Given how it turned out, maybe each man should have said no and meant it every step along the way, from gold star to camp train.
Going along and hoping for mercy sure didn't pay off.
The Nazi's were masterful in their initial occupation of cities and towns across Europe.
One day 2 German soldiers would be on a street corner. Fairly pleasant, even talk, interact with citizens, smoke cigarettes. Some people even invited them into their homes. Then one day theire's 4 soldoers and a jeep. Still pleasant and whatnot. Then one day there 10 - 12 soldiers and some kind of tank and more military truck, then there are curefews, then the curfews are enforced a little more strictly and the soldiers aren't as nice. Then there's a hundred soldiers in the town and they're positively cruel and inside your home with out an invitation. Then the soldiers are in the house and the people are in a fenced off area in the street, surrounded by armed soldiers.
The people of those towns (I love how the jews have led us to believe that no non jews were victim to this) lived in denial, hoping the initial pleasantry and cooperation would expedite the Nazi's 'pass' through their town.