did something I wouldn't be able to live with. I'm not sure I would have had the courage to help people escape though.

That seems the more likely choice for me- to defect- via suicide if necessary. I'd love to think I had the courage to fight for the moral good but then- I probably wouldn't. And- like you say- the thought of them taking revenge on family members is terrifying.

That said- imagine meeting a courageous and inspirational resistor/s. That could make a difference. To feel part of a team of people who were fighting back.

 

[Pluto]

 

[MissAbyss]

I would most likely have played a role in the Dutch resistance, much like several of my great-grand-relatives, who were ultimately executed just one day before the village was liberated by French and Canadian troops.

I have always tried to let my own moral convictions guide me, not only in what I say, but, more importantly, in what I actually do. Principles mean very little if they disappear the moment they become inconvenient or come at a personal cost.

And that is precisely where my outlook has changed over the years. Looking at the world today, with its increasingly entrenched "every man for himself" mentality, its indifference, and its tendency to reduce solidarity to little more than empty words, I can no longer say with any certainty that I would be willing to make the same sacrifice.

I would probably be more inclined to remain on the sidelines. Not because I no longer believe in standing up for what is right, but because I have become deeply disillusioned by how little that sense of collective responsibility seems to exist anymore. If someone I loved, or I myself, were ever in real danger, however, I would still do everything in my power to protect them, even if it meant putting myself at serious risk in the process.

 

[Rounwytha]

I do not have a strong moral character lmao, I'm pretty reckless, patriotic and adventurous so I would have probably joined the army if I was german, maybe i'd take a low-danger role like military police

 

[PimpHand]

I would have joined the Based Polish resistance, guys fought against the Fascists and the Red Fascists, deciphered Enigma years before Turing and established a Partisan army that was only comparable to Yugoslavia.

Poland is the tragic hero of WW2.

 

[LonelyPrince]

I would have just killed myself IMMEDIATELY