Do you think Hitler was evil?

[tilth33]

Assuming that Adolf Hitler truly thought that his extermination of the Jewish people (as well as many others) was affecting Germany in a positive way and it was for the good of his people, or even the rest of the world, does that still make him evil?

Just a thought.

[Elfer]

Yes. Even if through some twisted insanity his motives were noble (which I seriously doubt they were), he essentially chose the most inhumane possible way to execute his plan.

There are far too many aggravating factors for the holocaust to be construed as merely a matter of eugenics.

[DistantSniper]

Yes he is evil

[Gunter45]

Unequivocally evil.

Under no circumstances do his means justify any end.

[KeithHybrid]

Yes, and fuck anyone who argues to the contrary.

[Al6200]

At 8/21/08 12:20 PM, Gunter45 wrote: Unequivocally evil.

Under no circumstances do his means justify any end.

I think more what he's asking is:

"Is a person evil if they're so crazy that they actually think they're helping people by killing them?"

And the answer is that it depends on the circumstances. If I literally didn't know that I was killing anyone, then I wouldn't be evil. But if I, like Hitler, thought it was okay to kill millions of people so that I could live through my nationalist fantasy land, then I would be evil.

[Gunter45]

At 8/21/08 12:53 PM, Al6200 wrote: I think more what he's asking is:

"Is a person evil if they're so crazy that they actually think they're helping people by killing them?"

Right and there's no end to justify that kind of evil.

And the answer is that it depends on the circumstances. If I literally didn't know that I was killing anyone, then I wouldn't be evil. But if I, like Hitler, thought it was okay to kill millions of people so that I could live through my nationalist fantasy land, then I would be evil.

Which is why Hitler is unequivocally evil.

[ForkRobotik]

1. it wasn't an original idea of hitler's to kill all jews and take the wealth they had, Spain had been doing it for about 500 years, and christian communities in europe for about 2000.

2. alot of people supported the actions of hitler in the thirties, there were even riots and witch hunts in the US, whereby american non-jews attacked jews on the streets. Infact there are people today that still support destroying jews in the usa.

[animehater]

Hitler was an insane genocidal tyrant who killed millions of innocent people only for the most (for the most part) retarded reasons such a race. I But evil? Shit like this is way to complicated to designate things as "Good" or "Evil".

[mythicaljake]

Yes, he was still evil.
Hitler exterminated the Jews, Blacks, Gypsies, Asians, pretty much anyone who wasn't arian solely just to "purify" germany of life unworthy of life, as he called it... Which naturally is bullshit because everybody is worthy of life, regardless of race or religion.

It was also that he killed them all using the concentration camps, and killing peoplebecause of their race is not just evil but absolutely malicious.

I think he started off with a good intention (repairing the damage that the Treaty of Versailles did to Germany), because Germany's economy at that time was a complete mess. However, not only was he the wrong man for the job all his ways of bringing Germany back to how it was were more trouble than they were worth, besides being utterly evil.

[MaaaTo]

100% EVIL !! ;P

[mortontony2]

I think that he was only slightly evil. According to one of my friends, he was mentally retarded and on drugs, but i think he was only on drugs.

[LordJaric]

Let me think about that for a second, yes it still makes him evil.

[stonecold-basilisk]

YES

You can't kill people based on their race, that's racist and therefore evil. Hitler also hated democracy and freedom.

[Tarondor]

Evil is defined by society, a lot of Germany would of thought he was amazing for swapping the economy from sh*it to great so quickly, build up so much of an army, navy, airforce and armaments in such a short time and reclaiming previously German territories
It's sorta like the Christians with Crusades, sure we see it as wrong but back then everyone would think it was great
If we thought Jews were as bad as he portrayed them we'd think he was good even if he was killing them in camps, good and evil is just a viewpoint, not facts.

[poxpower]

It really depends on what you consider evil.

IF he REALLY thought this was the best and only way to make the world a better place, then no, I don't think you could ever consider him evil.

Evil requires the intent to cause unecessary harm. At least that's how I see it. Torturing animals for no reason but your pleasure is evil.

But only if you understand what you are doing.

So if you argue that Hitler didn't understand what he was doing ( in the sense that he didn't know that holocausting wasn't really bad overall for everyone, or that he just had to do it even if it caused great pain ) and he thought he was doing good, then he's not evil, he's in fact a really awesome guy.

And that's a very very big moral problem when it comes to people having stupid beliefs. If Hitler, for instance, belives that jews are animals who don't feel pain, then what's wrong with killing them if he thinks the world will be better? You kill spiders and mosquitos all the time and you don't give a shit.

Same with when people believe that they have to do their one specific religious practice to save the world's souls. They're not evil. It's not evil to mutilate the genitals of your daughter if you think that's what your God said.
It's a really nice thing to do in fact.

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Anyways for all intents and purposes, the word "evil" is truly useless. You can debate all day long about how Hitler was or wasn't evil, but what you really want to know is: was what he did beneficial to humans overall? Was was he did something desirable? Is it an outcome that we as a whole want to see more of?
Why? Why not?

Those are pertinent questions that actually have fact-based answers.

[TheKlown]

Rumors have it that HIlter was part jewish and he knew he was part jewish... I wouldn't be shocked, he looks part jewish to me. He killed his own people if that true, it takes a very sick individual to kill his own people.

[TonyTostieno]

At 8/21/08 08:20 PM, TheKlown wrote: Rumors have it that HIlter was part jewish and he knew he was part jewish... I wouldn't be shocked, he looks part jewish to me. He killed his own people if that true, it takes a very sick individual to kill his own people.

Uh, those aren't rumors dude, Hitler was either 1/4 or 1/8 jewish, I can never remember which, I think it's 1/4.

[Saruman200]

I consider the senseless murder of 11 million people evil. And Hitler wasn't crazy. He was sane. Not crazy, just stupid and evil.

[TonyTostieno]

At 8/21/08 08:48 PM, Saruman200 wrote: I consider the senseless murder of 11 million people evil. And Hitler wasn't crazy. He was sane. Not crazy, just stupid and evil.

Actually, he went insane towards the end, about the time he stopped listening to his military advisors. I think it was parkinson's disease that he got, either way towards the end Hitler was one crazy mofo.

[Rideo]

At 8/21/08 08:46 PM, TonyTostieno wrote:

At 8/21/08 08:20 PM, TheKlown wrote: Rumors have it that HIlter was part jewish and he knew he was part jewish... I wouldn't be shocked, he looks part jewish to me. He killed his own people if that true, it takes a very sick individual to kill his own people.

Uh, those aren't rumors dude, Hitler was either 1/4 or 1/8 jewish, I can never remember which, I think it's 1/4.

Actually they are unfounded rumors. Though to be honest he's probably some part jewish, there aren't any real pure races anymore.

[DrAfrothunder]

PoxPower put it perfectly.

Under those circumstances, no, Hitler is not evil. Evil and Good are defined only as viewpoints and opinions. One mans hero is another's villian. One society's terrorist is another's Freedom Fighter.

And if we call him evil based on "universal truths", well, universal truths don't really exist. If they did, hitler wouldn't be alone in his villiany. It seems as though for most people, universal truths are merely convenient reasons to justify/demonize given actions at convenient times.

Thats my two cents.

[TonyTostieno]

At 8/21/08 08:55 PM, Rideo wrote: Actually they are unfounded rumors. Though to be honest he's probably some part jewish, there aren't any real pure races anymore.

*shrug* Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong.

[neogeo57]

Yes, it doesn't take a genius to tell hitler was evil.
I'm not an expert on this, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't part jew.
He's ethier the 2nd or 3rd worst person all time, after stalin and mayby mao(it's close between those 3)
Stalin actually DID kill his own people, not only in the dictater sense(first artificial famine in human history) But he was Gergian And would not let Georgia become independent(what's odd about this is that he originally was a Georgian nationalist)
He also did some poetrey in his early life.

[Tarondor]

To be Jewish doesn't your mum have to be Jewish?
I dont think his mum was, it was like his great grandad or something if he was related to a Jew
and anyone being Jewish isn't really in your blood, except with DNA tests of patriarchal side of a certain sect of Jewish rabbi/priest shared very similar blood types, but apart from those they aren't a blood race, just a religion. So it wouldn't be betraying his people, it'd be betraying the people of his great grandad or whatever.

Plus, apparently, Hitler could never watch the executions, he always turned away.
So I think he knew what he was doing wasn't all that good.

[Tarondor]

At 8/21/08 08:53 PM, TonyTostieno wrote: Actually, he went insane towards the end, about the time he stopped listening to his military advisors. I think it was parkinson's disease that he got, either way towards the end Hitler was one crazy mofo.

Parkinson wasn't proved but his arm always shook, that's why he holds it behind him in the movie clips but the only recorded medical condition was Shell Shock from WWI and something to do with his bowels.

[Tarondor]

At 8/21/08 09:05 PM, neogeo57 wrote: He's ethier the 2nd or 3rd worst person all time, after stalin and mayby mao(it's close between those 3)

They're well known in the media for being evil though, the likes of Genghis khan who would burn down kill and rape entire villages over the whole spread of europe, killed his own generals in boiling hot water or by making them hold a bar behind their neck and pushing them so far back theyd snap their neck/back (he even did this to his brother, I believe).
That's pretty bad, rather be killed than family raped and killed and then get raped and killed myself!

but I'm sure there's men who've done a lot worse!

[TonyTostieno]

At 8/21/08 09:17 PM, Tarondor wrote: Parkinson wasn't proved but his arm always shook, that's why he holds it behind him in the movie clips but the only recorded medical condition was Shell Shock from WWI and something to do with his bowels.

Fuck, coulda sworn that one was proven. Well I'm getting outta this forum before I show off some more dumbassery.
Cya folks.
<l=)

[tilth33]

At 8/21/08 08:18 PM, poxpower wrote: So if you argue that Hitler didn't understand what he was doing ( in the sense that he didn't know that holocausting wasn't really bad overall for everyone, or that he just had to do it even if it caused great pain ) and he thought he was doing good, then he's not evil, he's in fact a really awesome guy.

And that's a very very big moral problem when it comes to people having stupid beliefs. If Hitler, for instance, belives that jews are animals who don't feel pain, then what's wrong with killing them if he thinks the world will be better? You kill spiders and mosquitos all the time and you don't give a shit.

This is exactly what I was trying to get at. I'm not arguing that Hitler didn't understand what he was doing, but I am saying hypothetically if Hitler was insane to the point where in his mind where he thought he was doing something that would truly benefit the rest of the world (ex. for some reason he thinks the Jews are going to end the world and he's the last line of defense between the apocalypse and humanity. A little extreme, but thats the effect I'm going for) is he still evil?

Please try to answer this question in a way that disregards the way YOU view his actions and takes into account the way he might view his actions in this scenario. Also, I realize this is a bad question to begin with because the meaning of "evil" can be wildly different based on varying points of view.

Thanks guys for a lot of good answers!

[Tarondor]

Yes he is Evil....to the people he killed, their family, and people it upsets/effects/offends.

That's about the best answer you'll get, he was a genius, but evil to a lot of people. It doesn't effect me so he's not evil to me.

That's the only real way we can say it without arguing semantics for hours.