When will Germany be forgiven?

MrBurns said:

I'm not German or Jewish but I've been thinking for a while that all Germans are tainted with the sins of their forefathers and the stigma shows no signs of abating.

How long will this go on, when will German youth not be tarnished with the sins of Hitler and the 3rd Reich ?

I can't see an end to it.

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MrBurns said:

I'm not German or Jewish but I've been thinking for a while that all Germans are tainted with the sins of their forefathers and the stigma shows no signs of abating.

How long will this go on, when will German youth not be tarnished with the sins of Hitler and the 3rd Reich ?

I can't see an end to it.

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wayneL said:

Various other groups get too much mileage out of it.

But fwiw, in my social circle (which is mainly people with an interest in equestrian sport), Germans are the gurus and held in high esteem. Hitler is a non-issue.

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springhill said:

Are they? I've met heaps of young Germans and i have to say they are amongst the nicest & most genuine of all.
The last word that would've come to mind is Nazi.

What's brought this topic up?

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MrBurns said:

Yes and I drive one of their superb automobiles, no doubt about their talent or ability but how would you like to be German and see one of the zillions of TV shows on Hitler and the Holocaust that air regularly on TV, are they mentally divorsed from that ?

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sam76 said:

I think the 'official' move on from the war was during the 50th anniversary

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greggy said:

I'm sorry to say that this is an inflammatory topic....

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MrBurns said:

Perhaps when discussed by fools but there are non in here

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greggy said:

Don't you mean "none" not non. D'oh!

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doctorj said:

Forgiven, but never forgotten.
Not that I blame Germans (particularly the younger generations that were not even around), but I think it's important to remeber these things to limit the chances of them happening ever again.

If you've never been to a concentration camp it's worth going once.

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cuttlefish said:

I think that the younger generation has moved on from it, but are aware of the history, the corresponding guilt/reaction/introspection that it has inspired has infused itself into their culture and made for quite a positive people.

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MrBurns said:

It's a conflict really, how do you keep the memory alive without sentencing all future generations to bear the guilt.

Would be good to hear from some Germans on this.

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greggy said:

Seriously though my grandfather never liked Germans after they destroyed his house during World War 2, payback I suppose for supporting the partisans. Also, in the next village everyone (men, women and children) that the Nazis could find were herded into the local church only to be razed completely to the ground. When I visited that part back in the 80s the site was left as a memorial.
As for the younger generations I think theres no hatred against them...War criminals perhaps but no one else.

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