[Jaruzel]

> conscientiously performing guard duty

His alternative was what?

  "Hey Nazi bosses, I'm not going do this, it's wrong!"  

  "Then we will shot you on the spot, and replace you with another guard who will."

  "Err OK then, please forget I objected."

People think ALL Nazis had a choice, but a large majority of them were just trying to stay alive by keeping their heads down and doing a good job.

EDIT: I'm getting seriously downvoted for this, with replies stating that he had a 'choice' ... OK you try living in a totalitarian state, and see what 'choice' you have.

[hef19898]

The Einsatzgruppen, and other kill squads, were purely voluntary affairs. Not sure about "local" guards, maybe some of those were drafted. Nobody of these guys can hide behind "we just followed orders". It is just sad that the little guys, like a secretary and lowly prison guard, are prosecuted now, when a lot of the mid-level organizers, incl. Doctors and officers in charge, were left alone in Western Germany while they were still alive.

EDIT: You didn't have a choice going to war (talking about the male population), you had a choice in volunteering for counter partisan warfare, Einsatzgruppen, concentration camp duty,... And that choice is the crucial one here.

[sofixa]

That's just flat out wrong. The majority of SS personnel ( outside of the Waffen-SS) were volunteers.

Furthermore, even draftees often had at least some choice, and could ask for a reassignment.

[swayvil]

You obviously do not live in the black-and-white, propaganda-generated cartoon that some of these other fellows enjoy. Things are much simpler there.

[cygx]

In many cases, it was entirely possible to ask for reassignment without getting shot by a superior officer, so your accusation of cartoonish oversimplification cuts both ways...