Jerry Springer - Who do you think you are?
Discussion
I have mixed feeling about Springer. I do think his TV programme is pretty exploitative and panders to fairly base behaviour. However, he is a highly intelligent chap and very perrsuasive in his arguments defending his programme (after all, he was a politician too). Outside of "The Jerry Springer Show" I always find him worthwhile listening to.
whirligig said:
Yes, I never liked the man at all going from his TV persona, but last night he came across as a decent human being and you couldn't help but be moved by his experience.
I know what you mean - I thought he had made a living celebrating disfunctionality (if such a word exists) and had very little time for the man, however, he came across as being genuinely moved by his ancestors experiences. Imagine finding a whole new branch to your family, although it would have been ironic if instead of being a decent bunch living in Israel, they turned out to be inbred trailer trash that populate most of his shows!
Puff Puff said:
Eric Mc said:
Yes - genuinely good.
By far the best of all the WDYTYA programmes to date?
Discovering a branch of his family in Israel must have been a very pleasant surprise for him after learning of his grandmothers' deaths at tha hands of the Nazis.
Heskey said:
Not seen any of them; is it basically famous people having their history dug up and put in their face?
I think I'd quite like to see Boris' episode! (Purely because it's Boris...)
They are well worth watching. Yes they are celebrities, but their past generations were not famous, so no-one knows what is going to turn up. Its great, and touching TV.I think I'd quite like to see Boris' episode! (Purely because it's Boris...)
968CSReading said:
I agree, it was the best so far.
Im 32 and thought I knew my history but never knew they had Gas Vans and ghettos. I only knew about the death camps. Truly shocking.
It was very moving.
Have a crack at reading William Shirer's "RIse and Fall of the Third Reich". It's the reference work on Nazi Germany and an excellent way of getting to grips with the enormity of what happened.Im 32 and thought I knew my history but never knew they had Gas Vans and ghettos. I only knew about the death camps. Truly shocking.
It was very moving.
968CSReading said:
I agree, it was the best so far.
Im 32 and thought I knew my history but never knew they had Gas Vans and ghettos. I only knew about the death camps. Truly shocking.
It was very moving.
And the gas was made by I G Farben (AGFA, BASF, Bayer, Hoechst (now Sanofi-Aventis). I G Farben have been liquidated, but many companies made huge profits from the Nazi regime and lawsuits from survivors have been lodged against many well known companies. Allianz, BASF, Bayer, BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Degussa-Huels, Dresdner Bank, Fred Krupp, Hoesch Krupp, Hoechst, Siemens, and Volkswagen have set up a fund of $2.6bn for survivors (and to protect them against litigation).Im 32 and thought I knew my history but never knew they had Gas Vans and ghettos. I only knew about the death camps. Truly shocking.
It was very moving.
"Ferdinand Porsche was long viewed as an unwilling participant in Hitler's war machine but a recent investigation suggests he and his company may have been in deeper than was previously thought. A five-year study by a team of German historians found that as much as 80 percent of VW's wartime workforce of 16,000 may have been slave labourers.
In 1991 the head of the investigative team, Bochum University history professor Hans Mommsen, declared at a symposium, "It's quite clear that Porsche was responsible for hiring concentration camp inmates for the factory's labour camp." Porsche contacted SS leader Heinrich Himmler directly to request slaves from Auschwitz, Mommsen said."
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_078.html
NDA said:
968CSReading said:
I agree, it was the best so far.
Im 32 and thought I knew my history but never knew they had Gas Vans and ghettos. I only knew about the death camps. Truly shocking.
It was very moving.
And the gas was made by I G Farben (AGFA, BASF, Bayer, Hoechst (now Sanofi-Aventis). I G Farben have been liquidated, but many companies made huge profits from the Nazi regime and lawsuits from survivors have been lodged against many well known companies. Allianz, BASF, Bayer, BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Degussa-Huels, Dresdner Bank, Fred Krupp, Hoesch Krupp, Hoechst, Siemens, and Volkswagen have set up a fund of $2.6bn for survivors (and to protect them against litigation).Im 32 and thought I knew my history but never knew they had Gas Vans and ghettos. I only knew about the death camps. Truly shocking.
It was very moving.
"Ferdinand Porsche was long viewed as an unwilling participant in Hitler's war machine but a recent investigation suggests he and his company may have been in deeper than was previously thought. A five-year study by a team of German historians found that as much as 80 percent of VW's wartime workforce of 16,000 may have been slave labourers.
In 1991 the head of the investigative team, Bochum University history professor Hans Mommsen, declared at a symposium, "It's quite clear that Porsche was responsible for hiring concentration camp inmates for the factory's labour camp." Porsche contacted SS leader Heinrich Himmler directly to request slaves from Auschwitz, Mommsen said."
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_078.html
The Allies were keen to rehabilitate Germany (West) as quickly as possible as a bulkwark against possible Soviet expansion westwards. Many unsavoury aspects of German participation in the atrocities conducted between 1933 and 1945 were conveniently swept under the carpet.
For far too long we have been conditioned to believe that the Nazi regime and its leaders was somehow solely responsible for what happened in those years. It is much more revealing to realise that the vast bulk of the German peoples and its industrial and commercial chiefs willingly went along with the dictats and dogmas of that period.
I would highly recommend a viewing of the documentary series "The Nazis: A Warning from History" and the drama "Conspiracy". Both are object lessons in learning how initial simple prejudices against certain sectors of the community can eventually escalate into mass genocide - with logical justification and rationlisation being expressed by the protagonists at every step in the process.
For far too long we have been conditioned to believe that the Nazi regime and its leaders was somehow solely responsible for what happened in those years. It is much more revealing to realise that the vast bulk of the German peoples and its industrial and commercial chiefs willingly went along with the dictats and dogmas of that period.
I would highly recommend a viewing of the documentary series "The Nazis: A Warning from History" and the drama "Conspiracy". Both are object lessons in learning how initial simple prejudices against certain sectors of the community can eventually escalate into mass genocide - with logical justification and rationlisation being expressed by the protagonists at every step in the process.
I expected him to be much more intelligent than he came across, indeed he seemed pretty naive to me (dare i say it, 'stereotypically American' i.e. a bit 'sheltered'). I was one of the people who got drawn into watching this because of Boris but i don't think they'll top that one, for either the character or history.
out of interest - do you think they had any more history or do you think the nazis destroyed a lot of it? i'd have found it more interesting if they hadn't have just stopped at the holocaust stuff to be honest.
out of interest - do you think they had any more history or do you think the nazis destroyed a lot of it? i'd have found it more interesting if they hadn't have just stopped at the holocaust stuff to be honest.
Edited by briSk on Thursday 28th August 10:47
Eric Mc said:
The Allies were keen to rehabilitate Germany (West) as quickly as possible as a bulwark against possible Soviet expansion westwards. Many unsavoury aspects of German participation in the atrocities conducted between 1933 and 1945 were conveniently swept under the carpet.
Exactly right...And the West benefited from this blind eye philosophy. Many of the German aerospace engineers and rocket scientists were employed by UK and US Governments - I guess rightly so in hindsight.
My father often used to complain bitterly about the immediately post-war period when many in the UK suffered rationing and deprivations of one sort or another - knowing that money was pouring into Germany to rebuild it.
It's history now... but I hope we never forget.
Edit - never forget the holocaust I mean.
Edited by NDA on Thursday 28th August 11:08
968CSReading said:
I agree, it was the best so far.
Im 32 and thought I knew my history but never knew they had Gas Vans and ghettos. I only knew about the death camps. Truly shocking.
It was very moving.
As a 9 year old my parents took me to a trip to a 'work' camp in Germany, whilst visiting relatives on holiday. It has shaped my attitudes greatly. Im 32 and thought I knew my history but never knew they had Gas Vans and ghettos. I only knew about the death camps. Truly shocking.
It was very moving.
But also I'm very aware that My Home own of liverpool was built on the slave trade, and wonder if any country can be truely proud of it's past ?
My attitude to intolerance of any sort is extreme I have to admit.
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