I am more interested in how certain false narratives can become part of the general narrative, than really extremists who go out of their way to believe it.
I for instance believed for a long time that the Soviet Union was preparing to invade Germany. Than I was shocked when someone told me that’s Nazi propaganda that is easy to believe. I am not a supporter of silly ideas, so am not really into Nazism. So I was surprised that my understanding of the war was partly fueled by Nazi propaganda. Now I wonder how much bs I believe thanks to Stalin and Hitler being prolific liars who liked people believing their dumb stuff.
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I know one story in particular that became “common knowledge” as a result of the war was the whole “carrots improve your eyesight” thing. The British were starting to adapt airborne RADAR to help guide them at night which was a major leap forward in aviation. The RAF produced a story in saying that their pilots ate a ton of carrots to help them see in the dark better so the Germans wouldn’t get suspicious. It just stuck after that and continues to persist to the present day.
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I have heard that one as well. But I am more worried about perspectives that help fostering paranoia and hatred, or can later be used by resurgent parties to construct a narrative in line with extremist ideologies. It’s much easier to convince someone to believe your lies if they already believe parts of it. You can see a lot of parties in Europe using conspiracies and accusations of subversion et cetera to gain support with voters. I know it’s political and there is not much that can be done except for trying to be truthful about matters you know about. But what worries me most is how easy you can make people believe the most ridiculous things if you just push the right buttons. I am no longer convinced that the truth is more powerful than the truth. The person people decide to believe is the one who is powerful. Lies and the truth are just choices of convenience.
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Despite all evidence to the contrary, Serbian nationalist continue to push the narrative that Bulgaria invaded/backstabbed them in WW2.
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Another one is a “Saubermann” variation were the German executions were done by people who had no option and were threatened by the firing squad themselves. I know way too many German friends who heard that in their family, the mass murderers were at gunpoint themselves. This 1993 German movie propagates this myth.
Works like those from Christopher Browning, Goldhagen clearly prove that in mass murderers had the option not to participate and were giving other jobs. This would make sense from an organizational point of view as people breaking down from the stress are useless and unfortunately among ordenary humans there are alwas these who do LITERALLY anything for an extra stripe or …whatever. I find the latter much more scary actually.
Now there is more distance in time the apologetic “Saubermann/Frau” view needs rethinking.
Some sources:
https://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Men-Reserve-Battalion-Solution/dp/0060995068
https://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Willing-Executioners-Ordinary-Holocaust/dp/0679772685
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