Did it “in disgust”… but they’d already lost the war and become PoWs, so the cynic in me says they did it out of self-preservation.
Its no clean wehrmacht, but it is pretty heavy-handed propaganda. A lot of the german military simply wanted the jews gone or their influence reduced or their resources stolen and them shipped out, true, and they weren’t aware of the full extent of the Final Solution. But despite the rampant horrors committed on the eastern front, many of them legitimately believed such atrocities would be confined to the Bolsheviks and the discovery that it had been brought to the european nations, a more “civilized” region, was genuinely horrifying to many of them. Not the actions, just that it was being done here. Nazi NIMBYs, everybody. They suck even more than regular Nazis!
And yeah, many common german soldiers repented and denounced the atrocities when confronted with the evidence. But not nearly as many as the allies would like you to believe!
It’s always interesting when I start looking at the names of German politicians and business leaders in the 50s-90s, there’s always an “SS” heading on their Wikipedia page.
Citizens living in the area who denied the conditions in the camps were made to visit them
https://www.annefrank.org/en/timeline/172/german-citizens-see-the-consequences-of-war-crimes/
Many chose to stay in the US or Canada after the war.
