Do Germans wish they had won the war?
Discussion
BarnatosGhost said:
Ayahuasca said:
Or do today's ones believe that Nazism was so evil it was worth losing the war to eradicate?
second option, I believe.Modern Germany is just about the biggest fan of European integration and harmony of all. (And not by force)....
The have had trillions in aide to rebuild the country.
Hindsight, couldn't we have done similar?
I've talked to many Germans cause I lived over there. Of course deep down inside they don't wish they won the war. You're a product of your education and upbringing. In schools they are taught about how everything from that era was wrong and evil. Even good pieces of engineering- like the Messerschmidt with its DB601 engine or the Focke Wulf.
The ones I came across were in different camps- some of them felt bad about it still and didn't like any jokes I made about it (most), others made jokes about it but not trivialising it(minority) and a few said it had nothing to do with them and wasn't their concern.
Joking about the war is a very British thing. The French generally don't. And alot of Americans over here don't get the war-joke humour. For instance in clinic studies I once found out that the whining noise of the supercharger in the Jaguar XJR engines was liked mainly in Germany- so I cracked a joke about how it reminded them of their Messerschmidts- The Americans didn't really find it funny (some did-some didn't), The English did, The French didn't.
Similarly in the deep south over here- they re-enact the civil war over and over-every year-so I told the Germans I was with not to get any ideas. Similar responses.
The ones I came across were in different camps- some of them felt bad about it still and didn't like any jokes I made about it (most), others made jokes about it but not trivialising it(minority) and a few said it had nothing to do with them and wasn't their concern.
Joking about the war is a very British thing. The French generally don't. And alot of Americans over here don't get the war-joke humour. For instance in clinic studies I once found out that the whining noise of the supercharger in the Jaguar XJR engines was liked mainly in Germany- so I cracked a joke about how it reminded them of their Messerschmidts- The Americans didn't really find it funny (some did-some didn't), The English did, The French didn't.
Similarly in the deep south over here- they re-enact the civil war over and over-every year-so I told the Germans I was with not to get any ideas. Similar responses.
I have the pleasure to work with germans, and travel to Frankfurt (will be there next week).
The ones I know are funny, charming and polite.
Obviously they don't mention the war, but that was a different generation.
Do they wish they'd won? Who knows - I doubt I would get an honest answer, but no doubt most of them lost family members to the war, as did many otrher nations.
The ones I know are funny, charming and polite.
Obviously they don't mention the war, but that was a different generation.
Do they wish they'd won? Who knows - I doubt I would get an honest answer, but no doubt most of them lost family members to the war, as did many otrher nations.
Ayahuasca said:
When they watch war films do they secretly resent that they always lose? Do they watch the Battle of Britain and go: "Oi! Goering! Concentrate on bombing the airfields! The airfields, you fat useless f
k! We could have won that!"
They don't get the war films we get on TV loads.k! We could have won that!" When I was walking through Berlin- the buildings reminded me of a cheap B/W war film-I could see it re-enacting in my head-but the Germans don't have those connurtations.
I had a German friend who was a girl who I got quite close to- and I'd always crack jokes about the war to her and exclaim Heil Hitler- and she usually ignored it for the most part-until one day she got pissed off. She said it wasn't joking matter and told me a story about the sheer hell her grand mother had to put up with...I didn't know what to say after that.
I would imagine that most of them are not fond of the nazi regime but wish they were on the wining side.
No-one likes to lose so why wouldnt they wish they had won.....doesnt mean they are all still secretly nazi's though.
I work with quite a few Germans and find them to be very decent and nice people, ive not met one i dont like yet.
No-one likes to lose so why wouldnt they wish they had won.....doesnt mean they are all still secretly nazi's though.
I work with quite a few Germans and find them to be very decent and nice people, ive not met one i dont like yet.
Marquis_Rex said:
I had a German friend who was a girl who I got quite close to- and I'd always crack jokes about the war to her and exclaim Heil Hitler- and she usually ignored it for the most part-until one day she got pissed off. She said it wasn't joking matter and told me a story about the sheer hell her grand mother had to put up with...I didn't know what to say after that.
You should've told her that it wasn't your fault her countrymen had embraced the rise of national socialism and the concept of the third reich so readily and that any suffering her grand mother underwent was a result of the choices of Germans, not anyone else.Marquis_Rex said:
They don't get the war films we get on TV loads.
It's definitely our proudest moment as a country, hence all the films. Sadly in a way, it's not for the fact that we are proud of being a part of the Allies that beat a socialist dictator responsible for the murder of millions of innocence. It's because we won the Battle of Britain therefore wewere the responsible for the turn around leading to Hitler's defeat. In English minds, the Americans and everyone else came along after we've done the hard bit. Which may or may not be true according to how you interpret history
Back to ze Germans - I think they were annoyed they lost but not for the fact they wanted Hitler to get his way. It's a national pride thing more than anything - humiliation and all that.
Nowadays they don't really think about it - in the same way we don't bring up bad things that have happened to this country.
OnTheOverrun said:
Marquis_Rex said:
I had a German friend who was a girl who I got quite close to- and I'd always crack jokes about the war to her and exclaim Heil Hitler- and she usually ignored it for the most part-until one day she got pissed off. She said it wasn't joking matter and told me a story about the sheer hell her grand mother had to put up with...I didn't know what to say after that.
You should've told her that it wasn't your fault her countrymen had embraced the rise of national socialism and the concept of the third reich so readily and that any suffering her grand mother underwent was a result of the choices of Germans, not anyone else.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff