I really can't stand leftist hand-wringing about people acknowledging "the Third Reich also had its good sides." You have to be really stupid to believe that anything in this world is ALL good or ALL bad. And admitting that doesn't even have to necessarily mean downplaying bad parts.
OBJECTIVELY, the Third Reich was an economic miracle and pulled Germany out of a severe economic crisis. Unemployment dropped dramatically. Public health programs like vaccinations, tuberculosis screenings, anti-smoking campaigns, and encouragement of physical activity were put into place. The idea that leisure activities should be accessible to everyone regardless of class. The development of the Autobahn and the vision of a people's car that would make travel more affordable for the average family. Construction of affordable housing. Loans for newlyweds. Youth programs.
It does history a disservice to treat the Nazis like a unique, cartoonish pure evil that did nothing but bad things. That's not true of anyone. The more people stick their fingers in their ears about it, the likelier it is that one day people will realize the truth and understand that they have been lied to and manipulated.
It's not just a disservice to the past, but also a danger to the future. This idea that Germany voted the nazis into power because they hated the jews and for no other reasons completely ignores the economic ruin Germany was under after WWI and the unity and hope the nazis offered.
I see this as less 'the Nazis were economically efficient' and more 'the Wiemar Republic and Treaty of Versailles sucked THAT hard.'
The Third Reich was an economic house of card predicated on looting their own people and expanding to loot other countries. Beyond their abhorrent core ideology their expansionism was required to keep feeding the machine of state.
But yes, they kickstarted their economy back into motion by brute force, and a number of their programs were admirable when looked at in isolation. If they'd ever managed to solve the whole 'Berlin is built on a swamp' and weren't busy trying to conquer the rest of Europe, the plans they had for the rebuild of Berlin would have been incredible.
Turning the Nazis into cartoon villains strips them of their evil and their use as a warning, and taints everything they touched beyond what it should.
The US Highway system is modeled on the Autobahns. The Russian and American space agencies (and by extension the current space industry) are built on the engineering work done by people trying to flatten London.
