The child does not even ask after the red headed kids? If the red-headed kids are real, sentient beings, this experiment is going to damage near everyone involved; we know the social problems and trauma caused by the Stanford prison experiment, and that was consensual, informed and contained.
The experiment also fundamentally underestimates what it takes to resist indoctrination. If your government systematically oppresses a group, and wants you to go along to it, they will not teach you universal rights spanning across these groups and so set you up to be for the minority and against the government. The nazis certainly did not teach such things; rights were for “true Germans”, with the strong implication that you needed a genetic claim and to prove yourself in ways only vaguely specified and that it would be very unwise to push. The nazi government also took great care to give you comprehensive reasons for the hate, to build a whole propaganda complex to make sense of why you should hate the jews. Resisting that is a lot harder than going “you said all sapients have rights, Jews are sapient, so what gives”. Political systems that systematically abuse subgroups tend to be very clear that rights are for in-group people, not just any people. You are imagining a heroic resistance to a complete strawman.
The story the nazis told you went something like this. (Warning, I am about to repeat vile nazi propaganda, and will increasingly shift to nazi tone, terminology and pronouns to illustrate the effect.)
Rights, according to the nazis, were neither universally for humans, nor something inalienable. They didn’t like the idea of rights you just got due to your needs at all. Rights had to be deserved. They taught you that the German people—an ethnic group of ancient, noble blood, not a group you could be admitted to by virtue of a flimsy piece of paper—had a grand destiny. That that feeling inside you that you want more for humanity, that we can be better, stronger, more rational than this, that there should be progress and growth beyond all limits, daring exploration past any frontiers, that this incredible feeling and drive is shared among all German people; that because of your beauty and brilliance and bravery, you have earned something wonderful, a future grander than any you can imagine.
But that our destiny has been foiled. Foiled by the jews. Who tricked us into debt and caused the great inflation that left us all so poor, when we had worked so hard, taking all the money we had earned and devaluing it until it was better to burn it for cinder than use it to buy wood, no longer worth the paper it was printed on. Who betrayed us, and made us lose the first world war, when we were fighting so bravely, with genius tactics and incredible sacrifices that should have meant we won, but the jews stabbed us in the back, wasting the sacrifices of our brave fathers and friends. Who brought the black plague that ravaged Europe, killing one person in three across the continent. Who broke God’s laws on lending, violating the rules of the bible, yet had the audacity to claim that they were the chosen people. Who stole all the good jobs, leaving them to smirk at us from the universities, and not because they were better, but because they were sneaky and corrupt, and because their crazy, ridiculous ideas were in fashion while our reason was ignored. Who had strange rites, in a strange tongue, and mutilated their children’s genitals, and tortured animals to death in bloody ways. Whose genes were unclean, so that breeding with them would make your children strange and evil and sick, also; that this was hard biology, scientific, beyond opinion, simple fact, proven, known, something a sentimentalist may deny because he prefers to be politically correct, but a rationalist would not. And that they may look perfectly like real people, sound like real people, but that this is a mask, a trick, to sneak into your heart, a careful manipulation to look out for. They don’t really feel. They just pretend, so you put down your guard and they can exploit you.
But the jews are crafty, and sly. Even very rational and strong Germans, when listening to the jews, have been seduced into aiding these traitors and enemies in our midst. Aiding them is as bad as being one. No true German would let this corruption onto his heart. Anyone who does, is an enemy also, to be discarded and treated as one. It is wisest to avoid all contact with jews entirely, to ward yourself against this trickery. Not just not to date them (a disgusting thing to do, you might as well fuck an animal, or drug yourself to oblivion while pregnant), or befriend them; you should not buy from them, in fact, they should not be in your city at all. All the more so because the beautiful houses they live in have been stolen from Germans, really; you are just taking back what should have been yours from birth, your rightful home and heritage. The jews should be moved away, where they cannot do harm. And put to work, for everyone knows that they don’t work, that all the riches they have have been accumulated through trickery and deceit. Their books, which are filled with lies, should be burnt, unread. To allow them two way communication is dangerous. We all like to think we would be strong enough to resist jewish manipulation, but humans are hackable. Do not give them an opening. Do not listen. Keep them locked away.
The situation is dire, and needs to be addressed with maximum efficiency. We are unfortunately in a war now, a war we never wanted, and did everything to avoid, you know how much Hitler loves peace, how much he resisted it; but alas, the German people were abused so terribly and relentlessly abroad, so threatened, so in need, so unjustly treated, that we had no choice but self-defence, finally allowing our men to shoot back. But think of the first world war again—what if the jews betray us again? Germany would be truly destroyed, all our culture and knowledge, literature, science, land, all in ashes and forgotten. A horror.
So in light of the speed and intensity of the actions needed, what should we do? The military is quite the inspiration in this regard, with the best chosen to lead, each in their place. What is important to understand is that questioning orders in the military is a terrible idea, there is not sufficient time to go back and ask your officer why, and wouldn’t another thing be better. A good soldier is utterly loyal, loyal to the end. He would not betray Germany. He would not hesitate. He knows his superiors are wise, and would not lie, and would never ask something that is not utterly, completely necessary. He proves himself through his loyalty, and that is how he can become a leader himself one day.
The nazis would tell you of rats, how rat babies look so cute, and they cry so pitifully when killed, so that you might think you did not want to kill them, and would rather let them go. But people who let rats go are fools. The rats multiply. They come inside your house, they eat your food, they sleep in your bed. You softness will bring you disease and ruin. It will starve your real family and community. As a strong, rational man, you will harden your heart against the jews. You will do what needs to be done. It is hard, and you will have to be very strong to go through with this. Exterminating them will be the hardest thing you have ever done, the biggest test of your rational mind against your heart. Your reason and knowledge must prevail. They must be killed, there is no other way.
Yes, the jews might cry and beg and make all sorts of arguments. Think of the German children you are saving when killing the Jewish ones. Of the grand future of Germany that will compensate for this pain many times of over. Killing many jews at once can be very stressful, we know. We know how hard it is for someone as noble as you to do such a thing. You are very strong and brave to stand killing so many. But to lessen the burden, it is likely better to gas them, to save you the distasteful sight, and the bullets.
If all the Germans knew what was happening in the camps, they would be upset and hurt a lot. The German children would weep to see the ugliness of such a harsh reality, necessary, but ugly all the same. And yet, it would be no less necessary, it is for their own good. If you are very strong, you will carry the knowledge of what happens here and tell noone. You will be kind to the Germans, and execute the jews in the shadows to spare the Germans the horrid sight. You will be efficient, and never sadistic, never wasteful. Only doing your duty, so another does not have to for you. Someone has to push the gas canister into the room below. You see your colleague shaking. Be his strength, and do it for him. You will make maximum use of the jews for the benefit of Germany, putting your mind to the task of recovering as many resources as possible. You will calculate how to house and feed them so we get maximum labour for the investment, not giving them unnecessary luxuries—the German children are starving and freezing, remember—but just enough so they can do the labour we need. You will use the jews to test medications and find out the limits of exposure to cold and toxins and infections and injury, leading revolutions in medicine and saving countless lives, like the hero you are. People will ignore where this knowledge came from, but they will use it and need it. You will recycle their jewellery and clothes, down to the gold of their teeth, and from this grossness, good will come again, those clothes will warm children in need, that gold will turn into beauty. You will make a profit, which the country needs, through clever measures and brilliant leadership. You will burn the corpses to make everything clean and finished, until the Jewish problem is nothing but ash to fertilise our fields, and grow rye for our bread. Not because you are ashamed; oh no, all of this is legal, every death has its number and tidy paperwork, its stamps and signatures, everything is in order, efficiently organised, the leaders know and are so proud of you. You are saving everyone who deserves to be saved by being this strong.
***
This story was poured into you everywhere. In history, you learned how the jews had fucked us up. In math, you calculated the damage they do. In biology, you learned how their genes were terrible, their very brains deformed. After school, you had social activities all day that were directly controlled by the nazis, practicing blind obedience and violence and in-group thinking, rehearsing it until it became automatic. The radio you had blared it all day long, another Jewish atrocity discovered over and over. Other radio was jammed where possible, and where not, people who even listened to enemy news were per se traitors who should be moved into the outgroup, people you should be alert for, and report. You had no internet. The books, not just by jews, but against war, for human rights, for anything good, had been burnt. The universities and schools had been taken over. Instead, propaganda filled the books and posters and speeches, your teacher, your boss, your everyone, day and night. It was echoed by your very family, pledging that they were so loyal to the Führer that they would report a traitor, even if he were found in their own family, God forbid.
The propaganda was overt, loud, outspoken, so you knew you could be, and should be, and would be asked to be; you could not say good morning without giving the Hitler salute, giving in or standing out like a sore thumb, endangering your own family, who would be taken with you to the camps if you rebelled, including your innocent kids who understood and had done nothing. But it was also subtle and indirect. The world you were shown was consistent with jews being corrupt and evil.
It was possible to resist. People did. Everyone should have. I hope with all my fucking heart that I would have. I hope it so damn much it feels like my heart will burst.
But we know that nearly everyone thinks they would have resisted the nazis, and that very few people actually did. That should give you pause when assuming you would resist a similar movement targeting a different group.
Importantly, the people who did resist, e.g. those who actively hid jews in their flats when the raids happened and the jews knocked on their doors, generally did not resist on rational grounds. They often said they could give no rational reason at all. There have been extensive interviews with people who helped, who often say something like “The idea of not helping the man at my door, whispering “they have come to kill me; please hide me” never ever occurred to me. It would have been so obviously wrong, wrong beyond words. I did not think of the danger to my family; that way lies madness. I did not think of how we would get supplies; these were problems for the future, and they would just have to be solved then. You have to take them in. There was no choice. I had pulled him inside before a single thought had finished.”
It frightened me when I first read those interviews. Because I meanwhile realised I would absolutely have thought about this. I would have hesitated, at least for a split second, imagining my girlfriend being killed over this, thinking how the fuck will we pull off the logistics of this. After all, my house is not currently filled with Ukrainians, nor was it filled with Syrians; I protested, I mobilised, I helped out at shelters, but we discussed it and decided someone living on the coach of our tiny flat for months would drive us batshit, plus the lease did not allow it—but being in the crowded shelter will have fucked with the traumatised Ukrainians even more, and we still did not take any in.
I can imagine a world in which I would have failed in nazi times, and this horrifies me more than I can say. It haunts me. I am desperately hoping the horror of failing like this will keep me on the right side, precisely because I can feel the pull of the abyss enough to cling to the path so hard my fingers will bleed, knowing that I could very well slip.
Even if in the real world, the security man would not have smiled and clapped. But taken you, as well, and your family, to boot.
The red-haired children tended bigger than the rest of us, with more adult facial structures, to the point where you could’ve maybe mistaken them for very small adults in disguise. The red-haired adults, what few of them we ever saw, were correspondingly huge and muscular.
The child does not even ask after the red headed kids? If the red-headed kids are real, sentient beings, this experiment is going to damage near everyone involved; we know the social problems and trauma caused by the Stanford prison experiment, and that was consensual, informed and contained.
The experiment also fundamentally underestimates what it takes to resist indoctrination. If your government systematically oppresses a group, and wants you to go along to it, they will not teach you universal rights spanning across these groups and so set you up to be for the minority and against the government. The nazis certainly did not teach such things; rights were for “true Germans”, with the strong implication that you needed a genetic claim and to prove yourself in ways only vaguely specified and that it would be very unwise to push. The nazi government also took great care to give you comprehensive reasons for the hate, to build a whole propaganda complex to make sense of why you should hate the jews. Resisting that is a lot harder than going “you said all sapients have rights, Jews are sapient, so what gives”. Political systems that systematically abuse subgroups tend to be very clear that rights are for in-group people, not just any people. You are imagining a heroic resistance to a complete strawman.
The story the nazis told you went something like this. (Warning, I am about to repeat vile nazi propaganda, and will increasingly shift to nazi tone, terminology and pronouns to illustrate the effect.)
Rights, according to the nazis, were neither universally for humans, nor something inalienable. They didn’t like the idea of rights you just got due to your needs at all. Rights had to be deserved. They taught you that the German people—an ethnic group of ancient, noble blood, not a group you could be admitted to by virtue of a flimsy piece of paper—had a grand destiny. That that feeling inside you that you want more for humanity, that we can be better, stronger, more rational than this, that there should be progress and growth beyond all limits, daring exploration past any frontiers, that this incredible feeling and drive is shared among all German people; that because of your beauty and brilliance and bravery, you have earned something wonderful, a future grander than any you can imagine.
But that our destiny has been foiled. Foiled by the jews. Who tricked us into debt and caused the great inflation that left us all so poor, when we had worked so hard, taking all the money we had earned and devaluing it until it was better to burn it for cinder than use it to buy wood, no longer worth the paper it was printed on. Who betrayed us, and made us lose the first world war, when we were fighting so bravely, with genius tactics and incredible sacrifices that should have meant we won, but the jews stabbed us in the back, wasting the sacrifices of our brave fathers and friends. Who brought the black plague that ravaged Europe, killing one person in three across the continent. Who broke God’s laws on lending, violating the rules of the bible, yet had the audacity to claim that they were the chosen people. Who stole all the good jobs, leaving them to smirk at us from the universities, and not because they were better, but because they were sneaky and corrupt, and because their crazy, ridiculous ideas were in fashion while our reason was ignored. Who had strange rites, in a strange tongue, and mutilated their children’s genitals, and tortured animals to death in bloody ways. Whose genes were unclean, so that breeding with them would make your children strange and evil and sick, also; that this was hard biology, scientific, beyond opinion, simple fact, proven, known, something a sentimentalist may deny because he prefers to be politically correct, but a rationalist would not. And that they may look perfectly like real people, sound like real people, but that this is a mask, a trick, to sneak into your heart, a careful manipulation to look out for. They don’t really feel. They just pretend, so you put down your guard and they can exploit you.
But the jews are crafty, and sly. Even very rational and strong Germans, when listening to the jews, have been seduced into aiding these traitors and enemies in our midst. Aiding them is as bad as being one. No true German would let this corruption onto his heart. Anyone who does, is an enemy also, to be discarded and treated as one. It is wisest to avoid all contact with jews entirely, to ward yourself against this trickery. Not just not to date them (a disgusting thing to do, you might as well fuck an animal, or drug yourself to oblivion while pregnant), or befriend them; you should not buy from them, in fact, they should not be in your city at all. All the more so because the beautiful houses they live in have been stolen from Germans, really; you are just taking back what should have been yours from birth, your rightful home and heritage. The jews should be moved away, where they cannot do harm. And put to work, for everyone knows that they don’t work, that all the riches they have have been accumulated through trickery and deceit. Their books, which are filled with lies, should be burnt, unread. To allow them two way communication is dangerous. We all like to think we would be strong enough to resist jewish manipulation, but humans are hackable. Do not give them an opening. Do not listen. Keep them locked away.
The situation is dire, and needs to be addressed with maximum efficiency. We are unfortunately in a war now, a war we never wanted, and did everything to avoid, you know how much Hitler loves peace, how much he resisted it; but alas, the German people were abused so terribly and relentlessly abroad, so threatened, so in need, so unjustly treated, that we had no choice but self-defence, finally allowing our men to shoot back. But think of the first world war again—what if the jews betray us again? Germany would be truly destroyed, all our culture and knowledge, literature, science, land, all in ashes and forgotten. A horror.
So in light of the speed and intensity of the actions needed, what should we do? The military is quite the inspiration in this regard, with the best chosen to lead, each in their place. What is important to understand is that questioning orders in the military is a terrible idea, there is not sufficient time to go back and ask your officer why, and wouldn’t another thing be better. A good soldier is utterly loyal, loyal to the end. He would not betray Germany. He would not hesitate. He knows his superiors are wise, and would not lie, and would never ask something that is not utterly, completely necessary. He proves himself through his loyalty, and that is how he can become a leader himself one day.
The nazis would tell you of rats, how rat babies look so cute, and they cry so pitifully when killed, so that you might think you did not want to kill them, and would rather let them go. But people who let rats go are fools. The rats multiply. They come inside your house, they eat your food, they sleep in your bed. You softness will bring you disease and ruin. It will starve your real family and community. As a strong, rational man, you will harden your heart against the jews. You will do what needs to be done. It is hard, and you will have to be very strong to go through with this. Exterminating them will be the hardest thing you have ever done, the biggest test of your rational mind against your heart. Your reason and knowledge must prevail. They must be killed, there is no other way.
Yes, the jews might cry and beg and make all sorts of arguments. Think of the German children you are saving when killing the Jewish ones. Of the grand future of Germany that will compensate for this pain many times of over. Killing many jews at once can be very stressful, we know. We know how hard it is for someone as noble as you to do such a thing. You are very strong and brave to stand killing so many. But to lessen the burden, it is likely better to gas them, to save you the distasteful sight, and the bullets.
If all the Germans knew what was happening in the camps, they would be upset and hurt a lot. The German children would weep to see the ugliness of such a harsh reality, necessary, but ugly all the same. And yet, it would be no less necessary, it is for their own good. If you are very strong, you will carry the knowledge of what happens here and tell noone. You will be kind to the Germans, and execute the jews in the shadows to spare the Germans the horrid sight. You will be efficient, and never sadistic, never wasteful. Only doing your duty, so another does not have to for you. Someone has to push the gas canister into the room below. You see your colleague shaking. Be his strength, and do it for him. You will make maximum use of the jews for the benefit of Germany, putting your mind to the task of recovering as many resources as possible. You will calculate how to house and feed them so we get maximum labour for the investment, not giving them unnecessary luxuries—the German children are starving and freezing, remember—but just enough so they can do the labour we need. You will use the jews to test medications and find out the limits of exposure to cold and toxins and infections and injury, leading revolutions in medicine and saving countless lives, like the hero you are. People will ignore where this knowledge came from, but they will use it and need it. You will recycle their jewellery and clothes, down to the gold of their teeth, and from this grossness, good will come again, those clothes will warm children in need, that gold will turn into beauty. You will make a profit, which the country needs, through clever measures and brilliant leadership. You will burn the corpses to make everything clean and finished, until the Jewish problem is nothing but ash to fertilise our fields, and grow rye for our bread. Not because you are ashamed; oh no, all of this is legal, every death has its number and tidy paperwork, its stamps and signatures, everything is in order, efficiently organised, the leaders know and are so proud of you. You are saving everyone who deserves to be saved by being this strong.
***
This story was poured into you everywhere. In history, you learned how the jews had fucked us up. In math, you calculated the damage they do. In biology, you learned how their genes were terrible, their very brains deformed. After school, you had social activities all day that were directly controlled by the nazis, practicing blind obedience and violence and in-group thinking, rehearsing it until it became automatic. The radio you had blared it all day long, another Jewish atrocity discovered over and over. Other radio was jammed where possible, and where not, people who even listened to enemy news were per se traitors who should be moved into the outgroup, people you should be alert for, and report. You had no internet. The books, not just by jews, but against war, for human rights, for anything good, had been burnt. The universities and schools had been taken over. Instead, propaganda filled the books and posters and speeches, your teacher, your boss, your everyone, day and night. It was echoed by your very family, pledging that they were so loyal to the Führer that they would report a traitor, even if he were found in their own family, God forbid.
The propaganda was overt, loud, outspoken, so you knew you could be, and should be, and would be asked to be; you could not say good morning without giving the Hitler salute, giving in or standing out like a sore thumb, endangering your own family, who would be taken with you to the camps if you rebelled, including your innocent kids who understood and had done nothing. But it was also subtle and indirect. The world you were shown was consistent with jews being corrupt and evil.
It was possible to resist. People did. Everyone should have. I hope with all my fucking heart that I would have. I hope it so damn much it feels like my heart will burst.
But we know that nearly everyone thinks they would have resisted the nazis, and that very few people actually did. That should give you pause when assuming you would resist a similar movement targeting a different group.
Importantly, the people who did resist, e.g. those who actively hid jews in their flats when the raids happened and the jews knocked on their doors, generally did not resist on rational grounds. They often said they could give no rational reason at all. There have been extensive interviews with people who helped, who often say something like “The idea of not helping the man at my door, whispering “they have come to kill me; please hide me” never ever occurred to me. It would have been so obviously wrong, wrong beyond words. I did not think of the danger to my family; that way lies madness. I did not think of how we would get supplies; these were problems for the future, and they would just have to be solved then. You have to take them in. There was no choice. I had pulled him inside before a single thought had finished.”
It frightened me when I first read those interviews. Because I meanwhile realised I would absolutely have thought about this. I would have hesitated, at least for a split second, imagining my girlfriend being killed over this, thinking how the fuck will we pull off the logistics of this. After all, my house is not currently filled with Ukrainians, nor was it filled with Syrians; I protested, I mobilised, I helped out at shelters, but we discussed it and decided someone living on the coach of our tiny flat for months would drive us batshit, plus the lease did not allow it—but being in the crowded shelter will have fucked with the traumatised Ukrainians even more, and we still did not take any in.
I can imagine a world in which I would have failed in nazi times, and this horrifies me more than I can say. It haunts me. I am desperately hoping the horror of failing like this will keep me on the right side, precisely because I can feel the pull of the abyss enough to cling to the path so hard my fingers will bleed, knowing that I could very well slip.
Even if in the real world, the security man would not have smiled and clapped. But taken you, as well, and your family, to boot.
The red-headed kids were adults in disguise.