Crass and insensitive comments by radio talk-show hosts unfortunately surface from time to time. One of these, brought to my attention in my capacity as anti-Semitism monitor at the SA Jewish Board of Deputies, was in response to reports that one of the World Cup venues had run out of beer. While I can’t cite the exact words used, the comment went along the lines that the reason why this had not happened during the previous World Cup held in Germany was because Germans, having set up the concentration camps, knew all about organising mass catering.
Because it was not possible to ascertain on which station the comment was made, no action could be taken in the end, but the matter got me thinking. Of course such a remark, apart from being decidedly unfunny, is tasteless and offensive. Jewish people can certainly object to it, since it treats the Holocaust as a subject for humour and, it could further be argued, through its casual reference to catering en masse belittles the grim realities of systematic starvation that in reality prevailed in the camps.
Thinking further, however, I also realised that such thoughtless statements must be just as offensive to German people as well. Whatever barbarous acts that took place in the past, Germany today is a model democracy with an excellent human-rights record and has been for a very long time. It must surely be galling, therefore, for modern-day Germans to continually be identified with, and characterised by, the crimes of a preceding generation that in most cases took place even before they were born.
Related to this was something else I noted during the World Cup: with few exceptions, those Jewish people I spoke to were hoping for Germany to lose. Nor was it necessary to enquire why this was so. Given the traumatic legacy of the Holocaust and the ubiquity of the subject in modern-day Jewish thought, culture and education, one can understand why Germany, even today, is still regarded as in negative terms. To acknowledge that something is understandable, however, is not necessary to imply that it is also logical, or even fair.
My own, mild, response to this was to point out that Germany today was amongst the most pro-Jewish, as well as pro-Israel, countries in the world. Its Jewish community, mainly comprising immigrants from the former Soviet Union, is one of Europe’s largest and the only one that is growing. Certainly, it made more sense for Jews to support it over such countries as Brazil and even Spain, whose foreign policies tended sharply towards the anti-Israel camp. (As it happened, I also was not keen on Germany winning the cup, but only because they had done so three times before, while being finalists on another four occasions, and it would be good for someone else to win for a change. When it comes to sports, I am becoming increasingly less partisan as I get older, all part, no doubt, of the gradual dying of the fire in my middle-aged belly.)
While chewing over all of this, I became aware of a recent incident involving a visit of an official Iranian delegation from the city of Shiraz to its German sister city of Weimar. Part of the delegation’s programme was to visit Buchenwald, one of the most notorious of the Nazi death camps, and its memorial to those 50 000 Jews and others who died there. When it came down to it, however, the Iranians refused to go. This was not unpredictable given that in the recent past Iran, under the auspices of its foreign ministry, has hosted a conference aimed at promoting Holocaust denial (and is planning another), while its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has openly raved about malignant global Jewish conspiracies in a way all too reminiscent of the original Holocaust’s architects.
The interesting point here is the response of the Weimar City Council, which was to refuse to meet their guests from Shiraz. It is no small thing to snub a visiting international delegation. The incident was indicative of the kind of genuine abhorrence in which Holocaust denial is held in mainstream German society, where denying that the Nazis committed genocide against the Jews remains a criminal offence. (Whether prohibiting this kind of discourse — scurrilous and malign in intent though it may be — is in fact consistent with normative democratic principles is another discussion).
I suppose the point of this post is that, while always being aware of what took place in the past, nations should be judged as they are now rather than what they were in previous generations. In addition, I believe in treating all people on their individual merits, even if they do come from countries where human-rights abuses are rife. Condemning people on the basis of their national, ethnic or religious identity rather than as unique, individual personalities is, after all, the essence of prejudice.
>”Thinking further, however, I also realised that such thoughtless statements must be just as offensive to German people as well.” … I actually thought it was insulting to Germans first, and needed to think further to around your point that it would also be insulting to Jews. It seems to me that emigrants of all kinds hang on to their culture and there grudges more than those who remain behind, leading to US Catholics happily funding the IRA for decades, European Muslims much more conservative and resistant to change than those in Turkey and Morocco, and Jews far from Europe who are terribly misinformed about modern Germany.
We can’t make fun of the “holocaust” but we can make fun of slavery, apartheid, colonialism, Israel’s many genocides in the West Bank and Gaza, the real holocaust of Native Americans and Aborigines in Ausralasia?
Its all fine to suggest that Germany should not be judges by the sins of the past.
But will this ever happen if the Jewish people refuse to let events of 70 years ago rest? Every day you are reminded of the holocaust by one or the other. In almost very city there is a holocaust museum, to remind people of events of a long time ago, supposedly so that these events will never be repeated. Yet we find genocide still occurring, as in Rwanda, and not a peep of outrage or action from the Jewish people.
This makes you wonder if they then really care about whether this should “never happen again”, or merely because it happened to them.
Many peoples over the centuries have experienced genocide, but the victims have come to terms, and moved on.
Its high time that the Jewish people do the same, and stop trying to force feelings of guilt onto the German people, and the world at large.
The Praetor
“…it made more sense for Jews to support it over such countries as Brazil and even Spain, whose foreign policies tended sharply towards the anti-Israel camp.”
Although I agree with most of the sentiments you’ve expressed, the above quote makes it plain that you’ve fallen into the same “generalisation trap” that you’re warning against. Why would an intelligent Jewish person gravitate towards supporting the football teams of nations that are pro-Isreal? The corollary is that I am somehow anti-semetic because I find many Isreali foreign policies deplorable – untrue. And yes, I saw many a German beach towel occupying the poolsides of Eilat – even at 6am!
Well said! Prosit!
I cannot bring myself to buy a German car.
Holocaust denial is very hard to understand as it seems to serve no purpose? Perhaps amongst some Arab nations it is used to remove any sympathy for the Jewish nation and build hatred.
Meeting with Germans, Japanese and other enemies of 2nd World War and trying to imagine how and why they did what they did is impossible? These are good people just like us but somehow a virus is passed from leaders to their subjects where all common decency flies out the window and good men become monsters.
Watching a History Channel programme on the war I was surprised at how many Germans were brainwashed to believe that The Allies started the war?.
Why did it happen? How did we allow it to happen and if we are not careful it will happen again but, if it does, this time it will be against all westerners no matter what their beliefs may be.
Maybe the Holocaust was unique and will never happen again but, even in South Africa we continue to have war talk and hatred spewed out by politicians, to the rapturous applause of their dumb supporters. The more it is allowed to happen the worse it gets until it breaks out into genocide and overall destruction.
We have to forgive and move on but we must never forget or history will repeat itself.
Oh, David, David David. You are jumping on the xenophobic bandwagon in order to bring attention to the myth of the “need for Jewish homeland”. I will remind you that the Nazi Holocaust is NOT owned solely by Jews. Although 6 million European Jewish people were murdered a further 5 million people who were not Jewish were murdered including ethnic Poles, Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other political prisoners.
With regard to the Jewish community in Germany today, the Israeli government has complained to the German government to limit and cease to encourage immigration of Jews with German heritage back to Germany. The reason: Israel would rather have these Jews bolster the Israeli-Jewish population in Israel in order to have a Jewish majority over the Arab population.
It was NOT Germans who set up concentration camps…it was Nazi’s…and there is a big difference between the two. It is like saying that ALL white South Africans were active supporters of Apartheid.
An interesting and thought-provoking article. During the world cup one of my colleagues who is admittedly prone to bouts of unthinking hysteria about almost everything decided to spend her time decrying any South African of colour who dared to support Germany or the Netherlands on the basis of the supposed racism displayed by the two nations. Interestingly enough she was an ardent supporter of Argentina. Of course she was completely oblivious to the fact that Argentina is one of the countries which provided safe haven for fleeing Nazis and has consistently refused to cooperate with international efforts to find and prosecute these criminals. Nor was she seemingly aware of the pervasive racism endured by afro-descendants and indigenous people in South America at the hands of Spanish descendants. Of course one cannot deny that there are racist elements in Europe and that xenophobia against Africans and Arabs in particular is a growing problem on the continent, but the fact that a large number of the European football teams included a healthy contingent of players from other countries should perhaps give us pause, particularly in light of the current wave of xenophobia that we are seeing. I’m not just referring to the attacks that the media have recently reported but also the pervasive attitude of mistrust and hatred of African foreigners that is accepted in polite society. It saddens me that so many South Africans have such a dismal grasp of the true evil of prejudice.
Kind of easy to suck a story like this from your thumb. Why not contact the Broadcasting complaints commission if you were so upset by this?
I think it never happened and you just needed to write something.
You cannot remember the exact word, nor can you remember the station this was on. Must not have upset you as much as you are making out now friend.
Shalom.
This is a very good piece and goes to show that there are still fair thinking South Africans. You may through this post understand why most right thinking Nigerians no longer border to address the nonsense we hear coming from South Africans when they are quick to open their mouth to say things most of them hardly know about and will ever know about. The world is full of badness from history and up till today. To generalize is therefore as dangerous as not doing anything about wrong doings. Because the person prejudiced simply develops an I don’t care attitude.
Personally, I feel the Germans of today are lovely people. So are the Americans and Europeans who enslaved us and threw our fore fathers into the open sea. Should we now still hate or despise every European or White American? Let bygone be bygone. Hitler was crazy, so was Napoleon and most recently Botha.
The 2010 world cup in SA showed that mankind by nature, like children should have a transient disposition to feelings of hurt. The Jews should forgive completely, Just as we Africans have forgiven our slave masters.
Spot on.
People who use the History of a people or a country to judge or label or characterise that country or peoples’ present existence, will never learn from the past, will never learn from history and will never move beyond it.
Well said David. I am Jewish and hold a German passport, courtesy of my grandparents who were lucky to leave when the war started (their siblings weren’t that fortunate). I also chastise people who treat modern day Germany and Germans on the basis of a previous generation – however, I was shouted at by a German customs official in Frankfurt who asked me how dare I hold a German passport when I couldn’t speak the language. I didn’t point out the obvious. When I went to complain about my treatment to the supervisor, she shrugged her shoulders and said that maybe he was right. What’s the point of all of this? Sometimes it’s hard to let things go when incidents come up that remind you of why the old prejudices existed in the first place.
Shalom, and thank you for this article. I hope one of my Facebook “friends” who posted a “Hitler go home” comment after Spain beat Germany will read this, and perhaps understand why her comment was so hurtful, even to a child of immigrants who thinks of himself as 99% South African and 1% German.
Such remarks trivialise the true horror of the Holocaust and are grossly unfair to those born 50 years after it took place.
@ Africa4Africans….the people who “make fun of slavery, apartheid, colonialism, Israel’s many genocides in the West Bank and Gaza (?), the real holocaust of Native Americans and Aborigines in Ausralasia?” ……are just a stupid and lacking in humanity as those who make fun of the holocuast. I could say the same about any implication or suggestion that some atrocities are more “real” than others.
How do you propose ensuring that Africa is reserved for Africans. How will you deal with the non – Africans and will this lead to yet another atrocity in the history of mankind.
In fact, do you even read what you write
Had the greatest time of my life in Berlin. The Germans gave me the greatest hospitality white South Africans have never given me in the 31 years of my life. To this day I still want more of Berlin.
Anyhow The author of this blog speaks of monitoring anti-semitism in a country where the pain inflicted on black people is the joke of Zapiro’s and other so called Freedom of Expression champions(David Bullard) etc….
Ewok always makes sense in short words….WORD!
Since when does NOT supporting Israel’s apartheid style rule and oppression make me anti-semitic? Oh wait, I must be a “self-hating jew”!
Nice to know that in a country where millions live in poverty, an army of you sit there monitoring the airwaves for anti-semitism. It would be laughable, if it wasn’t so depicable.
I cannot bring myself to buy a German car.
Panchetta
—————–
It’s a bit narrow and a real shame because thaty are damm good.
those who criticize Israel today for its horrendous crimes are its best friends.
Being German I fully agree with this article. I would also like to add my personal observations regarding how older Germans, who experienced Nazism, dealt with that memory. When I spoke to my grandparents, uncles etc. I got a sense that they had known that Hitler abused Jews (however, they told me they they had not known about holocaust since what happened in the concentration camps was secret) and that they did not approve it fully. However, to some extend they believed Hitlers propaganda (even 40-50 years after the war) and that Jews were to blame for many evils and therefore they had an antisemitic tendency – even if they thought Hitler had gone a bit too far (even allegedly not knowing about the holocaust at the time). Germans borne after the war, usually have a very different attitude and I personally don’t know a single anti-Semite amoung them (but of course, there are a few). Most alarmingly, I think they would have acted the same way again (not show opposition) for fear of personal disadvantages (job loss, punishment etc.), not because they tought it would be right. But I also think the same would be possible, similiar circumstances prevailing, anywhere else as well (see apartheid, slavery, racism, xeophobia, many dictatorial regimes (Franco, Pinochet…)). In
“Germanophobia is also a problem” the title of a blog which is more about”monitoring antisemitism than” any alleged “Germanophobia” whatever that is supposed to mean.
Indeed I agree with the first comment (by (JvM) that “I actually thought it was insulting to Germans first, and needed to think further to around your point that it would also be insulting to Jews”.Indeed the literal meaning of the statement being referred to is that Germans have the experience planning “catering” (read “starvation rations” for Jews (or whoever else) was in the concentration camps.
In other words Germans are being portrayed by implication as cruel calculating people.I thought this article would go on to unpack Germanophobia and how it can be identified.Instead I found myself reading an attack on so called “Holocaust denialists”. Indeed what is a “holocaust denialist”? Is it a person who says “the holocaust never took place” or one who questions the exact number of Jews killed (less than one million or more than the six million usually cited)
Indeed what is important about the holocaust( or the “slave trade” or apartheid or human trafficking)? Is it the exact number of Jews who died or is it the abhorrent attempt to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth ; however much it suceeded? Indeed ,”we” all agree that the slave trade was evil, However I am yet to hear people arguing and splitting hairs about the exact number of people enslaved.
I am a German currently living in SA. I don’t really think that “Germanophobia” can be identified as a problem here, on the other hand I did have a few incidences that made me feel rather uncomfortable. The first one was when I was sitting at one of the German WC matches and my neighbour (who actually told me his ancestors had come from Germany) seemed to think that “Blitzkrieg! Blitzkrieg!” was something like a common cheer Germans use when supporting their team’s counter attack. After that match there was a (rather bad) rock band at the fan fest commenting on the German win over Uruguay “Deutschland uber alles”.
So far I never had any experience of being despised because of the fact that I’m German. So what’s happening more often is that people actually embrace expressions that I would never use and that would be considered totally inappropriate in Germany (or even looked on as evidence of that person being a right-wing extremist). Or – even worse – they seem to partly admire the country’s darker sides of history (like: “That Hitler guy – he really was a strategic genius”). The same also applies to your story about the radio programme or the Sowetan that compared midfielder Schweinsteiger to Hitler (on the count of alleged leadership abilities).
So in practice, being treated unfairly because of my nationality is far less common than being treated more nicely for all the wrong reasons.
I heard that approx one third of all Israelis were supporting Germany. Actually I agree that its lame for modern Germans to be defined by WWII and the Holocaust,although I guess its harder to say the same for Jews/Gypsies etc, who lost a big chunck of their people.
I think the reasons we support one team over another are in most cases kinda lame anyway, and so what? Just like humour that you find offensive..should anyone else care? The Holocaust and any other world event is just that – an event – and can be played with to meet a variety of ends, even humour.
Thanks David. Excellent piece. I am a 4th generation German South African who still speaks, reads and writes the language and practice many of German customs. In fact, I am also pro Israel. Although I’ve never been to Germany and despite my middle age, I have always been a passionate supporter of the German national soccer team. And that I will remain to my dying day.
People calling Germans names and all that stuff doesn’t really bother me because I know that despite the aberration of the 2nd world war Germans remain an excellent people with excellent minds. For goodness sake, just look at modern Africa and others and compare it to a country that was virtually destroyed 65 years ago.
How come no one ever tells the Jewish community to “move on”; as they always tell us darkies to do?
Good article David … and I totally agree with Ewok’s earlier comment: one cannot let a country’s history continue to pollute the image of that country’s people years – even generations – after the historical fact if there is no cause to do so.
Indeed, one often finds that successive generations in a country that has perpetrated some evil act, often seek to swing the pendulum right across to the other side, to in some way annul the evil done previously. I believe Germany is one such case.
You can hardly blame them. Look what the Germans did in Namibia-the disgrace lingers to this day. They practiced for the concentration camps there on the natives (numbering and tagging them behind fences). You cannot nor should not wait for a little time to pass then become indignant because people are slow to forgive and forget. Now we hear Germany is having an immigrant problem, trying to fnd ways to remove “outsiders”. They haven’t entirely cleaned up their act so don’t get mad at the skeptics.
Good article David.
I hope Jews will now also take moral responsibility of the horrors done to Palestinians in their name.
The Board of Deputies, and its Chief Rabbi have always looked the other way and proverbially passed the wounded Palestinian Samaritan victim in their hurry to get to the synagogue.
Isnt it very morally dissembling to take offence at atrocities that have taken place 70 years ago, and ignore horrors that take place everyday under your very nose?
He who claims friendship, preference and closeness to God, must lead by Godly example; or else he is a liar.
In the western world we are brought up to view history in dualities: good guys v/s bad guys with nothing in between.
Hitler’s horrific excesses are well documented and are beyond dispute. But Allied Forces excesses are not even looked at.
The deliberate and horrific bombing of German cities like Dresden which had old people and civilians. The indoctrination of German prisoners of war, the unnecessary and arrogant presence of US troops and bases in Germany and Japan….
The fact is we are still moral agents liable for our actions even when they are undertaken in order to counter evil. Hence Mandela would refuse to incarcerate his oppressors, perpetrators and their descendants in Robben Island in order to even the scores or just teach them how it felt like.
I have read all scriptures, Jewish and otherwise, I am yet to find a God who will be pleased by the fatal humiliation of a pregnant young woman at a military checkpoint in Israel.
There is no victimisation however severe, that justifies the commission of atrocities by the victim.
No, “Germanophobia” is not a problem. Nowhere in the world are there pogroms against Germans. Nowhere in the world are Germans denied their rights by virtue of German ancestry or language. “Germanophobia” does not exist.
Incidentally, the example which you cited to show what splendid people the Germans are — their denouncing an Iranian delegation who refused to visit a Holocaust memorial — appears to be very largely a publicity stunt blown out of proportion by Ha’aretz and some pro-Israeli websites.
There is, of course, a huge problem with the global campaign to demonise Iran and thus legitimate an American/Israeli military attack on it. Perhaps, Mr. Saks, you might investigate “Iranophobia”? Oh, that wouldn’t suit your political agenda, so I guess you won’t.
If you are the Jewish Board of Deputies’ anti-Semitism monitor, it is hard to believe you are doing a good job for them. But perhaps they don’t want a good job done, either.
panchetta: I cannot buy a German car! this was the same words of my late mother who refused to drive one. However my father bought a BMW from Bavaria and my mother had no idea where that place was ….and drove it happily!
David Saks: An excellent article and thank you for the reminder about prejudice. We must judge individuals as individuals not as members of religions or nations!
Derek James
Sentletse Diakanyo
Thabo Mbeki resigned in 2008, move on.
Thank goodness the world is becoming so global and mixed that there are black germans and white africans. The German team was also a great representation of integration in modern-day German society. Incidentally, on a day-to-day level, I only ever experienced xenophobia when living in South Africa, not in Germany. (5 years was spent in both countries) in the last decade.
There will always be people with prejudices and mistrust of other cultures. It is up to those without these prejudices to also speak up.
I also cannot bring myself to buy a German car, mostly because I cannot afford it…
The very odd thing about modern Germany is that it appears to be almost entirely a mystery to outsider eg the Britishin the recent World Cup, who are surprised to discover that the side fielded by Germany today hardly consists of the Aryan specimens on display at the Berlin Olympics. Men of Tunisian, Spanish, Bosnian, Polish and Brazilian ancestry form the German squad, together with the Turkish midfielder Mesut Ozil, who recites the Koran while the German national anthem is sung. To taunt players from the new Germany, freed since 2000 from the rigid nationality laws of 1913, with references to the Second World War is as pointless the stoning of dachshunds in Britain at the outset of the First World War. But the irrelevance of the jibes, and the taboo about mentioning the war, is precisely what makes it all so funny to the British, which I suppose says something about them than the Germans.
Hi Steve,
On what alien mothership did the Nazis arrive in Germany?
Your sublimely absurd comment that the Nazis were not Germans is the most fatuous comment I have read in years.
It is generally accepted that Hitler was a sick nutter but not enough attention has been focussed on why he won two elections – in a country of some 62 million and the land of Beethoven, Holbein and Leibnitz.
The Jewish population of between 494,000 and 800,000 out of 62 million in Germany cannot be compared percentage-wise to the situation in SA. However, the conditions pertaining – massive unemployment resulting from the 1929 Depression – can. Populists like Kidi Amin and Winnie are already exploiting this.
With our unemployment we need to learn from history or will be condemned to repeat it.
How sad that a well intentioned piece on not blaming the Germans of today for the awful Nazi regime of 72 years ago, can result in the spewing of such hurtful, unneccessary, and hate filled responses. Is this how tomorrow’s generations are being taught – to hate and denigrate. The great majority of Holocaust sites were built to teach what the results of racism and hatred can lead to. With such responses, I can only hope that they are the rantings of a minority of ignoramuses, otherwise there is no hope for a peaceful and happy world.
… “nations should be judged as they are now rather than what they were in previous generations” …? Precisely, yes. Hence the growing contempt worldwide for Zionist Israel.
Good question Sentletse. I am not anti-Jew or anti-Iranian or even anti-German, seeing them all just as people, nice or not, but the tendency some jewish people have of never letting one forget The Holocaust is on a par with those in our country who cannot move on from Apartheid.
Some of the best jokes I ever saw was in reaction to some of the worst disasters in history. Humour serves a valuable purpose, to deflate a horrible situation so that one can learn to live with it, and also to desensitise those that are perhaps a little oversensitive (teasing). That is not to say that a lot of humour isn’t in exceptional bad taste: Did you hear the one about the Biafran and the Cannibal…just joking. Most of the jewish people I know do not get anti-semitic behaviour from me because they act like normal people and don’t ask for special treatment.
Good question Sentletse.
The Jewish people have moved on very nicely. So much so, in fact, that others have little choice but to follow behind our advancements in every sphere and aspect of human existence so far.
Perhaps this is the problem with those troublesome Jews. We succeed despite our recent difficulties.
But we remember what was done to us and we intone ‘NEVER AGAIN’. This does not stop us from moving on. We don’t whine about being previously disadvantaged and blame our inabilities and failure on apartheid. We work hard and educate our children to be scientists, researchers, doctors, business leaders etc.
Being German I can deeply understand the existing anti-German mood in some countries and I think we should never try to change these deep feelings but mich more we should deal with these feeling and anti-German sentiments.
That in Israel there will be a an extremely deep anti-german feling for ever, we should accept as a never changeable matter of fact. And I do not see any real reason why anybody should try to change this situation.
Deep sentiments are unchangeable and everybody in Germany is pretty well aware about the reputation of Germany in Israel or the jewish world.
Who ever wants to change it and why not better accept and deal with it?
And it is the same in regard to Britain. Why should we try to change the bias and prejudices of the British, Americans or anybody else in the world.
We can reduce our contacts to each other in regard of these sentiments and we can keep off from each other and try to avoid arguing discussions.Knowing the pov of the other side we can upon their sentiments and just keep distance.
The old proverb is nothing but true: Once enemey – for ever enemy. We should learn to accept the contrasts which are insurmountable after all what happened.
@Frederik: That doesn’t make any sense at all! Apart from the fact that “we” cannot reduce contacts with “them” very easily (you don’t even have to think of globalization to see that), I have never even heard of a saying “Once enemy – forever enemy”. If that were true, Germans would still be fighting with the French about Alsace and the Saar but no, today they are “our” best friends and partners. Not to mention something like the EU: that would never have been possible if people had just accepted that there are prejudices and hatred on both sides of the fence and stopped talking to each other.
Being from the German speaking minority, the situation is worst for me.
I grew up in an a hate of everything that is German which has been put in place by France. Germany is also not my country and I still partly resent it… while I can’t forgive France for using Germanophobic racism to eradicate my innocent population group.
And then again my Americans in-laws while talking attacked me by assimilating me to Germany (due to the fact that my language and culture are German)
I also hate the lack of decency in the US and how any benign thing is compared to the holocaust… kind of slap in the face of the victims.
I curse most countries except Switzerland.
You would not want to be walking in my shoes. Most people are so coward… instead of using their dislike for Germany put this hate instead on a small innocent minority.
To Joel (“On what alien mothership did the Nazis arrive in Germany?”):
Just for the records: As a matter of fact Hitler was not German.
He was Austrian (born in Braunau, Austria by Austrian parents) and never got German citizenship. It was just that in the chaos after WW 1 many people had no proper papers to identify themselves and this was why Hitler could find a job as a German civil servant. When he run for office it was just (incorrectly) assumed that he was German as he had been a civil servant in a German city (which actually he had not been allowed to become in the first place as he was Austrian). Only due to the negligence of the electoral authority did he get a chance to run for office. Quite a bad joke of history, isn’t it?
And by the way: he also never received an absolute majority (the majority opposing him was just split up in too many factions) and legally he was to serve as chancellor for 6 months only. He just “forgot” to resign and due to the circumstances at that time nobody had the authority (or maybe the guts) to remove him from office. There was no democratic culture as Germany had been a monarchy until after WW 1 and people thought the trouble thereafter was caused by democracy (which was an unfamiliar concept).
@ Panchetta:
Quote: “Perhaps this is the problem with those troublesome Jews. We succeed despite our recent difficulties.”
1945. I’d hardly call that recent. Time to get over it already. Clearly, the world in general is on to the game, and is not accepting that anymore. Or are you not following the news in this millenium?
Quote: “But we remember what was done to us and we intone ‘NEVER AGAIN’.”
Sure, pull the other finger. Never again is easy to say, when you are now busy doing it to other people. Try and understand that, if you have the ability. The same indescribably intense emotions of anger and hurt that your forebears went through during the Holocaust when they were stripped of humanity and humiliated – well, others are now feeling that at the bootheel of Israel. You may not believe it, or WANT to see it, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that it is real because they feel it and react just as your proud ancestors did. Hopefully when they finally conquer their oppressors and say “never again” – they will actually mean it.