What do Jews world wide and in Israel?

Question

What do Jews worldwide and in Israel think about Germany and german citizen? I know that the Holocaust took place. No need to discuss that. I would like to know if Germans are welcome to visit Israel (not just on paper). How do you feel about the new german generation (born after holocaust)?

Just being curious.

@Whoo: would mind telling me why?

Answer 1

Twenty years ago, before the Berlin Wall came down, I spent two weeks living with a non-Jewish family in West Berlin.

They were lovely people, and although the subject of the holocaust was carefully avoided, I could tell that they were trying in their own way to make amends for the past.

I have been to Germany lots of times since, and have had many interesting conversations with them because I can speak their language. Just a few months ago I spent several hours on a train in Austria chatting to an 85-year-old who had actually served in the Nazi army, and he was also very sorry for what his country did to us.

So while we must make sure that nothing like the holocaust ever happens again, I know from personal experience that most Germans today have turned their back on the past and deserve to be viewed and treated as good people.

Answer 2

Many Jews have not forgiven Germany and Germans. They will not visit Germany, and attempt to avoiding contributing to its economy in any way. Germans are welcome to visit Israel, but if I told you that there was no residual anger I'd be lying. I don't think anyone would go out of their way to be mean or insulting, but they would definately be more scrutinized than others. For example, it would mean a lot more if a German was in a neo-Nazi group than if some other nationality was. In my opinion, any German who doesn't still feel horrible about the holocaust and nationally ashamed isn't respectable. It was not so long ago that it happened, and was not so secretive that the populace didn't know.
I don't know much about the new generation, so I can't really comment.

Answer 3

Great question!

As a Jew living outside Israel, I have no negative feelings towards young Germans; they weren't around during Nazi Germany and it would be utterly unfair to hold those terrible events against them.

When I was living in Israel, I actually noticed many younger Germans there, and I asked an Israeli friend. She remarked that Israel is quite a popular destination for the new generation of Germans, and I hope that's still true, because I think it's a positive thing.

Having said all of this, I must also say that Germany is not a country I would ever want to visit; the only reason I would go there would be on one of the organised Jewish tours of the concentration camps. I know several people that have done this.

My cousin's father-in-law was, alas, in Auschwitz and his whole family were murdered there. Like many, but not all Jews, I can't help associating Germany with the Holocaust. That can't be helped, and it's understandable.

I hope that answers your question a bit, and have a star for such an interesting post.

Answer 4

When I was in the sixth grade (11 to 12 years old) I lived in Germany with my family. I got to meet alot of German people and found that most German people were very nice and the regretted what had happened during WW2. I now think of Germany as a friend to Jews except for mainly in East Germany were it seems that feeling of anti-Semitism and hatred of non-Germans (immigrants for example) can be very high. It is very disturbing to me to hear about the attitudes of some Germans because it does not match the attitudes of Germans I had met when I lived in Germany as a child.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 5

I'm an atheist of Jewish ancestry, born and raised in the USA.

I've got no problems with Germans as a group. They've got their heroes and their villains, like any other people. Same for the Israelis (who, by the way, are not very representative of Jews worldwide). And the same for Palestinians.

The history of Nazism shows us that the first camps were opened for Marxists and trade unionists. Before killing Jews and making war on Europe, the Hitlerites had to make war on the German working class. Those German workers were heroes.

Instead of blaming people of today for the Germans who followed an insane Austrian more than sixty years ago, I prefer to go back a little further in history and think of those Germans whose leader was a Jewish woman from Poland (the Marxist Rosa Luxembourg).

I also think of the German Trotskyists who died in the Stasi prisons, defying both capitalism and Stalinism. Those Germans were heroes, too.

Enjoy your travels. You are a Terran -- the whole earth is your home. Don't be afraid to explore any of the places our amazingly varied species lives!

Answer 6

now that the Holocaust took place. No need to discuss that. I would like to know if Germans are welcome to visit Israel (not just on paper). How do you feel about the new german generation (born after holocaust)?


Yes! Absolutely. I can speak as a Jew who has lived in Israel and in the US. I am really proud of the fact that Jewish people are able to distinguish between the people who killed 6mn of us and the current Germans. It is also important to understand that people didn't become Nazis because they were GERMAN-- it's human nature being maleable as always. So yes, Germans are definitely welcome. I've met several who worry that they will be hated, and are really apologetic. It is nice that they are kind, but there is no need for THEM to apologize as if they ran the death camps (it is appropriate for them to apologize as a human for this happening).

I was surprised to learn recently that this isn't unique to my generation (those in our 20s). Even my father's generation is very welcoming of Germans (so long as they were not SS officers).

Hope this helps

Answer 7

EVERY humans has a native land. The Boston Irish, for illustration. They are good included into American society, but they appear upon Ireland as their native land. The Arabs haven't any fewer than 22 states. Muslims have over 60 states. Why unmarried out the Jews to be the only humans on the earth with no native land? It was once for 2000 years that the Jewish humans prayed for his or her native land to be re-centered. They fasted at some point a yr in reminiscence in their land that was once taken from them. The Jewish humans lives. Israel is their native land. .

Answer 8

It's not that I don't like them or anything, I am a little afraid of them though, I don't know why. It doesn't have anything to do with the actual people living now but the stigma the country has but I am afraid of some German people but not because they're German.

Answer 9

when i lived in new york, one of my roommates was a young german woman. being israeli and jewish i was curious about how she sees the world's current treament of germany in relation to the holocaust. this is somewhat what she said: yes it was a horrible tragedy in her country's past that can not be ignored or forgotten, but new generations can not help what happened in the past, they can only learn from it and not repeat the mistakes of their predecessors. she felt like a lot of young germans felt that many of the world's communities still hold the past against them and don't give them a chance to move on.
i thought her answer was spot on. we can't forget and we can't ignore, but we have to move on. i have no problem with germans as a people, they have made many other contributions to the world, but it seems that people only focus on one thing.
good question by the way.

Answer 10

I think they would have no problem with although they may forgive but never forget.

I'm black, and we were persecuted way back. Today, I don't have problems talking to a white person or someone of another race. Remember, you don't have to be a certain colour to be racist. We all live in the same box, everyone, despite being racist or non-racist, has to get used to that fact.