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The US was the literal blueprint for most of what Nazis did (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago by [M] to c/latestagecapitalism@lemmy.world
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[–] 15 points 1 month ago* (2 children)

The Nazis were absolutely evil, but what's interesting about them is that they are universally hated largely because they merely brought the horrors of colonialism home to Europe. They found inspiration from Jim Crow and Statesian settler-colonialism, from British, French, and Belgian colonialism in India, Africa, and more. They took inspiration for concentration camps from colonial holdings. The Nazis colonized Europe, which thought itself untouchable beforehand, which is why the horrors of the Nazis are universally known and understood while the comparable evils of colonialism and settler-colonialism are erased.

Hitler was a Hitler for Europe, Churchill was a Hitler for India, etc. Churchill gets a pass because his victims weren't white.

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  • [–] -2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    The Nazis were absolutely evil, but what’s interesting about them is that they are universally hated largely because they merely brought the horrors of colonialism home to Europe.

    You had ethnic cleansing of Turks in Greece and the other way around as well, the Holodomor in Ukraine and a lot more when you go back in history. It was not new, but just easier to do outside of Europe for Western European countries. For example Spain committed genocide against the Muslims in Iberia, before going to the Americas.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 month ago

    The 1930s soviet famine was not an attempt at colonialism, nor intentional. At best, it was made worse by mismanagement, but to compare it to colonialism or the Holocaust is a severe misrepresentation of it. Genocide and atrocities predated colonialism, this is true, but the point is that Hitler is so uniquely despised among the world at a universal level precisely due to the fact that he directed colonialism towards the rest of Europe. Western powers were no stranger to the kinds of brutal torture committed by the Nazis, their victims were just largely non-white.

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