Behind the Bastards

Part One: Oskar Dirlwanger: The Worst Nazi

Sep 27, 2022
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INSIGHT

Debate on Hitler's Dictatorship Style

  • Historians debate if Hitler was a strong direct controller or a weak dictator relying on system chaos.
  • This affects how we understand the architecture and execution of the Holocaust.
ANECDOTE

Dirlwanger's Peaceful Early Life

  • Oscar Dirlwanger was born in 1895 in Wurzburg, a ridiculous-named town in southern Germany.
  • His upbringing was peaceful and his parents middle class, contradicting expectations for his later brutality.
INSIGHT

Early German Debate on Child Discipline

  • Germany debated corporal punishment of children intensively in early 1900s; abuse cases led to activism.
  • Though hitting kids was normalized, voices called for restraining excessive physical punishment, showing societal contest.
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