Germans: How many of you are still being punished for WWII (second Great War)?

Question

I know there were plenty of atrocities committed by the Nazi's during the war, but the Nazis were a group, not Germans. I saw a few Nazis were Danish as well.

Movies like Schinder's List, Saving Private Ryan, and so forth are important, but being that films about other war crimes through history are few and far between in comparison, I feel Germans in general are harassed from this.

I have some German in me, and as such the connotation of Nazi, and German is the same as (n-word) and black, or poor white and trailer trash.

Any others with German ancestry, or sympathetic to us feel this way

Answer 1

The second world war ended a very long time ago. The majority of those who participated are now in their late 70's in age with the exception of the Hitler Youth who were but 12 and 14 defending Berlin to the bitter end.

A number of my friends are second generation Canadians of German ancestory. Their parents having moved to Canada after the war. Many, had parents who were in the German Army, Navy or Luftwaffe. They, the second generation appear to be searching for what happened in Germany and how their parents could have been involved, and in what capacity did they participate. There is no blame, just a need to understand and a thirst for knowledge. The question regarding the holocaust always comes up and with the exception of one parent, all swear all they new is the Jewish population had been shipped East to a place where they could call their own. Yes, they had all read Mein Kampf, but they did not believe in it until it was too late, and during the events from 1938 onward, the clock could not be stopped, even if they wanted. They emphasize there was no desire for war. The German people were still hurting from the first world war, Hitler having rescued them from the Humiliation of surrender, payments to the victors, and kick started the economy. They were grateful they had food on the table and a job. A small price to pay to join the nazi party in their words.

While touring the Imperial War Museum in London one year, a group of German tourists were ahead of us. I was very aware of the situation as we looked at used cans of Zyklon B and watched their reactions. They were also aware they were being unfairly scruitinized. It is a situation I very soon regretted.

Every country has to own up to its history and come to terms with the past. That is for all generations, not only the generation that participated in violent events. As time passes, the burden on the German people lessens. Today, veterans of both sides now participate at memorial events to battles of the past. Survivors of the British Navy now attend memorial services dedicated to the German Battleship Bismark, which sank the HMS Hood taking over 2000 lives on 23 May, 1941. There is now a greater understanding and the bitterness appears to be easing, at least in North America.

In Europe, in 1985 I remarked it was as if the war were yesterday, particularly in London. I did not feel that last year when visiting London. When I toured Germany and Austria in 04 with a choral group, I did not sense the tensions that had persisted during previous visits. With a greater knowledge by North Americans of the bombing of Hamburg, Dresden and Darmstadt, their was almost a sympathy for the german people who died during these massive raids.

Time heals all wounds. People of German descent should no longer feel responsible for the actions of their ancestors, but should seek to understand how it happened so as it cannot happen again. Indeed, today the German filim industry is now making movies about the war from the german perspective and this is most refreshing. "Downfall" and "The Sophie Scholl Story" being two such examples.

Today, you are a person of German heritage. Not Nazi heritage! Be proud of your roots and heritage as it is a wonderful culture.

Answer 2

No, I am not. I have to say that I have never lived outside of Germany and maybe that's why I have never met anyone who was seriously prejudiced against Germans, but I travelled to many European countries that were invaded by Germans in World War II and have never made any bad experiences because of my nationality and ancestry there.

Even here on Y!A which is often really a terribly rude place where different groups of people are often very much insulted I see very little anti-German sentiment. I use to search for questions about Germans and Germany here and almost never see anything offensive. Sure, many of the questions have to do with World War II and the Holocaust, but that are historical facts, and events that had a huge impact on our world, it is alright that people learn about them and want to know more. It would only offend me if people told me that I would be guilty of this or that as a German I would have to be a Nazi by nature or something, but it has not happened to me yet.

Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan are among my favorite films and they were successful in Germany. I do not think they harass Germans in any way, they are just historically accurate films about events and deeds that must never be forgotten, but there is no slander in them and nothing that says Germans were evil by nature or something, particularly not in Schindler's List that is after all about a German who saved Jews from the Holocaust. Yes, there are less films about other war crimes and genocides, but you know that no other war and genocide were as horrible as World War II and the Holocaust, nothing else had the same impact and cost as many lives.

So I would just suggest you not to take it personal that these terrible atrocities are remembered so much.

As for the use of the words "Nazi" and "German" when it comes to World War II, I am not sure what is your problem. I noticed that people often say "Nazis" instead of "Germans" when they speak about who committed all the crimes and it seems to me like some kind of politcal correctness.

I have recently answered a question about the use of the words "Nazi" and "German", it's another very long answer, here is a link to it:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuUhB4s0auTuWPwFPtRFPejty6IX?qid=20070605071933AAbd3kE&show=7#profile-info-9MMBsoaaaa

Answer 3

Does the interchangeable use of Nazi and German bother me, yes. Is it something that I feel is harrassment, no. Maybe I'm just thick skinned, but I don't feel it's neccessary to take insults to heart. Yes it shows a lack of scholarship and historical perspective when people and documentaries over-simplify the past by calling all Germans, German soldiers especially, Nazis.

Most weren't, the Nazis gained power with the support of a little over 1/3 of the German voters. The later elections occured in a state of fear and Nazi domination, which means the data can't be readily used as support for all the Germans being Nazis mantra; they same can be said for Castro's approval rating.

Was Germany fighting an unjust war when they started WW2, yes. But does that mean all German soldiers were wrong, no it doesn't. Few main-line German troops were fighting for the Nazis. They were fighting for their survival, and if they had time to consider something else it would likely be defending their families and homes. Try looking at allied air raids from both perspectives; the initial raid fo the Blitz was an accident, the British retaliatd against the city of Berlin (at least the US, and later British raids tried to hit industrial targets) Not to mention don't ignore Soviet attrocities on the Eastern front carried out against POW's and civilians, they were no better than the SS in many cases.

Many German troops who were "enlisted" late in the war did so against their will and often at gun point; this comes from German POW's who were used as labor near my home town. On a side note, the fact that the town spoke German first and English with outsiders nearly got it quarantined in WW1, but such anti-German sentiment was far less in WW2. In case your wondering, I did have several great-uncles fighting in the European theatre.

People like easy to understand things, which usually means we need a good guy, and a bad guy. I'm not defending the Nazis, they were misguided fools who managed to seize power. IT is preatty easy to use them as the bad guy in our understading, again, rightfully so I guess. The problem comes in when we paint all Germans with this same brush. Most of the German people weren't Nazis, the National Socialists were a political party.

Answer 4

As time goes by and we become more distant to the events the stigma is lessened.

An educated person knows that not al Germans supported the Nazi Government.

Nazi describes a set of beliefs rather than people.

Answer 5

As a man of 75% German ancestory (living in America) I don't see so much prejudice against Germans. Possibly because many aren't able to tell the differance between a German, and a Brit perhaps (in a society of so many whites, it would be hard to tell the differance between differant sub-ethnicities, I mean, how hard is it to tell the differance between Japanese and Chinese people, or Kenyans and Egyptians - It can be quite hard). But I have to disagree, I don't get harrassed because of WWII, I only VERY rarely here something come up against others (and then ussually in the desperation of one losing an argument), possibly It's differant in Germany. The poor trailer trash stereotype has been applied to white people as a whole, not just Germans, ahh, there are 1000 of these things. If you look close enough, you'll find an instance of prejudice against any group of people.

Answer 6

When I went to Holland in 1980 there were Germans at the same hotel. They were very rude to us. One man actually pushed my friend out the way going down a hallway. These people were senior citizens. We didn't retaliate & just assumed they were still mad about the war! Our group consisted of British & Americans.
Needless to say, discrimination goes both ways. Hopefully with each new generation the anger will fade.
Remember the Germans are also known for their superb machinery so try to change the subject to that if someone starts an argument.

Answer 7

As a German myself, I do believe that we are being punished in some ways. We are not allowed to be proud of who we are, even though the war was 60 years ago. When you go to Germany, you don't see German flags flying freely like you do in America. During the World Cup when we did show some pride, the press and everybody around the world started yelling "Nazis". We are punished with having to be quiet about the suffering that we went through. We cannot have our stories told.

Answer 8

I am of German ancestory but I don't think that Germans are still being punished. Germany is a leader in NATO and in the G8 conference. German companies are respected for making quality products.

Be proud of your German heritage. Yes the Nazi's were bad but not all Germans were Nazis.

Answer 9

Being called a "German" can in NO WAY be compared with being called the "N" word which is outright derogatory and discriminatory.
I DO have a bit of a problem with those Germans who actually fought in the War - although these folks are dying at the same rate as our veterans. It may be irrational, but I have trouble being kind to people who tried their damnedest to kill my father. Further, my mother continues to suffer, more and more severely as time passes, with lung problems from inhaling poisonous fumes when she worked on the fighter planes right here in Buffalo - she and her sister painted anti-reflective "paint" on the windshields and glow-in-the-dark stuff on the dashboard dials.
So, I'm irrational. Too bad.

Answer 10

My biological Grandfather on my Mother's side was 100% German. I've got a good bit of German in me from that, and I've never had anyone hold it against me. I'm also Irish with a touch of Indian, so maybe they just don't want my temper to go off the handle, LOL. But seriously, anyone who's getting to you about this needs to get past it and realize that it was in the past, and though you feel remorse for what happened, you can't change it, and you personally had no part of it.

As for the words themselves bothering you, that's a completely personal thing. I've never been one to be bothered by it at all, of course they've never been directed at me either.