Soldiers in the German Army can disobey certain orders!

Yep, it’s true; in the German Army, soldiers are obliged to disobey any order they think would violate human dignity. Few, if any other armies have this rule!

This is all based in the principle of "command and obedience in the Bunderswehr". This doesn't mean they can disobey anything, though. If a soldier insubordinates for other reasons, he/she may be punished with imprisonment up to three years if they acted negligently.

This human dignity exception was enacted in the 1950s, after seeing what blind obedience did to Nazi Germany soldiers. This rule now means that soldiers need not fear retribution if a commander's orders would lead to something horrible like it did with the Nazis.