Demonizing those darn Nazis (Video-Games and other stuff)

[aceman67]

and Canada... well, Canada was kinda nice.

Actually... [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Canadian_internment]

That's one of our more shameful moments historically.

Don't forget this too... [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian-Canadian_internment]

This is also relevant, US and Canada did some dastardly stuff to our own citizens.


I live near Lethbridge Alberta, near the site of one of the largest Japanese internment camps in Canada. After the camps were closed, many Japanese-Canadians found that their land and belongings had been sold off, and they had no where to go, so they stayed in the Lethbridge/Southern Alberta area. As a result, this part of Canada has one of the largest Japanese populations.

 

[TheIronRuler]

The only difference being is that they are either unknown to pop-culture or that's "politically incorrect".

The bold part there is pretty much why Nazis are so frequently depicted.

The Soviet "Great Purge", the Rwandan genocide, the Khmer Rouge, none of them have reached the popular mindset at the level the Nazis have. There are of course many reasons why this is the case, but for the sake of the original question, that's why Nazis are so frequently depicted in games/media as "ok to kill." Basically, I believe it comes down to the Nazi's activities being more widely covered and reported in the press, especially in the United States.

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Yep, I know that this is the most glaring reason behind this issue. It's great to know others agree with me.

Perhaps the German's meticulous bookkeeping is what keeps the memories of their crimes so alive... Then again we don't see any press about the American companies that traded with Germany&Japan, helping them to build their war economy. Hell, some companies continued to trade with Hitler ever after the practice was banned in the USA...
(And that little fascist revolution deal which was engineered by a group of men including George Bush's grandfather while Roosevelt was in charge and making the USA more communist and less poor).

 

[Woodsey]

Well, unlike all the nutty Russians that have started to crop up, Nazis are actually historical. Likewise, they're an all-round nasty political group - the only reason they're German in shooters is because those shooters are always WW2 games.

There has been some danger though in making it seem as if all German soldiers were Nazis, which they weren't.