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Q: What do the Chinese think/know or think they know of Hitler?
Saw a middle-aged Chinese man in the library with a swastika on his sleeve this afternoon. I was genuinely shocked; try that in London and you'd be strung up in a minute. And it reminded me of a 10 year old student back in Liuzhou who had chosen the name Hitler as his 'English' name, even though I made it very clear that this was an extremely poor choice. My wife was with me and I asked her how much she knew about Nazi Germany and she was stuck for an answer beyond "They killed a lot of Jews" and that was only because she's seen Schindler's List. How ignorant are the Chinese about the man who was responsible for starting the second world war that someone can walk around sporting a swastika without anyone so much as batting an eye?
My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.
——Neville Chamberlain
When I was in high school geography class there were girls in my class who didn't even remember the street names and locations at our hometown where she lived almost 20 years. What can you expect?
People, tend to not feel much about another nation's hurt in history. How much compassion did you see that foreigners have for China's miserable recent history? There you know the answer to your question.
China sheltered tens of thousands of Jews when they were holocausted in Germany---one possible factor that affects Israel-China relation, despite Israel's special relation with USA.
KMT, ruling party of China by that time, sent some military officials to Germany to get trained. Germany, equipped a few Chinese troops, which were the best one that KMT had.
mArtiAn:
You make some solid points. I knew little of the atrocities the Japanese committed against the Chinese before I came here. Pretty disturbing still, I mean this wasn't some ignorant kid wearing it as a twisted fashion statement, it was a man of about 45/50.
Hulk:
You are correct. However, they were all forced to live in ghettos. Furthermore, China doesn't recognize Judaism, even after Israel gave you awesome irrigation technology for free. You also support all of Israel's sworn enemies, even against them. Once again, China betrays her allies. Kindalike the Korean War? I could go on and oon, but you guys are pretty screwed up. Begone, wumao.
ohChina:
I don't know about their living conditions. However, Chinese back at that time, pretty much were all peasants and perhaps less than 10 % had the luck to live in a city.
Your argument of "China betrays her allies" is invalid. I believe you are knowledgeable enough to be aware of the civil war between KMT and CCP from 1946 to 1949. Had KMT won that war, China-US relation would have been completely different, and Korean war would have been another story.
Hulk:
Okay, wumao, you're wrong. If someone helps your country, do you stab them in the back after switching governments, or continue the same peaceful relations as before? Fact of the matter is, after we saved you, you stabbed us in the back. Just like you stabbed the KMT in the back while hiding from the Japanese. The KMT fought long and hard against the Japanese, while the CCP hid like scared little girls. Once the KMT was reeling from the war and trying to recover with very little after losing so much, the CCP rushed in and backstabbed the entire country. All of China's history is based on cowardice and betrayal. The CCP was founded on those two tenants.
ohChina:
we who?, you who? It's not like I was someone who was living 70 years ago and could have changed history. Maybe you could try a time machine and become China's superhero and savior
My wife (Chinese) told me she learned that Hitler was some kind of mad dictator, with Holocaust on his pedigree. She learned of the horrors that the term "Holocaust" carries through Hollywood...
Honestly, it's not very far from what I heard from people of other nationalities 
I learned more about who Hitler and the Nazi were through books. Like, how come they got support, the blind obedience, the horrific "details" behind the Holocaust and all that. At school (France), we got a quick brush on all that, but that was a quick brush that made me curious enough to read a lot more about it. Not sure people so far from Europe would make it as important as it is for an European. If I ask most of my friends in Europe, apart from the history buff, about *anything* related to WWII in Asia, they would not have much to say about it. I would take a wild guess and say in US people know more about WWII in Asia and its own set of horrors.
Paulberger:
yea, i actually know more about the pacific campaign than the European. not because we lacked the material in school, i just took an interest in it.
Scandinavian:
You know, the war and the genocide aside, Hitler had some pretty sound politics on things like "Non smoking policies", education and infrastructure.
mArtiAn:
I think the 'how come' of how they got support is largely unknown in actual fact. Much support was garnered from the committing of a number of false flag operations, including burning down the Reichstaag (Operation Himmler) and dressing up German soldiers in Polish uniforms and having them stage attacks on German borders. This fine tradition has been repeated in recent years and is still remembered blindly every year on September 11th.
royceH:
And Hitler encouraged the use of sex aids amongst his troops too.
i once saw a really old lady wearing a shirt that said "Holocaust" written on the front in glittering sparkling letters... i think she thought it was fashionable. i took a picture of it. i asked my GF a bit about Nazi Germany and she surprisingly knew quite a bit. but she is well read.
if the swastika sign is flipped the other way, it is a Buddhist symbol. maybe it was flipped?
mArtiAn:
I did consider it may have been worn as a religious symbol but I didn't notice if it was flipped. It was in black and red however which hardly evokes a tone of spirituality aside from which it's now become a symbol for the white supremacist movement, so not a great choice.
yes, a horrible man once walked the earth and nobody remembers,
so, i guess they also don't know that Hitler had no vices, he did not smoke, drink alcohol or even use curse words.
beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing, strangely if you tell a chinese person he had no vices , then he is a good person anyway and the actions can be forgiven.
mArtiAn:
He was also a big fan of Charlie Chaplin. That moustache was modeled on Chaplin's believe it or not.
Among those who know who he was, there are the ones who think he was great, because he "realized his dream", "was manly", "make people follow him" "successfull man" just like any other Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. People in China are not admired for their actual and somehow nuanced contributions to the world, but for the sole fact of being successful, no matter how or what for.
young guy I know here says he admires him. all he knows is that he was 'successful'. seems to know next to nothing about WWII (to be fair he seems to know next to nothing about anything other than video games).
I'll never forget visiting the Nuremberg Nazi parade grounds. My friend, a Jew, and I stood there on the podium where our little Austrian paper-hanger once stood. curious how the world goes 'round and 'round...
The swastika is a sun symbol that was used long before Hitler's time. Just look at some of the buddha here in China and you will see the same symbol, albeit reversed. The philosophy of "as above so below" the mirror image of symbols of power. Hitler was heavily into the occult as are many of the top globalist leaders in positions of power today. You might also want to look into who financed Hitler before inferring he was solely responsible for WW2. While your at it do some research on "Operation Paperclip" to find out where all those lovely little Nazi scientist's and "doctors" went after the war.
mArtiAn:
You're preaching to the converted their mate. Nothing's ever quite as it seems, hey? Quite sure the symbol wasn't inverted though. May be wrong but I gave it a double check and was aware of what you suggest. I'm quite sure it was a classic swastika with the arms facing clockwise.
Ah, I see our wumao is back. Jews in China were all forced to live in ghettos. Furthermore, China doesn't recognize Judaism, even after Israel gave them awesome irrigation technology for free. China also supports all of Israel's sworn enemies, even against them. Once again, China betrays her allies. Kinda like the Korean War? We rescued your dumb assess from the Japanese, and you respond by attacking us. I could go on and on, but you guys are pretty screwed up. China's miserable history was mostly self-inflicted, and she still can't get over it.
mArtiAn:
Well i'm no history major but if there were tens of thousands of them it might have been stretching the national budget to put them all up in the Holiday Inn. And which kid was I supposed to have punched out? And who now wumao what now?
royceH:
You knocked out a kid, Martian?? You bastard!
I know you shot one once but you justified that, so fair enough.
It seems they do know a lot. But it is not as important to them as it is to the west. Japan was the aggressor at that point in history. The atrocities committed were no different than in Europe. I guess it depends on your point of view. Fast forward: today the Chinese kids wear anything western just to look "whatever". Most do not even understand the words. A student in my class chose the name "Fuck" for an english name. You should remember that the swastika represented many other things long before the Nazis adopted it.
mArtiAn:
This wasn't some kid, it was a smartly dressed man with a red swastika on a black background on his arm. I'm quite certain it wasn't the inverted religious symbol. I was tempted to go and ask him why he was wearing it.
donnie3857:
There are lots of nut cases around, including neo Nazis. Maybe you just happened to see one.
The massacre museum in Nanjing has bizarre and discomforting shrine to all things Nazi.
It's situated quite close to the end and appeared to me to glorify German and Nazi activities during WW2.
In short the general message was;
Nazi Germany= Good
Japan= Evil
There was no mention of the connection between the two or pacts etc.
Really disturbed me at the time and made me wonder about the teachings here.
ohChina:
I don't believe it. While some Chinese students may take the teachings differently, the teachings are still decent about European history.
I think perhaps you misheard the "Nazi Germany =good, Japan= evil " thing. We're informed that Germany had made sincerely, and official apologies to the victim groups and countries, and paid them great number of compensations. One former German chancellor even kneeled in front of the graves of jews who were killed in holocaust. That's why people, in the victim countries like Poland, France, and Greece, have forgiven Germany and let the past go. That's how Germany and France got to work together and become engines of European Union.
Chinese are waiting to see a Japanese prime minister to do the same thing. Also, Japan didn't pay any compensation for the 14 years of war in China. Will Japan, ever?
IrvineWelsh:
Yeah maybe I was exaggerating by saying 'shrine'. But rather multiple display cases showing all the good things Nazi Party members had done for the Chinese during the Second World War.
Such and such was a Nazi and done this or that. You get the idea. All accompanied by large Nazi swastikas flags, generally giving the impression that the Germans were all round good guys that opposed Japan.
The other weird thing was that there was very little mention of any of the other allies involvement in WW2.
Lots of talk about China defeating Japan, giving the impression it had been mainly a Chinese effort.
ohChina:
If what you said about the Nazi German shrine thing is true, it is very disturbing. I can't believe the Chinese propaganda department would do such an awful job.
As for which country contributed the most to defeating Japan, I'm sorry I don't know enough to give a conclusion. But one thing probably true, is that CCP and KMT both wanted to claim it as their own victory. Without America's help, the Japan-China war would have lasted more years and a lot more Chinese would have died for that.
While every country was pretty selfish and cold blooded, I'm still grateful that America and Soviet Union helped China against Japan. It is remembered and deeply appreciated.
IrvineWelsh:
Don't forget the British; my great grandfather bought it fighting the Japanese and his brother lost an arm.
Honestly, take yourself off to Nanjing and see for yourself.
But regardless it was a terrible time for China and one that should be remembered.
ohChina:
Thank you and your great grandfather for his serving and fighting. And thanks to other British people's contributions too. I'm sorry for his loss.
Well this question made me interested so yesterday I asked my Friend, she said all she knew was that Germany helped China. I asked another "friend" he said Germany was bad but indeed helped China. Ao I asked where do you get this information? He said he watched a movie called City of Life and Death. I also saw it, the small parts where a German businessman and Nazi party member setup a small refuge center for Chinese and also some Chinese people involved with the Nazis and they thought if I'm a Nazi that keeps us safe from the Japanese. Plus Nazi Germany was string overtaking all so since china is flexing with the ADIZ and something I saw about 5 wars China will have in the next 50 years I'm sure they admire nations that flexed strength. Don't know if my answers good or bad but I don't like to get into this type of stuff with Chinese people. Can be dangerous cause news spreads fast can't trust anyone lol.
i have to wonder about hitler. the west tries to portray him as this terrible person, but the west also tries to portray lots of other extremely popular leaders (who did wonderful things for their people) as "bad people". the fact that hitler is portrayed so negatively in the west really makes me question whether or not he was really that bad. and i want to know what the motivation is behind their slander of hitler. it should also serve as a reminder to the amount of power the jews have in the west.
mArtiAn:
Well I don't think there's any doubt as to whether Hitler was responsible for mass genocide, which in my books makes him a jolly nasty chap. It's certainly true though that a number of revered names are of people of questionable virtue, but to suggest that Hitler was possibly portrayed in an undeservedly bad light is not only offensive but profoundly stupid.
WICKED:
well, you know, i have the same ideas about Mao. i really do question how bad Mao really was. if Mao was really that bad, would the west pay so much money for shills to slander him? really bad dictators generally dont get slandered much in the western media. and one of the reasons why i think Mao was a decent guy is precisely because he gets so much bad press in the west. if anyone denies western corporations the right to a profit, then he is ok in my book. i also think there is a lot of doubt to how bad hitler was, because we dont actually know how bad he was. all we can do is take the word of the zionist media for it. we never get to hear the other side. the west gives China a bad rap for censorship, but the truth of the matter is, the west censors things out all the time. you hardly hear any positive about hitler, but he probably did some good things for germany, just like Mao did great things for China, but the west tries to hide these things from you. at the same time, you hardly hear anything bad about the taiwan and hong kong regimes, but you know theyre hapening, but because hk and tw are compliant regimes (to the west), then all the bad things they do is censored out.
Scandinavian:
In many ways "shill" has a very Christmassy ring to it.
