Comments by "Gergana Koleva" (@gerganakoleva4137) on "Today I Found Out" channel.

  1. I lived under a dictatorship (former communist country), so I do know that although nothing is leaked officially, there is an unstoppable spreading of rumours: people connected to the camps (guards, cooks, drivers,...) would talk to family, may be sometimes friends, although they have to be very careful, and those to other people and so on... although the regime tried to control it, it cannot be stopped. The funny thing is how different people would react to those stories: some would not believe the extent of the tortures, some would even approve of, since the prisoners are deemed "enemies of the people". And above all is the fear that some night they will knock at your door, so people are very careful to whom and what they say. But the knowledge is there. Probably it was the same in Germany. I cannot even describe to people never lived under such conditions how much everything is under censorship. My father was a journalist back then, so I do know how every printed word has to be approved "from above" and if you fear they will not allow something to be printed, you have to go look for personal connections, talk to the party functionary on many level to try and convince them to back your story up. So I am convinced they knew, at least the grown ups, and also they were simultaneously under oppression and denial. I quite see how the German nation could look at the defeat of the Nazi not as a defeat, but liberation of Germany (at least right after the end of the war).
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