Why does my German Grandfather Cry when ever he sees a documentary on world war two ?

Question

He Served in the Whermacht. During the occupation of France

Answer 1

The Wermacht is German for Army, as it is still known to this day (include the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine, air force and Navy). His nation lost that war, and history is written by the winners. Having served in the German army does not make your grandfather a monster. He served his country, and that makes him an honorable man. I cannot attest to what I do not know, so what he did or did not do is between him and his conscience. But as to why he cries during these documentaries, you will have to ask him.

Answer 2

It's obvious that he remembers all the friends he lost in battle. It probably hurts more that now he knows what he was fighting for which only deepens his loss. He may also have some post traumatic stress syndrome still causing him pain. So don't look down on him he is only one of many victims of war. He's not weak he's just experienced the most horrible of experiences a person can go through and survive war.

Answer 3

Maybe because he hates to see what has happened. I know that a lot of Germans in the Wehrmacht were forced to join or the would heave been sent to the camps, where they were initially were set up for.
The majority of the German soldiers were forced to take act in all the cruelty that has taken place otherwise they would be tortured themselves and they has families.
I know my grandfather was helped to escape in Holland by a German soldier telling him he didn't want to take part.

Answer 4

Anyone who has been to war will have mixed emotions about it. I was in the Army for 22 years and went to the Gulf War in 1990. If I see a documentary on WW2 it gets to me too. It is the comradery you have with your fellow soldiers. It is the things you see and the things you do to keep yourself and them alive during conflict. It is also the respect you have for all who fought in any war. We are soldiers and we have feelings too.

Answer 5

Actually to tell you the truth. He is probably upset because the German War Machine hid all the deaths of the Jews and others from the common person/soldier. 90% of germany still does not fully understand the Nazi germany propaganda machine.

For a long while, the halocaust was not talked about in Germany. It is just coming to light from what I understand.

Answer 6

Regrets, maybe. At the time, when he was serving, maybe he thought he was doing good things for his countries. Now time goes by, and he is really aware that was a big lie, he had been telling lies..
Talk with you grand Pa; I'm sure he is in a better position to answer your questions, and you will learn a lot... Hatred is never the solution...

Answer 7

My first reaction to your question is to ask why you post a question here rather than just ask your grandfather. Moving past that . . .

There's the obvious practicle answer. Anything that reminds him of WW2 probably makes him remember his friends dying.

Then there's the hindsight knowledge that he fought an unwinnable war over someone else's ideology and suffered greatly for doing so. Ask a US soldier returning from Iraq about his feelings on that conflict. It's the same thing.

Answer 8

Because the people of Germany were tricked into believing they were attacked my Poland. THAT lie is what started WW2 and gave Germany the singular distinction of having started both world wars.

It was all a big lie and the people fell for it.

Answer 9

Many people that have served in the military and gone to war usually become traumatized because of the horrible incidents they may have seen.

Answer 10

Whermacht was the name of the armed forces of Nazi-Germany from 1935 to 1945. During World War II, the Wehrmacht consisted of the army (Heer), the navy (Kriegsmarine) and the air force (Luftwaffe).
The number of soldiers who served in the Wehrmacht during its existence from 1935 until 1945 is believed to approach 18.2 million. This figure was put forward by historian Rüdiger Overmans and represents the total number of people who ever served in the Wehrmacht, and not the force strength of the Wehrmacht at any point in time. About 2.3 million Wehrmacht soldiers were killed in action; 550,000 died from non-combat causes; missing in action and unaccounted for after the war 2.0 million; and 459,000 POW deaths, of whom 77,000 were in the custody of the U.S., UK and France; POW dead includes 266,000 in the post war period after June 1945 , primarily in Soviet captivity. Approximately 11 million were captured by enemy forces.

The Wehrmacht committed numerous war crimes during World War II — terror bombing of open cities, massacres of civilians, summary executions of Soviet political officers as sanctioned by the Commissar Order, and executions of prisoners of war and civilian hostages as punishment for partisan activities in occupied territories. Though the massive exterminations associated with the Holocaust were primarily committed by the SS and the Einsatzgruppen, the Wehrmacht was also involved, as Wehrmacht officers and soldiers cooperated with the Einsatzgruppen in many locations rounding up Jews and others for internment or execution. Members of the Wehrmacht often participated in massacres themselves.[citation needed]

As the extent of the Holocaust became widely known by the end of the war, many former members of the Wehrmacht promoted the view that it was "unblemished" by the crimes allegedly committed exclusively by the SS and the political police forces, which both were not part of the Wehrmacht. Though it convicted OKW chief Wilhelm Keitel and chief of operations Alfred Jodl for war crimes, the Nuremberg tribunal did not declare the Wehrmacht to be a criminal organization, as it did with party organizations such as the SS. This was seen by many Germans as an exoneration of the Wehrmacht. Among German historians, the deep involvement of the Wehrmacht in war crimes, particularly on the Eastern Front, became widely accepted in the late 1970s and the 1980s.