Reply #80: I gew up in an ethnic German neighborhood [View All]

[Critters2]

and an ethnic German church. I'm really more Scot than anything, but I identify more as German. But I don't feel any guilt about Hitler, for a couple of reasons.

First, my ancestors left Germany in the 1840's and 50's. They were German liberals, who had to flee after the failed Prussian Revolution of 1848. Or they were pacifists who left to avoid conscription in the Franco-Prussian War. They saw the oppression and suppression that was part of 19th Century German culture, and chose to leave it behind.

With others of like-minds, they came to this country and formed German communities with others who had rejected parts of German culture, but held onto what they loved--their faith, their food, their music, their literature. And they passed much of this down to me.

Hitler (who really was Austrian) and his ilk came along way after my ancestors had left. I've known people who were in Germany under the Third Reich, members of churches I've served. So, I've been reminded of the connecetion between my life and those days. But the rise of Hitler is attributable to more than just the gullibility or evil of the German people.

Hitler was made possible by the convergence of the reparations payments forced by the victors in WWI, the worldwide depression of 1929, and centuries of anti-Semitism. For which of these factors are the German people responsible? The anti-Semitism. It's an awful thing, and I ams ashamed of it (though I've never seen it among German Americans I've known). The other factors were caused by others, or were out of anyone's control.

I also take great pride in the fact that Germany has worked hard to keep Fascism from rising again, and has created a progressive culture on the rubble of its past.

I've been as close to these things as anyone my age. I once belonged to a Turnverein that had been a meeting place for the Bund in its day. My home church called the youth group "Jugend Verein" until I was in college. Trust me, I'm German! I acknowledge the fact that my ethnic group did awful things to others. Hitler was evil, about as evil as can be. But I'm not responsible for him. He does not represent the German I know, and if he did, then they'd deserve to be condemned. And ridiculed.

I hate Hitler as much as anyone. And feel free to joke about the bastard. I'm a German American. I'm not a Nazi. And neither is anyone I know.

Besides, as every true German American knows...Hitler was an Austrian!

Have a beer! The polka band is starting up!!