> The context was that Von Neumann was advocating the extermination of the Russian population, not their regime.
I don't think that's accurate. 1950 was before hydrogen bombs.
Von Neumann was ethnically Jewish and his relatives or friends literally went from respected citizens to extermination in unfathomably short order; so one would not be surprised if his calculus pertaining to collateral damage in decimating the Nazis would be rather unforgiving.
Re:A new biography of John von Neumann
by sudosysgen on Sunday October 10, 2021 @09:45AM
(#28818361)
That's an explanation, but it's still wrong. It's a very dangerous thing to justify ethnic revanchism.
Definitely does not make for justification but I am helping us understand why [hopefully hyperbolic] comments of a political nature by Von Neumann [or other Jewish contemporaries] are often rather objectionable by universal or nominal moral standards.
That's a fascinating question. I'm not sure what to say.
EDIT: Ah, my response is "That's an unfair comparison." The context was that Von Neumann was advocating the extermination of the Russian population, not their regime. I agree that it would be worth considering the strategic options at the time, but that the strategic options should not include the extermination of the entire German population.