I apologize not fer the gas chambrs or the Holocaust - their horrors speak for themselves. I only mention the death of my great grandfather and the others whon died with him in July and Augusft of 1944 to end such suffering. Not all Germans during the war were Nazis. We were germans - -the two terms are not indispensible.
As for the Kriegsmarine, I can only blame Grossadmiral Karl Doenitz. Grossadmiral erich Raedor opposed unrestricted submarine warfare - he was replaced because he ordered all u-boats to follow the conventions he himself had observed during the Great War - - to surface and debark all passangers then destroy or capture the ship.
The Luftwaffe - at the time, Generalfeldmarschal Albert Kesselring was a staunch supporter of remaining on military targets as he had done to such remarkable affect - -the RAF was virtually destroyed in his sector of command. It was Hitler and Georing who changed the targets to London.
The rules of war were observed by America with great admiration during the First World War - thuey were men of honour, and in some cases such as Patton, were honourable in the second. During the first world war, we saw Americans as true rivals and worthy opponents. That changed however.
Before one points a finger at germany, however, the Americans must remember while SS camps were surrounded by forests and controlled by black shirted Totenkopfsoldaten armed with MP 40s, the Americans were surrounded by desert and controlled by olive shirted soldiers carrying the Garand combat rifle. Yes, the Americans corralled Japanese into camps after the 7th of December, 1941 - - and not a few were killed trying to escape.
But who talks about that,,,,
[size=1]Requiem en Terra Pax[/size]