Hortlund couldn't be any more precise. Looking from a far is sure to judge others and condemn them for their mistakes and forget your own.
I'll tell you a little story I guess you knew but the rise of Hitler was mainly due to the Illegal treaty of Versailles imposed by the allies at the end of WW1,even though President Wilson tried not to iput such terms, blaming Germany for starting WWI and stripping it of everything. Germany was just defending her allies and sovereign territory in Europe. This caused major civil unrest and caused economic helplessness that lasted until the early 1930s while other countries enjoyed economic security throughout the 20s, and would have had Germany paying war reparations until the 1990s.
It effectively destroyed their pride, their faith in government, democratic government (ironic isn't it) which lead it and its people to take a radical action like putting someone like Hitler in power.
The Germans are very proud people and even though many have not been Nazis or belonged to the party they saw what this man did to their country in the early stages of his reign . He delivered on what he said he would do, this turned many non believers into people who turned 180 around and started to believe, some even might as well be fanatical about it.
The military service was part of this the National pride many felt and the call to arms to make powerful this rebuilt nation and people from all over came to join. Why? it wasn't 100% because of this guy it was because they were caught in the jubilee of seeing their country was again being a powerful proud nation, a shadow of what it was after WWI and the following decade.
To put this in context so the Amis can understand... because Sept 11 happened many joined the different armed forces because they felt patriotic. GWB also encouraged people to join and serve their country in other different ways sure it isn't the exact same way, but it will give you an idea of what was happening at that time and what their mindset was.
Most everyone saw good in this, why? For the same reasons above. The normal German citizen didn't know what was happening in their own backyard, same as the Americans don't know WTH goes on in Area 51, even worse this is made because in that country there was not a form of free press which they could communicate freely and some would want like today to forgo some basic rights for basic order and security which this regime offered at the time.
As to the idiotic remark as why weren't they treated as liberators,
Simply because these same people destroyed many of their homes killed many of their children(note children in bombing raids) and destroyed frankly their livelihood . Secondly it was a foreign nation entering their own soil. It would have been as if when the Civil war exploded in the US, Britain came and invaded the US to resolve the problem by attacking both sides to come to a resolution to their civil war. Another example look what happened in Britain when the Germans and Brits started to exchange bombs over their own capital cities the people's morale strengthened and their resolve grew out of defiance(both the Brits and Germans). Even though they were under a tyrant ruler no nation wants to get invaded by another. In the case of the French yes the Americans liberated France by pushing the Germans out, in the case of Germany it was occupied and invaded by a another nation (raped if you count what the Russian regular infantry soldiers did in eastern Germany to young girls).
Can I say the Heer did not commit attrocities during the war no, nor can any other nation during WW2 they mostl likely did but like it has been said by some of you above it is "justifiable" "they were all Evil so they had to die, the were all Nazis."
Last but not least the Luftwaffe was part of the rebuilding of the country its name has always been Luftwaffe now it did grow during the regime as with all of the military expansion done during this time, again like what another president did during the 80's Reagan to the American armed forces. It indeed was part of the Nazi Regime War machine but the Luftwaffe pilot officers and the enlisted personnel for the most mart were not Nazis they fought for their country and their fellow man. Like today you have many Military people that don't necessarily agree with the person at the helm of the government but they do their job anyway the whole angle of you have to fight that hard because you have to believe in your government is nothing but bull. They fought hard so their country was not invaded, not ravaged, not destroyed like they feared no country as bad as their leader might be would like to get invaded specially as proud as the German were/are simple as that. This country today looks back at that time in shame mainly because their country was burned down to the ground and their proud nation was destroyed, they felt and still feel betrayed of the lost war.
But once again victors write the History and have excuses for everything they have done. Call it revisionist if you may, the truth they have been taught is not the truth they have researched themselves . That come from the same propaghanda that came during the war and many Myths that still prevail today(in some aircraft for example).
