Venting I hate myself for being German.

[Valhala]

Germans have made the greatest contribution to world culture, philosophy, literature, art and technology compared to any other nation in the world. You should be proud to be German.

 

[Nadienobody]

We all have ancestors that did horrible things, humans have always been like that. Germany today is a great country, and even if it wasn't it is not your fault.

 

[Gustav Hartmann]

Just lie and say you're Austrian.

Hitler was Austrian.

 

[k1w1]

I hate being german. I cannot speak my native language without this slightly feeling of hate.
I cannot tell anyone from another countty im german without this silence where we both immediatly jump to the ww. It is the first thing everyone thinks about. It is what I think about. Just the thought of one of my great grandparents having done these horrendous acts or having fought for this wrong cause makes me sick. I just feel suffocated. I feel like I will never outlive what happend 80 years ago even though I wasn't born yet. My mother wasn't born yet. But someone from my bloodline was. And that makes me as bad as the people that did it in the eyes of others. I have been called a Nazi so many times. And I can't take it. I fight against the afd (basically trump) and fight people who support Nazi's but to others I will always be a Nazi. I will never be able or allowed to be proud of my culture because for them my only culture is war.
If there are second lives then in the next I want to be of another origin and live somewhere else because being german makes me evil to other people and I don't want that.

I really dig German people, you guys have some great peronality traits....if a bit angst ridden. brilliant culture. Screw ww2....you werent thought of. maybe reserarch your grandparents....maybe they were heroes, not all bought into nazism

 

[Forever Sleep]

I understand your distress regarding Germany's history, but if we really want to understand the genesis of everything that happened, we also need to look at the role the United States played. Without the intervention of the USA, Germany would never have been able to recover after World War I. The Dawes Plan, which restructured Germany's debts and provided loans, actually gave new life to a destroyed economy, and contributed to the stabilization period that created fertile ground for the rise of extremist ideologies like Nazism.
Had France been listened to, and Germany had been truly disbanded and reduced to a state of permanent misery, it would not have been able to recover and set the stage for the rise of Nazism. But the United States, through their economic policies, made a recovery possible that allowed a failed painter and his dangerous ideas to gain traction.
Moreover, we cannot ignore the influence of racist ideologies, such as those promoted by the Ku Klux Klan in the United States, which had an impact on similar movements in Europe. Ideas of racial supremacy and hatred toward minorities unfortunately spread globally. The United States not only helped revive Germany, but with their example of racism and intolerance, they also fueled the hatred that would later turn into Nazism.
There's another important aspect to consider: with this intervention, the United States not only facilitated Germany's recovery but also marked the end of European global dominance, which had lasted for centuries. France and Great Britain, despite winning the war, were now weakened and incapable of fully recovering from the devastating costs of the conflict. This opened the door for the United States to emerge as a new global economic power, while the Soviet Union, with its communist ideology, was rising as an alternative superpower.
Thus, the United States not only made Germany's economic recovery possible but also accelerated the decline of European hegemony, shifting the global center of power first toward them and then toward Russia. This shift had enormous effects on geopolitical balances, leading to a new global division that would define the Cold War and reshape the world order for the rest of the century.
In short, without the intervention of the United States, Germany would likely have been doomed to permanent misery, and without its economic recovery, it is hard to imagine how a regime like Nazism could have gained so much power. Therefore, the USA not only fueled the growth of an extremist movement but also contributed to the decline of European hegemony, accelerating the emergence of a new world order that saw the rise of the two superpowers of the 20th century.
However, this does not diminish the grave responsibility in the human slaughter of millions of people that occurred during that period. I have visited all the concentration and extermination camps, and I can say with certainty that they are truly the symbol of human madness.

I suspect you are much better educated/ more knowledgable than me. I mainly know things my Dad told me because he had more of an interest.

He explained that it was because Germany was in such financial ruin after the first World War that the people felt so desperate that someone like Hitler could use that desperation to give them hope to become great again. (Politicians still use that one to rile us up...)

It's not the last time we've seen it after a war. If the warring countries just leave a vacuum after they leave. Basically bring a country to its knees and then leave them- the people may feel so downtrodden and even resentful that they are more vulnerable to extremist leaders. I think the same argument has been put forward for the emergence of Isis/ IS. So- I agree. It's very much about how the whole world deals with these sorts of situations. Not just one people.

Really though- as a species, we're very vulnerable to this type of propoganda. Our governments convince us that a certain people/ nation pose a threat. Or, that we've been cheated out of something by them so- they deserve some retribution. It's how so many wars are started and most nations have participated somewhere along the line. We're all vulnerable I think to this and it's something we all ought to be wary of.

The UK has an embarassing past. I think plenty of countries do. I can understand the discomfort you feel though OP. Especially if you have encountered bad experiences in the past. That's all on them though, showing their naivity and prejudice. No one should be termed a 'Narzi' without good reason. No one should assume their country was all in the right either. Or, that the relatives of those who did wonderful or terrible things will act in the same way.

The most important lesson we all need to take away though is to really think about what we do as individuals I suppose. Are we being manipulated to think and act in certain ways? Are all the things we hear true?

I hope there are at least some things you can feel proud/ comfortable with OP. I hate Britain's reputation in terms of the British Empire and money laundering but, I love our countryside. Isn't Germany renowned for its excellent engineering? I suppose ideas of efficiency spring more to my mind when I hear 'German'. Maybe I'll consider the war too but it's more that it has a very tragic past. Nothing to do with Germans now though. I'm sorry you feel this burden.

 

[L'absent]

I suspect you are much better educated/ more knowledgable than me. I mainly know things my Dad told me because he had more of an interest.

He explained that it was because Germany was in such financial ruin after the first World War that the people felt so desperate that someone like Hitler could use that desperation to give them hope to become great again. (Politicians still use that one to rile us up...)

It's not the last time we've seen it after a war. If the warring countries just leave a vacuum after they leave. Basically bring a country to its knees and then leave them- the people may feel so downtrodden and even resentful that they are more vulnerable to extremist leaders. I think the same argument has been put forward for the emergence of Isis/ IS. So- I agree. It's very much about how the whole world deals with these sorts of situations. Not just one people.

Really though- as a species, we're very vulnerable to this type of propoganda. Our governments convince us that a certain people/ nation pose a threat. Or, that we've been cheated out of something by them so- they deserve some retribution. It's how so many wars are started and most nations have participated somewhere along the line. We're all vulnerable I think to this and it's something we all ought to be wary of.

The UK has an embarassing past. I think plenty of countries do. I can understand the discomfort you feel though OP. Especially if you have encountered bad experiences in the past. That's all on them though, showing their naivity and prejudice. No one should be termed a 'Narzi' without good reason. No one should assume their country was all in the right either. Or, that the relatives of those who did wonderful or terrible things will act in the same way.

The most important lesson we all need to take away though is to really think about what we do as individuals I suppose. Are we being manipulated to think and act in certain ways? Are all the things we hear true?

I hope there are at least some things you can feel proud/ comfortable with OP. I hate Britain's reputation in terms of the British Empire and money laundering but, I love our countryside. Isn't Germany renowned for its excellent engineering? I suppose ideas of efficiency spring more to my mind when I hear 'German'. Maybe I'll consider the war too but it's more that it has a very tragic past. Nothing to do with Germans now though. I'm sorry you feel this burden.

I understand your point of view and appreciate the attempt to distribute responsibility among different nations to better understand the historical context. However, it is crucial to make a clear distinction: while it is true that other countries have had questionable pasts, nothing can justify or diminish what Nazi Germany did in the 1940s.

What made the Nazi regime uniquely atrocious was the level of systematic planning and the scale of the actions committed. This was not merely about wars or territorial conquests, which are part of the history of many nations, but about genocide, racial supremacy myths, and the construction of an entire ideology based on hatred and discrimination. And all of this happened in a modern era when most Western nations had already moved beyond such barbarities.

Furthermore, it is important to remember that Germany did not stop at seeking "historical revenge" or reclaiming territories. It was directly responsible for the outbreak not only of the Second World War but also of the First, and its actions during the conflict went beyond any moral or human limit.

While it is true that no country is innocent, we must also consider what a nation has contributed to humanity in terms of progress and universal values. We are not talking about a nation that gave us the Industrial Revolution or the French Revolution, pillars of modernity and freedom. We are talking about a regime that, in an advanced historical period, dragged the world backward into genocide, persecution, and a global conflict. This is a historical burden that cannot be minimized or diluted by comparisons with other states.

That said, it must also be acknowledged that this is a historical burden that Germany carries and for which it apologizes every year. However, the Germans of today bear no responsibility for what happened in the past. This is a responsibility of Germany as a nation, one that it carries in its history and will continue to carry forever. It should also be noted that those who committed these crimes, in most cases, never faced justice for their actions. Those individuals are now all dead, and the blame cannot fall on subsequent generations. Historical memory is essential, but it must serve as a warning, not as a tool to judge those who have no responsibility today.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I understand your point of view and appreciate the attempt to distribute responsibility among different nations to better understand the historical context. However, it is crucial to make a clear distinction: while it is true that other countries have had questionable pasts, nothing can justify or diminish what Nazi Germany did in the 1940s.

What made the Nazi regime uniquely atrocious was the level of systematic planning and the scale of the actions committed. This was not merely about wars or territorial conquests, which are part of the history of many nations, but about genocide, racial supremacy myths, and the construction of an entire ideology based on hatred and discrimination. And all of this happened in a modern era when most Western nations had already moved beyond such barbarities.

Furthermore, it is important to remember that Germany did not stop at seeking "historical revenge" or reclaiming territories. It was directly responsible for the outbreak not only of the Second World War but also of the First, and its actions during the conflict went beyond any moral or human limit.

While it is true that no country is innocent, we must also consider what a nation has contributed to humanity in terms of progress and universal values. We are not talking about a nation that gave us the Industrial Revolution or the French Revolution, pillars of modernity and freedom. We are talking about a regime that, in an advanced historical period, dragged the world backward into genocide, persecution, and a global conflict. This is a historical burden that cannot be minimized or diluted by comparisons with other states.

That said, it must also be acknowledged that this is a historical burden that Germany carries and for which it apologizes every year. However, the Germans of today bear no responsibility for what happened in the past. This is a responsibility of Germany as a nation, one that it carries in its history and will continue to carry forever. It should also be noted that those who committed these crimes, in most cases, never faced justice for their actions. Those individuals are now all dead, and the blame cannot fall on subsequent generations. Historical memory is essential, but it must serve as a warning, not as a tool to judge those who have no responsibility today.

I absolutely agree that the atrocities perpetrated by the individuals themselves were atrocious. And, absolutely- they can't reasonably be justified. I wasn't meaning to belittle the horrors that went on in either war.

I suppose more what I was trying to put across was that, as a species/ world- we need to be conscious of the circumstances that give rise to this sort of behaviour. Really- plenty of wars and terorist acts people justify to themselves using similar criteria. As in- this other group of people have hurt/ stolen from us in the past, they now pose a threat- it's reasonable to kill them. It still happens today and I think it's something we should all be mindful of.

Plus- exactly. The past actions of Germany shouldn't bias people's opinion of current citizens. We should in fact all be taking lessons from how these dreadful situations happen to try to prevent them happening again.

 

[AuroraB]

This may not make you feel better but I'm an American Jew, born in the USA, and I had at least 33 distant ancestors die in the Polish and German camps. Last year I went to Dachau (Germany) and Auschwitz/Birkenau (Poland). It was my 2nd time in Germany and 1st time in Poland. Love both countries and esp. the young people. I would move to Germany in 2 seconds if I could. You were not alive when any of this horror happened and you are no more responsible for Nazi atrocities as I am for the decimination of indigenous tribes and slavery in the USA. The history of humankind is a history of brutality and unfathomable violence. But none of that is your fault.

 

[Gustav Hartmann]

This may not make you feel better but I'm an American Jew, born in the USA, and I had at least 33 distant ancestors die in the Polish and German camps. Last year I went to Dachau (Germany) and Auschwitz/Birkenau (Poland). It was my 2nd time in Germany and 1st time in Poland. Love both countries and esp. the young people. I would move to Germany in 2 seconds if I could. You were not alive when any of this horror happened and you are no more responsible for Nazi atrocities as I am for the decimination of indigenous tribes and slavery in the USA. The history of humankind is a history of brutality and unfathomable violence. But none of that is your fault.

You should not move to Germany it´s not save, to many Moslems.