Quoted in History Channel 5-part series "The Wehrmacht" in the episode "The Crimes".
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We all share the guilt. We went along with everything, and we half-took the Nazis seriously instead of saying "to hell with you and your stupid nonsense". I misled my soldiers into believing this rubbish. I feel utterly ashamed of myself. Perhaps we bear even more guilt than these uneducated animals.
— Dietrich von Choltitz
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "We all share the guilt. We went along with everything, and we half-took the Nazis seriously instead of saying "to hell with you and your stupid nonsense". I misled my soldiers into believing this rubbish. I feel utterly ashamed of myself. Perhaps we bear even more guilt than these uneducated animals." in the context of "Quoted in History Channel 5-part series "The Wehrmacht" in the episode "The Crimes"." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Dietrich von Choltitz" (Quotes)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Dietrich von Choltitz
Dietrich Hugo Hermann von Choltitz (9 November 1894 – 4 November 1966) was a German General who served in the Royal Saxon Army during World War I and the German Army during World War II. He is chiefly remembered for his role as the last commander of Nazi-occupied Paris in 1944, when he disobeyed Adolf Hitler's orders to level the city, but instead surrendered it to Free French forces.
About Dietrich von Choltitz
Dietrich Hugo Hermann von Choltitz (9 November 1894 – 4 November 1966) was a German General who served in the Royal Saxon Army during World War I and the German Army during World War II. He is chiefly remembered for his role as the last commander of Nazi-occupied Paris in 1944, when he disobeyed Adolf Hitler's orders to level the city, but instead surrendered it to Free French forces.
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