Funnily enough, it was one of the favourite rhetorical tricks of the USSR: they would deflect all criticism from the US, no matter how valid, with whataboutisms including “but you hang negros”.
But the whole meme is pointless. Seems like calling out that these people shouldn’t have been allowed to be part of a new society after the nazi state was destroyed. It’s not that easy no matter how much people like to draw history and the world as a whole as black and white.
For example Hallstein: He was never a member of the NSDAP. Yes, he fought in WW2 for the Germans but after the war he was a leading figure in the new democratic German academia and afterwards worked towards having Germany integrated into international institutions.
For anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to punish every last one who was part of a criminal, even cruel and inhumane movement: Look at Iraq. So many people who were part of Saddams party, even teachers, bureaucrats and whatnot… They where mostly expelled from society and a potential rehabilitation. And the direct consequence of these actions was the formation of ISIS because these people didn’t have a perspective in the new state and society. So being very consequential, as all things, can have very unforeseen (but actually quite forseeable) consequences.
That’s a whataboutism.
Funnily enough, it was one of the favourite rhetorical tricks of the USSR: they would deflect all criticism from the US, no matter how valid, with whataboutisms including “but you hang negros”.
Tl;dr: “USSR bad” ≠ “US not bad”
But the whole meme is pointless. Seems like calling out that these people shouldn’t have been allowed to be part of a new society after the nazi state was destroyed. It’s not that easy no matter how much people like to draw history and the world as a whole as black and white.
For example Hallstein: He was never a member of the NSDAP. Yes, he fought in WW2 for the Germans but after the war he was a leading figure in the new democratic German academia and afterwards worked towards having Germany integrated into international institutions.
For anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to punish every last one who was part of a criminal, even cruel and inhumane movement: Look at Iraq. So many people who were part of Saddams party, even teachers, bureaucrats and whatnot… They where mostly expelled from society and a potential rehabilitation. And the direct consequence of these actions was the formation of ISIS because these people didn’t have a perspective in the new state and society. So being very consequential, as all things, can have very unforeseen (but actually quite forseeable) consequences.
That’s a very good point tbh. Doesn’t change that the whataboutism I replied to was stupid but yeah, you’re right.