In a village in Poland in 1942 you, as a member of a company of German soldiers, are raising your rifle at a crowd of women, children and the elderly. Your commander has given leave to any soldier not to take part in the massacre. Out of 500 soldiers only 15 choose to opt out: three per cent. Are you one of them?
Would I have been one of them? I can’t tell because I did not live in Germany between the wars. And I am aware that, notwithstanding my free will, I am a product of my personal history, and that must be strongly influenced by the culture in which I have lived.
