"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should
some poor slob on
a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he
can get out of it
is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the
common people
don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor
in America, nor in
Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is
the leaders of the country
who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter
to drag the
people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist
dictatorship, or
a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice
or no voice the people
can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
That is easy. All you
have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and
denounce the
pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country
to danger. It works the
same in any country."
-- Hermann Goering, April 18, 1946, head of the Nazi army's
equivalent of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff and Head of the
Luftwaffe.
From the book Nuremberg Diary (Farrar, Straus &
Co 1947), by Gustave
Gilbert (an Allies appointed psychologist), who visited
daily with
Goering and his cronies in their cells, afterwards making
notes and ultimately
writing the book about these conversations.