This reminds me of a book I read some time ago. It was written by a German who he admitted had been a die hard believer in Hitler. Even when captured he believed it to be a break before Germany won the war. The moment he knew that the war was lost was when he arrived in the US POW camp and was issued with real soap. It was an untold luxury in Germany at the time, being issued to him, a simple POW is what broke him.
Its funnny what it takes to prick a belief, often something totally unexpected.