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Funny you should bring this up. My very American grandmother grew up in a German speaking home.
In Ohio.
And yes, you bet people can relate to the hardships their grandparents suffered. My grandfather (who was also raised in a German speaking home) was gassed in WWI. I can remember him. Barely. My heart breaks to know what he went through in those trenches.
Dew, I wasn't picking on him and his feelings. I'm just saying I never was able to relate to much my grandfather/grandmother, coz they were decades away. Great grandfather and his brothers disappeared in the war. The Pritish Queeng enlisted unwilling men to go fight in all kinds of foreign lands. God only knows how many Indians died. My father said his grandfather and his brothers were never seen again. God only knows if their carcasses are out there in the Dardenelles or Italy or wherever....... but definitely conjoined with momma earth somewhere.
And sitting here several decades later, I can tell it's a tough thing, but I can never really relate coz I barely know anyone.
But I've forgiven the British. I even speak the wonderful language of the dirty bastards I guess I've moved on. I'm not gonna ruin my beautiful life fixating on the past, that to horrific crimes which can neither be undone nor revenged upon. That's the message of Oh-eve and I'm totally on board with her.
Last edited by Currency Pair Crocodile; 02-09-2012 at 08:56 PM..
Nobody can forgive Hitler. He's an ass. A total piece of human trash in its fullest sense.
But the amount of negative energy that man holds on the psyche of posterity. It's so mind-boggling. I mentioned this on another thread.
I don't care for Hitler. He's a mass murderer whose only deserved prize needs to be eternal oblivion.
Yes, a mass murder and the scum at the bottom of the stangnant pond. But he got to be the leader of a nation and was responsible directly or indirectly for the deaths of millions. Just HOW he got to be this leader and WHY ahd how he maintained that power is all extemely important. And we need to remember. Unfortunately, we need to remember a psycho to do it.
I don't even remember my grandmother's face. Often times I have to ask my family for pictures and ask them which one grandmother was
One can relate to the hardships of immediate family. But grandmother's family
I'm sorry for that. Yes, I remember my grandparents faces, especially as two are still alive and kicking. The other two just died within the past couple of years. My paternal grandpa was in WWII and he and my grandma would not have met had it not been for WWII. My husband's dad was also in WWII and a POW twice in the Pacific. It's still very real to many people.
Yes, a mass murder and the scum at the bottom of the stangnant pond. But he got to be the leader of a nation and was responsible directly or indirectly for the deaths of millions. Just HOW he got to be this leader and WHY ahd how he maintained that power is all extemely important. And we need to remember. Unfortunately, we need to remember a psycho to do it.
He ruled by fear and yes i'm still alive, as a kid in the UK i hardly had enough food, and spent my nights huddled in an air raid shelter because of the bombing but my plight was nothing compared to the millions of people who were exterminated by a monster. We should never forget, the saddist thing is that it is still happening today.
You conveniently sidestepped the question of why we acted so quickly against Ghadaffi but have done nothing with Assad who is doing much worse than Ghaddafi.
If you insist on religiously following the thread, regardless of important present day parallels, then here is some relevant history on Hitler:
He wrought an economic miracle that brought Germany out of the ruins of the first world war and the Weimar Republic. He restored confidence and national pride to a defeated and demoralized German people. He layed down an efficient, modern infrastructure much of which is still in use today. He built up the most powerful land force ever before seen in Europe with an 8 million man army under arms. He brought Germany from a world basket-case to a political, economic and military superpower in eight short astonishing years. That's why the German people believed in him. That's why they blindly followed him down the road to hell.
You conveniently sidestepped the question of why we acted so quickly against Ghadaffi but have done nothing with Assad who is doing much worse than Ghaddafi.
If you insist on religiously following the thread, regardless of important present day parallels, then here is some relevant history on Hitler:
He wrought an economic miracle that brought Germany out of the ruins of the first world war and the Weimar Republic. He restored confidence and national pride to a defeated and demoralized German people. He layed down an efficient, modern infrastructure much of which is still in use today. He built up the most powerful land force ever before seen in Europe with an 8 million man army under arms. He brought Germany from a world basket-case to a political, economic and military superpower in eight short astonishing years. That's why the German people believed in him. That's why they blindly followed him down the road to hell.
I'd be happy to discuss this, but the thread is about genocide and not civil war nor oppression and I'm truly trying to bring it back to point ESPECIALLY with all the political mutterings. Open a thread on the topic and I'd be happy to discuss.
To the OP, one thing you should consider is that Germans were really not demonized by US propaganda and as such *a lot* is blamed on HITLER in the US while the Japanese are blamed as......the Japanese.
Why? Well blatant racism of the era coupled with the fact that there are A LOT of germans here in the US, especially states like Wisconsin. (Most Americans couldn't even name guys like Hirohito, Tojo and so forth as Japanese WW2 leaders)
If you want an extremely good example, there were several WW2 era Bugs Bunny cartoons aimed as propaganda. One is titled "BUgs Bunny Nips the Nips". I saw it in my youth but it was banned as incredibly racist (and it is) decades ago in the US.
I'd be happy to discuss this, but the thread is about genocide.
Actualy the thread is about "Why the obsession with Hitler?". There are many facets to any comprehensive answer to that question. The notorious murders of the Nazi regime is only one. For example, reference to the Gestapo or the SS are now commonly understood references to certain types of totalitarian behavior. There were more than 70 million deaths that resulted from WW2 and an understanding of what caused that tragedy is important. An understanding of current events that could once again throw is into a world war is even more so.
Last edited by Bideshi; 02-10-2012 at 05:17 AM..
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I guess I've moved on. I'm not gonna ruin my beautiful life fixating on the past, that to horrific crimes which can neither be undone nor revenged upon. That's the message of Oh-eve and I'm totally on board with her.
Open a thread on the topic and I'd be happy to discuss.