The Danger of Selective Memory: When We Only Remember the “Good”

Believe it or not, occasionally someone will try to point out that “not everything under Hitler was bad”. Usually, as an attempt to sound objective or analytical. But even that kind of reasoning exposes a deeper danger. When we start separating “achievements” from the suffering that made them possible, we risk turning history into propaganda.

Yes, Germany under Hitler built highways, reduced unemployment, and produced scientific advancements. Those are facts. But facts without context can become poison. Every “achievement” of that era was built on the backs of enslaved labor, the silencing of dissent, and the dehumanization of millions. The “prosperity” that some Germans felt came at the direct expense of others’ freedom, dignity, and lives.

Why History Demands Full Context

It’s human nature to want simple stories. Heroes, villains, progress, and setbacks are interesting. But when we pick and choose which parts of history to highlight, we shape narratives that can mislead or comfort us at great moral cost.

When people highlight “good things” Hitler did, they often ignore why those things were done and who suffered to make them so. The roads, cars, and jobs were instruments of propaganda, militarization, and suppression. Behind every photo of smiling workers was a regime enforcing obedience, hate, and terror.

Parallels to Today: Why It Still Matters

One of the most important lessons of history is that authoritarian leaders have long used “progress” as a mask for cruelty. That pattern isn’t ancient or distant because it echoes today.

Consider the recent Trump peace plan for Gaza. It’s being celebrated in some circles as a diplomatic success. But we must ask: which voices are elevated, which narratives are hidden, and who pays the cost?
If we only remember the “peace deal” headline and skip the context, we risk repeating the same mistake of forgetting how power can hide injustice.

Now consider this...a leaked Telegram group chat of Young Republican leaders was exposed, filled with racist, xenophobic, and antisemitic messages.

GOP youth leaders joked about Hitler, used racial slurs, and made violent remarks.
In response, the Kansas chapter of Young Republicans went “inactive,” and many have issued condemnations. In fact, they disbanded the Empire State's Young Republicans chapter. 

These two events, the peace plan and the chat leak, serve as modern reminders: it’s tempting to idolize public “victories,” but behind them, prejudices and power plays are very real. If we only pick the “good,” we blind ourselves to the harm.

The Slippery Slope of Excusing Evil

When we focus on surface-level successes, we risk excusing systems of cruelty. That’s how tyranny grows: under the guise of efficiency, progress, or national pride. The moment we begin deflecting with “but see how well he did here,” we blur the line between moral critique and apology.

We already see this in political discourse today: factions defending leaders not for their values, but for their results. Economic gains, “strong hand” governing, or foreign deals are held up as justification, even when they coexist with human rights abuses, corruption, or racism.

A truly balanced view of history doesn’t mean giving evil a fair share of praise; it means seeing how evil often hides behind supposedly good outcomes.

The Responsibility of Honest Memory

To teach or write history properly, we must tell the whole story, the progress and the pain, the acclaim and the atrocity. If we want future generations to grow in empathy, courage, and clarity, they must see how cruelty masquerades as competence, and how power often demands silence.

The Holocaust, the systemic terror, the genocide, these were not minor side effects. They were the very tools through which the regime asserted meaning and control. When we sanitize, we let moral failure slip into the shadows.

So when we speak of historical figures or current leaders, let’s not fall into the trap of selective memory. Let’s refuse the comfortable narratives that reduce suffering to footnotes in a story about roads and jobs.

Final Thought

Asking hard questions is essential. Abandoning them is dangerous.
We can acknowledge organizing or ambition without praising the man behind them. We can recognize infrastructure or diplomacy without worshiping the agenda that conceals injustice. And above all, we must remember: progress that costs lives is not progress.

Because when we excuse evil in the name of efficiency, we aren’t learning from history...we’re rewriting it.