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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington N.Z. Vol. 5, No. 3 May 28, 1942

Should We Hate the Germans?

Should We Hate the Germans?

The short answer to the question contained in the title is, of course: No, we should hate the Nazis.

What are the principles that underline the problem? The first is, surely, that as Socialists we have faith in the international working-class, and both expect help from and offer help to the German working-class. As one of the Soviet watchwords for the 24th anniversary of the Revolution put it: "Greetings to the German people [unclear: groaning] under the yoke of Hitler's blackguard bands. We wish them victory over bloodthirsty Hitler."

The second principle is that, whilst we know that in the long run we can only drive out Fascism, i.e., capitalism, we must also deal with the few hundreds of thousands of Nazis who have shown both at home and on Soviet soil that they are not fit to be at large in a civilised world. For these there must be no mercy; they will only be safe in captivity, and any of them who are alive after the end of the war must go into captivity.

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