100%

It’s easier to convert a lib, generally a progressive lib, than it is to convert a Nazi. Especially if it’s a dyed-in-the-wool Nazi and you are hoping for a lifelong conversion without them reverting back to being a reactionary at some stage.

If converting Nazis is really your jam idk, whatever, it’s not my place to tell you how to live your life.

But if you feel that it’s your political mission then you need to understand that you’re pissing very limited time and resources up a wall that provides extremely limited results.

It might feel super gratifying to eventually convert a Nazi but there’s a reason why the Yugoslavian partisan effort to convert Nazis was one where they converted them into fertiliser and not into allies.

I am deeply skeptical of ex-Nazis and I think we all need to be. The reason for why people are attracted to fascism is a major concern and it’s hard to bring someone out of that - either it’s about power and the justification for feeling righteous in committing acts of violence and persecution of oppressed groups or it’s about a sense of ideological alignment, sometimes both. You don’t commit to living that way without it requiring years of deprogramming and serious self-work and work from the community around that individual. And this requires a genuine willingness and commitment from the person who is breaking free from it too.

I’m not saying that it’s impossible or it shouldn’t ever be done but I am saying that it’s more difficult and it’s less common than online debatebros would have you believing (because see - they managed to convert a Nazi in a debate in the space of two hours!! Aren’t they wonderful and doing so much for “the movement”? Now ignore the thumbnails in their goon folder and start donating to their Patreon…)

I also am very strongly opposed to appointing ex-fash to leadership positions, whether in organisations or as so-called “thought leaders” (ugh) like Azov ᛋᛋomething - that’s a quick way to get infiltrators and to have your movement being led astray by people who haven’t done the political work to fully break free from their former beliefs.

If you were born into fascism you have my deepest sympathies and I’m going to be a lot softer on you, especially if you started breaking free early in your life, but idk most people don’t just walk down the street one day and trip over to fall into face-first into fascist beliefs, y’know what I’m saying?

This sums it up. Some of them are too far gone, but if you can be very practical about it, it can be worth it in some instances. I just tend to assume that any Nazi who could be prone to becoming better will eventually do so in due time, but like you said, it’s not the biggest thing to focus on when advocating for leftism.