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re: How did common German people re assimilate in Europe after WW2?
Posted on 3/19/18 at 11:58 am to TheFonz
Posted on 3/19/18 at 11:58 am to TheFonz
quote:
They ended up in Tito's concentration camps for two years after the war for no other reason than their ethnic German heritage.
Really? Wow. Do they ever talk about it?
1
Posted on 3/19/18 at 11:59 am to ksayetiger
quote:
Ny family went to west germany circa 1984. I was young, but i remember being very welcomed everywhere. From our hosts (friends of the family) to restaurants and other public places.
To be honest, the Germans are glad that we conquered them. They know Hitler was evil, and if we hadn’t made it to them first, then they had mass rape and murder heading their way in the form of the Soviets. The Germans were shitting their pants over the Russians in 1945 and were pretty thrilled when the French, Americans, and British got to them first, save for some of the crap that was stolen from them... but hey it’s preferable to your lives being completely stolen.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 12:05 pm to ThatMakesSense
quote:
Would probably be last on my places of wanting to time travel to.
I think it would be interesting in an apocalyptic sort of way. Sure I’d want to get out of there by the time shells began to fly, but it’d be extremely interesting to go to a place where they knew their end was near. Christmas of 44 in Berlin, a popular phrase was “Be practical: give a coffin.” No one in Berlin could believe they were still around to see Christmas of 45.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 12:05 pm to ksayetiger
quote:
Really? Wow. Do they ever talk about it?
They all passed away before I met my wife, so I never spoke to them personally about it. My understanding is that they didn't talk much about it to their children. They immigrated to Australia, and once they did that it was sort of the past is the past, no need to remember it. A lot of their immediate and extended families died either during the war, or in the camps. I know my wife's great-grandfather was executed by the Russians, for what particular reason I don't know, and his family put in the camp. The story is is that they took him out into the street in front of his home and just shot him. Some of my wife's grandmother's siblings and their mother died in the camp. My wife's grandmother talked a little about it right before she died, but not much.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 12:27 pm to jlovel7
Read US soldiers accounts of the seizing of Germany on our side.
It was relatively painless since we let the Russians get their vengeance.
It was relatively painless since we let the Russians get their vengeance.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 12:30 pm to OMLandshark
Berlin Airlift helped. They were very grateful to us.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 12:31 pm to OMLandshark
If you haven't already, The Last Battle by Cornelius Ryan is a good read.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 12:47 pm to OMLandshark
quote:
Even taking the ideology out of it, if you were an alien observing that everyone from Spot B was dying (quite literally) to get over to Spot A, and 20 years before they were all one people, you’d conclude Spot A was morally superior.
Or Spot A got Shake Shack
Posted on 3/19/18 at 1:14 pm to jlovel7
quote:
How did common German people re assimilate in Europe after WW2?
"The Nazis made me do it"
Posted on 3/19/18 at 1:25 pm to TheFonz
quote:
TheFonz
Thank you for sharing that.
Truly amazing and horrific.
And that puts the petty crap we deal with in perspective
Posted on 3/19/18 at 1:29 pm to ksayetiger
A terrific book on the topic is The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Anthony Beevor. Disturbingly vivid account of those days.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 1:43 pm to Fat Harry
The west began to focus on Russia as a growing enemy and wanted Germany stable quickly. A fair % of the prior leadership (socially and politically) was retained in Austria and parts of Germany out of necessity and reality. If you look up the % of nazis in say the Vienna philharmonic orchestra as a random example and all throughout various administrative needs, there was no way to purge all that if you wanted a speedy and stable transition.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 3:01 pm to OWLFAN86
quote:
they rebuilt their country into an economic power
Well I could say the US turned their country into an economic power via the Marshall plan.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 3:17 pm to idlewatcher
quote:
A lot of them moved out of Germany to start anew and changed their names to get rid of the stigma.
My SO's first husband was a German guy. His grandfather had been a soldier with a wife and kids. After the war, he never came home. They were able to determine that he survived, he just decided to start over somewhere else without any baggage. That war fricked up a lot of people, including some who weren't even alive at the time. Her ex was pretty dysfunctional because of his upbringing, and he was born a long time after the war ended.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 3:19 pm to jlovel7
Posted on 3/19/18 at 3:21 pm to kfaulk03
Dated a woman in Texas once whose Grandad was a Luftwaffe pilot. She thought it was cool. Should've married her.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 3:25 pm to Tommy Patel
quote:
theres a world of difference between a NAZI and the rest of the German People......It was not a 100% kool-aid drinking nation....but the struggle before,during and after the war was real
It's a shame more people don't get this.
My Mom grew up in Germany during and after the war.
In April '45 the SS showed up at the door to take any male of fighting age. My Mom's oldest brother had just turned 12. My grandmother (Mom's side) was given a choice. She could let the SS take him away to an impromptu boot camp or they would shoot her and the three younger children (9,6 and 4) and take him anyway. Not much of a choice. Luckily the war ended before he had to go to the front lines.
So for those of you not clear on the matter, don't think that being German meant being a Nazi.....
Far from it.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 3:30 pm to prplhze2000
quote:
Dated a woman in Texas once whose Grandad was a Luftwaffe pilot. She thought it was cool. Should've married her.
On the other side of the coin...I know a guy whose mother was a Japanese war bride. One side of his family fought the other side, literally. One of his relatives on his mother's side died while serving in the Japanese navy. BTW, this guy's father died unexpectedly, leaving his wife in a small Louisiana town barely speaking the language, and with three young children to raise. She managed somehow.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 3:37 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
BTW, this guy's father died unexpectedly, leaving his wife in a small Louisiana town barely speaking the language, and with three young children to raise. She managed somehow.
The Japanese I would say have always been a very resilient and resourceful people no matter what obstacles they face.
Posted on 3/19/18 at 3:39 pm to Tommy Patel
quote:
theres a world of difference between a NAZI and the rest of the German People......It was not a 100% kool-aid drinking nation....but the struggle before,during and after the war was real
This is true. OTOH, you can't get anyone to admit they actually were a Nazi, and many were. A lot more were willing to go along with it as long as things were going well.
When my SO was married to her ex, she traveled extensively in Germany, and learned to speak German fluently. When people of the older generation got to know her and thought she was sympathetic, they would let their guard down and tell her what they really thought, and a lot of them weren't so fervently anti-Nazi as they let on for public consumption.
That was the older generation. The younger people were thoroughly disgusted with their country's past. That's one reason Germany currently bends over backward not to be seen as racist or anti-immigrant.
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