Everyone should understand that the Nazis first used terror and thuggery to frighten the Germany and Austrian populations into silence.
This allowed their movement to grow and make a play for political power.
Once the Nazi Party succeeded in establishing its power, either by elections or by invasions, the populations were not offered the options of "minding their own business"...they either joined the program or at the very least went along with the program and kept their mouths shut and kept their thoughts to themselves.
Every German youth was drafted into the military, and therefore wore the uniform of the swastika and carried out their orders.
Those like Arnold's father who were local constables in small towns, either went along with the regime change to keep a job, or they perished.
"Opting out of the society at large" was not an option for anyone during those times.
It is therefore not fair or just for us living without ever experiencing the true horrors of life under Nazism, to so quickly brand and accuse any and all Germans or Austrians who merely went to work, came home, and raised their families, as being Nazis.
There is a major difference between those who were Nazi Party Leaders, the SS, the Industrialists who supported Hitler, etc., and those who were simple Austrian peasants in a mountain village who were told to give the Hitler salute and shout "Heil", or lose their livelihoods and families.
The freedoms we take for granted in the U.S.A., and the social and economic mobility which we take for granted, did not exist in Europe during that time.
There was no such thing as "just quitting your job and moving to another town to find another".
Most lived where their ancestors had lived, and worked in the jobs their ancestors had worked.
Without electricity or phones or media...without bank accounts and charge cards.
Arnold had his father investigated by the Wiesenthal Center as to his role during the Reich, and the results were that his father was nothing more than a simple peasant police constable on the beat.
And if other was the case, it would still be wrong to brand Arnold as something which he most clearly is not.