Brit reacts to How Germany grapples with WWII Past

This is intense, but I really do admire Germany and the way you've bounced back. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments section below.

Thanks for watching.

Dwayne's Lens

[Brazzelkanal]

For me as a german, I don't feel responsible for the atrocities done by my ancestors, but I feel responsible for preventing it to happen again.

[faketheo]

When you were describing your opinion on how to deal with your country's dark past you basically described the same mindset most Germans have. Don't try to hide it, but also don't celebrate it. Be brutally honest about it. So we may never forget and never repeat it. We're not responsible for what our ancestors did but we are responisble to never repeat their mistakes.

[Kiranbela]

On May 23, 2024, the Federal Republic of Germany will celebrate its 75th anniversary.

75 years of the Basic Law, 75 years of SOCIAL market economy, 75 years of democracy, 75 years of a federal state, 75 years of a republic, 75 years of a welfare state, 75 years of a constitutional state. 67 years of membership in the European Union and its predecessor organization, 79 years of peace in Germany. 75 years of a perspective state. 75 years of partners in the West and NATO. 75 years of reconciliation with its neighbors. 5 times elected to the United Nations Security Council.
20 years of non-intervention in Iraq war.

As the former West German politician Egon Bahr in Bonn once said in a calm voice:
"There is no need to be afraid of this Germany. It has become a different Germany." ❤

[HHIngo]

Thank you for this reaction! Greetings from Germany!

[Attirbful]

cleaning the grave stones is a great exercise in humility… Great. I wish we had been made to do something like this when I was in school! Then again, my class went to Auschwitz and we prepared for it with student and teacher presentations… I remember the total shock of being there on a sunny day with green grass and a blue sky when - although I knew so much about the Nazi regime already, all was in my mind in black and white. It was a real awakening to see it “in color“ to be reminded of people then living there “in color“…

[Sunny-mhet]

I, as a German, would like to say a few things. I can't speak for every German, only for myself.

In history lessons, we learn about no other era as precisely as the Nazi period. We watch documentaries or visit concentration camps and are given comprehensive information. It hurts and it's disturbing. I remember a documentary in which a 14-year-old told how she was forced to kick a Jewish classmate until she was dead. Stories like that have an impact on you. And I think that's a good thing.

We learn what people are capable of. We learn what it leads to if you follow blindly and don't say no in time. We learn what it leads to when you tolerate the intolerant. We also learn what nationalism leads to.

This develops a humble sense of identity. I am proud not to be proud of being German. I know what kind of people are proud of it.

And I don't believe that this humble way is only the right way for Germany. How many millions of people died because of Chinese and Russian dictators? How many people were enslaved by Spain and Great Britain? The history of all countries is deeply evil and there is little to be proud of. We should humbly try to grow together and build the future of a united, peaceful humanity instead of being proud of the old, the broken.

[robertgieseler]

You are a very compassionate man. Thank you very much for your insightful reaction to this video. There is one aspect I am really proud of in this country, which is the history lessons I had in school that reflected the past in a way it had to be.
Love from Germany and all the best to you for the new year.

P.S.: Just FYI, there have been similar -- and even higher -- numbers of people killed in the former Soviet Union, in China and in Cambodia.

[carmenamm]

What I like about the Stolpersteine the most, it involves everyone. Mostly the people themselves who live now in a house do the research, who lived there and what happened to them, than reach out for the artist Gunter Deming and founding the stone privatly. Second is in some streets you see so many "Stolpersteine" it makes the dimension visible. And the sentence from the older people who lived back in the days "We didn't know..." feels so implausible.
Like your videos! ❤

[ImalaNSW]

I'm an 33 years old mother from Germany and it feels like we talked sometimes to much about our dark history. I can barley remember any other topic in History class all around my 13 years until I finished school. Maybe it is because it wan't only Historie Class where we talked about it. But it is important to talk about our past. I am glad, that the bell doesn't ring anymore. But I think it should handle over to a museum. I really love the "Stolpersteine". Even my little son with his 3.5 years ask me about the "Stolpersteine". I tried my best to explain it as kid friendly as possible. And when we now walk by a stumbling stone, he is like "oh Look mommy. Another one." he than mostly give the stone a really friendly soft touch before we can continue the walk. I never told him to do it, it is just what he wants to do. I wanna cry every single time, when he does it. And we should mention, all the change, all the work and all the things we do in response of our history happend in the time of the last 100 years. That's not that long.

And I would like to apologize for my poor writing skills in English. I always have difficulties because our German grammar is much more complex and complicated.

[borntoclimb]

Germany is pretty impressive to handle this part of history

[olivert]

Great reaction. It's still a sensitive topic. At least for some groups. Just have a look on the dislikes on this original video. There are many people who want history stay untouched and not mentioned.
Of course, a minority, but we have to watch out. And we do!
There's a great video 'the fallen of WWII'. Includes a comparison to other wars in history. As you mentioned.
'Easy german' would be a nice channel for your entertainment

[jochenlutz]

The part of our national anthum (is not sung anymore) "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (Germany above all) is due to a time when Germany existed of a lot of several states that were united in the german Reich. So Germany above all meant, lets unite in one country - Germany.

[MellonVegan]

17:30 In short: yes.

It's also not that we think waving out flag about and being "proud" (that word has a bit of a different connotation in German) of our country specifically is a thing to be cautious of, like many Americans apparently assume (at least on YouTube). It's that we find it weird in general. Many of us still love our country as our home. But fervent patriotism is weird to us, just in general.

[flauschiger_keks]

Cleaning the Stolpersteine is quite common for students at university too.

[danielw.]

The way 'patriotism' is expressed in countries like the US or UK is often considered nationalistic (with a exclusiv/negativ connotation) by Germans. For us it just feels way over the top and yes, that's definetly influenced by our own history.

Examples
pledge to the flag (US)
Union Jack plastering on groceries (UK)

PS
I won't even start to talk about the Tories, but their 'path' is dark and scary.

[morbeat]

As a germa( born in ´95, ) i think, we are not responsible for what happend while the nazi regime, but as Inherits, we are responsible that things like that never happen again

[zapster]

We Germans, born after the war, are not responsible for what happened, but we are responsible for what will happen! Much love from Germany!

[MichaelBurggraf-gmvl]

About waving the German flag:
your assumption plays a significant role in it. But there are more reasons about that.
One may be seen in the fact that Germany as a united nation is comparatively young. It happened in 1871 when the second German empire was founded at the end of a war between German states led by Prussia and France. That German Empire had a different flag (hrizontal stripes of black, white and red). That was intentional because during a failed revolt in 1848/49, German revolutionaries wanted to establish a democracy and they were gathering under a different flag - the one we use today (black-red-gold). Prussia took a dominating place in the 2. German Empire. However it wasn't popular everywhere in Germany for a couple of reasons. And since that empire was an association of several states led by aristocrates - kings, dukes, counts - people kept identifying with their local statehood at least quite as strongly as with the empire.
The dire situation of Germany at the end of WWI was provoking a another revolution. A successful one this time resulting in Germany becoming a democratic republic with a written constitution. For the first time the flag representing a democratic Germany (black-red-gold) was made the official one. Now Germany became a kind of federation of countries again - and still many Germans were rather identifying with their local country more than with the entire German Republic.
The Nazis - despising democracy - abolished the black-red-gold flag quickly and replaced it with their own one with the swastika in 1933.
After 1945, both German states - the FDR (West Germany) and the GDR (East Germany) - returned to the black-red-gold flag - however the GDR with additional symbols inside it (a pair of compasses and a hammer). Most of the former countries inside Germany were kept although some were united to become bigger units of administration (eg. Baden-Württemberg combining three former countries). Hence that spirit of regional identification versus national/federational identification still persists until today.
After a few years in which Germany was really struggling hard to get on its feet again neighbouring countries - particularly France - decided to avoid isolating Germany and to start first steps to more cooperation and integration within Western Europe. Those efforts led to the formation of the EEC and the EU now. Together with strong support from the USA by the Marshall plan it helped Germany to rebuild itself and reestablish as a strong economy and stable democracy. Hence many Germans identify themselves quite as much as Europeans as they do as Germans.

[yvonneschonberger]

In Germany every Student in 9-10 class, goes with his class
in a Konzentration Camp.To learn about the History.

[Atomprofessor]

Thanks for this reaction! My dad told me he travelled a lot in the early 70s, he was in France and the UK and he told me that some people were very hostile and condescending to him becaus he is german! He was born in 1948 so he was definitely not guilty of the nazi crimes!