Big, big, difference Bern, the IRA were as much enemies of Irish Government as they was ours, they were not the Government itself.
The Nazis were the German Government and held popular support there and it is a much more complex issue. Without the support of the German people the Nazis would not have lasted so long. It is far too easy to claim that the enemy were something other than the German people, something apart, but that was not so. The reasons for the power and sway of the Nazis are complex and goes back to the appalling terms set by the allies for the Armastice after WW1. We are ourselves not immune to the kind of monsters respresented by the Nazis and should not feel superior in that sense.
I like the Germans, have German friends and had a great holiday there some years ago as a guest of the German version of the Young Conservatives, but the Nazis were not a race apart.
As for the war films, The Great Escape was based on a real incident and yes around 50 escapees were murdered, machine gunned, and the film is right to depict that.
Near our place in France is the remain of a village called Oradour-sur-Glane and after D Day German SS troops surrrounded the village and murdered every man woman and child. The only survivor was the local doctor who was away making house calls. The village is preserved as it was to this day as a memorial. A visit there is a very moving experience where 642 were murdered.
See more here:
http://www.oradour.info/
So yes PaulB - the Germans do deserve to be cast as bloodthirtsty villans in WW2 films