• kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksOP
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    17 days ago

    I just finished the Behind the Bastards episodes on Martin. What an interesting man. In his younger years he was a German nationalist, antisemite, member of the Freikorps, and Nazi supporter (though also imprisoned for religious disagreements with the Nazis). Later in life he wrote that famous “First they came…” poem, became an anti-war activist, was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union, and before he died said he was moving towards become an anarchist.

      • kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksOP
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        17 days ago

        Not a straight or quick path, either. Looking back at my comment I make it sound like he did a total 180 to sainthood. He was still a piece of shit late in life, just less so than when he was younger. He never fessed up to a war crime he committed while in the German Navy, for example. The podcast does a decent job of going through the wrinkles in his life.