Question

Usually I thought I stood above such insults, and more often than not I actually made fun of the Nazis. I didn't take them seriously. I considered them funny little brown delinquents, more comic than dangerous. And that was a mistake too many of us made. Focusing mainly on their repulsive and obnoxious qualities, we failed to sense how dangerous the Nazis really were.

What did the author mean when she stated, “we failed to sense how dangerous the Nazis really were”?
Write a paragraph in which you explain this statement.


ANSWER:

The author, like many in Germany, thought that Hitler was just saying things to gain popularity, and to get elected. They didn't realize that once he was in office, the Nazis would create anti-Semitic laws that would persecute Jews. Even though Hitler made his true feelings known about the Jewish people in his book, Mein Kampf, most people did not think that he would send Jewish people to ghettos or commit genocide.

Answer 1

The author of the comment, Dorothea Schloesser, was herself ½ Jewish in her ethnicity. She was also an entertainer (a singer), so she would be inclined to notice how dramatic Hitler was and how outlandish the whole Nazi movement at first seemed. But she and others in Germany were not thinking about how deadly serious this movement and its outcomes could be. Hitler and the Nazis led Germany into devastating global conflict (World War II) and carried out horrific atrocities against the Jewish people and others (the Holocaust).

Answer 2

In addition of the answer that was stated, also they failed to realize the audacity and ferocity of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler that started a new world war and large scale of exterminations for the dream future and living space. Also they failed to stop him in his genocides and large war crimes committed during the war.