WW2 is everywhere in German schools. The goal is that students don't just know about WW2, they want the students to know what caused both world wars and how to prevent that from happening again.
That´s so true. The first time we read a book about that topic was in third grade. It was "Ich bin ein Stern" and since then, it was always part of the Curriculum. We discussed it in german class, biology, pedagogy, psychology, history and ethics. It´s always kind of "funny" to hear that people believe it would be a taboo or we would get offended.
I think it's mostly about National Socialism and the Holocaust. WW2 is usually discussed rather briefly. Military history is not big in Germany (compared to the UK or the US). The only battle most students have heard of is Stalingrad. Nobody knows Wieluń or Tobruk, very few know el-Alamein or Montecassino. Also, massacres like Oradour-sur-Glane are overshadowed by the Holocaust. Dunkirk is pretty well known now after the film of the same name but I'm not sure it came up in school (probably half a sentence in a text).
I think we never specifically talked about WW1🤔 just as a precursor for the Weimar Republic and it's fall, which is a petty. It's a really interesting conflict and the key to understanding the first half of the 20th century.
@@zombee0036 That's true for the history classes, but WWII and the Nazis are covered in pretty much every single class. We started with "Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl" in 3rd grade - and I'm note even sure it was the first time.
@@thomaswolf2896 nope it isnt. it might have been like that at your school but you cant generalize curricula. i on my part heard about the 3d reich only in history classes, with maybe one book in german classes for abitur and in religion classes in the context of morals. i never heard about 3d reich in classes until 10th grade
Many classes also go to visit old concentration camps which is mentally very stressfull and takes a lot of preparation to kind of brace yourself for it because it hits you emotionally way more then expected. Also we value talking about ww2 to educate and prevent history repeating itself
I havent been to a concentration camp but part of my class went on a class trip to Prague and while we were there we also visited Theresienstadt. This was "only" a work camp but it was already really depressing. I dont know, maybe my class went to a concentration camp while I was an exchange student in the U.S. but I didnt go to one during my time in school.
@@folkehoffmann1198 Before the topic came up in history class, I attended a kind of educational youth camp, and we visited Mittelbau Dora near Nordhausen. This was the first time for me to learn who the Nazis were and what they did. I don’t think that we ever visited a museum of that kind during any school trip.
Since we have different curricular in different parts of germany it some parts may have a visit as mandatory and some don't, i think in my part (Niedersachsen) it is recommended but not mandatory. I have friends who did not visit a concentration camp but railway tracks and old trains used to transport to those camps and some who only watched movies on them as part of their curricular, but i also have many who visited camps
It’s important to talk about it so history doesn’t repeat itself. I’m German and in we talk about it a lot! It’s sad that ppl still only associate the war with us🥴
@@screenhd4288, um Gotteswillen, ich bin doch kein Reichsbürger ..., nicht mal im Entferntesten, denn die gibt es tatsächlich erst durch Hitler und sein Reichsbürgergesetz von 1935 und ich würde solche Bestrebungen das Deutsche Reich zu zerstören ..., oder gar zum Staat zu machen definitiv nicht unterstützen oder dulden. Ich habe euch doch gebeten, euch mit der wahren Geschichte zu befassen und eben nicht mit den Lügen von kriminellen Regierungen der Neuzeit. Ich würde die Nazis gerne bremsen auf ihrem Weh der Welteroberung, aber England verhindert das mit seinen Kolonien, von denen die USA auch eine ist. Was meist du wer die Präsidentschaftswahlen gefälscht hat? Oder wer dieser Welt, Corona diktierte und nun alle in diese dummen Regeln zwingt und euch alle durchimpfen will? Ich liebe die Menschen weltweit, aber ich kann sie nicht schützen, wenn sie das nicht wünschen oder wollen, denn Wissen schützt vor Fehlern. Ich müsste eigentlich traurig sein und ganz ehrlich bin ich das auch manchmal, weil ich so hilflos bin und das nicht, weil ihr euch nun bereitwillig Opfert, sondern das ihr es nicht besser geprüft habt, was man euch für Angebote macht. 43 Jahre versuche ich die Menschen aufzuwecken, leider nur mit mäßigem Erfolg. Die Macht der offiziellen Mainstreammedien gepaart mit einem infiltrierten Bildungssystem ist leider größer als die Vernunft der meisten Menschen. Schade.
Hey, German Guy here. I think its pretty important to say its actually a Crime in Germany to denie the holocaust because its considered to be disrespectful to all the victims
Also one big difference I noticed in the difference between mainly the english speaking world compared to german education on all things related to WW2. In germany the actual war part doesnt matter. We generally cover the war aspect basically along the lines of: "War started, we invaded theses countries, then the Soviet Union, this was the maximal extend of germany, Stalingrad, germany got pushed back on all sides, war reached germany and millions had to flee in the east, Hitler shoot himself, Occupation zones" - this is covered in basically one or two 45 minute lessons. But on the other hand we focus the other 90% of the history lessons on: "How did the Nazis rise to power (in detail), How did the first german democracy fail, How did the nazis "usurp" the state institutions for their purpose, society in nazi germany. And then the big topics of: "normal" War crimes (non holocaust related stuff like massacres of civilians for example) during the war, the Holocaust specifically, where and how did the concentration camp/extermination camp system work. Also a very important part is the indoctrination of the population and the hole "how did it come to this in these few years" aspects. These topics cover, depending on school form, up to half a year or more of history class in your final school years. meanwhile in the english speaking world it is more like: "this is how the frontline moved, this battle was important, that general was great during that battle, combat was brutal, D-Day, etc." The main focus is the war while the war crimes and especially the rise of the nazis are only a side topic. Personally I definitly prefer the german way on this topic (might also be because Im more familiar to it so im clearly biased). The war itself honestly is compleatly irrelevant apart from the start and its end result. What we should learn from WW2 is how a countries democracy got entirely turned around into a facist dictatorship that made one of the most "civilized and modern" people of its time (germany in the 1920s was very open and modern) into complicit and active mass murderers that would fight for a dictatorship to the bitter end within barely a decade of nazi rule so that future generations wont make the same/similar mostakes :)
Never looked at it the way you just did. But now I have to agree. And exactly this type of questions "How could they get into this mess?" are the questions I asked myself when looking at the post election chaos in the USA last year.
Das hat mich damals auch gewundert. WR, Vorkriegszeit, [...] Einmarsch der roten Armee, Nachkriegszeit. 😅 ergibt ja aber eigentlich auch Sinn. Man will keine feldzüge und Einheiten glorifizieren, relevante Politik wurde nicht mehr gemacht und das Leid der Bevölkerung(en) sieht man danach auch noch. Die eigentliche(n) Schlacht(en) mögen militärisch relevant sein, aber gesellschaftlich und historisch geht es doch um eben die genannten anderen Aspekte.
@@koloblicin4599 Hat aber auch Sinn gemacht. Habe ich aber erst verstanden, als ich meiner Tochter 30 Jahre später, also kurz vor ihrem Abitur, erklären konnte, wie eine Inflation entsteht und welche Folgen das hat.
It seems your history class was rather poor? 90% Nazi times? In our case it was maybe 8-10% which is still rather significant. But 90%? That means the rest of the European and German history in less than a year? That is a pitty.
I was born in Germany and live there, but when I’m honest I don’t think it is a tabu and the most people can agree with me. I really don’t understand why all people in America think that we never talk about it or are shy every time someone ask us something about it
Because most Americans shy away from facing and talking about their own cruel history; from Native Americans to slavery/black people's oppression. Yet they love to claim what heroes they are for liberating Germany from the Nazis, all the while it's perfectly okay to wave a Hakenkreuzflagge in the US and go unpunished for this :/
Americans made so many films about WW2 and played them on TV for decades, so most Amis are more aware and focussed. Now you can watch them on N-TV ad nauseam. Also the holocaust is made omnipresent in the USA.
@Deep Claymore naja, ich denke in der Bildung und im Gespräch konzentriert man sich hierzulande eher auf die "wichtigen" Dinge und nicht auf irgendwelche Schlachten, die die Nazis gewonnen haben.
@@D0MiN0ChAn oh please that was in the 1400-1700 like 14 generations ago when there was still empires and kings. Germany did unspeakable acts against mankind in the past 80 years. Literally one generation ago. We are surprised they are so open about it bc we know there grandpas and grandmas were very much nazi supporters until shit hit the fan. That shocks us that they are so open to that like it’s a good thing
WW2 is actually one of the thing we learn like every year in history class about haha. I mean it’s important but we kinda skip all other parts of history to repeat that topic all year :) But nice video to see all this from an American perspective 🙏
Which school did you go to. Even for history class this isn't the case. WW2 is onl part of the curriculum for 2 years in history. "all other parts of history" are skipped? Where?
@@carpediem5232 Ich meine klar in 5&6 haben wir auch noch bisschen anderen Stuff gemacht ( Ägypten, Mittelalter, Römer, etc. ) aber spätestens ab der siebten hatten wir jedes Jahr ( wenn auch nicht nur ) die Weimarer Republik oder den zweiten Weltkrieg als Thema :) Und ich war auf nem Gymnasium in BW Hab ich so aber auch schon von paar Kollegen gehört 🤷♂️
@@luka_phx8095 Höchst unwahrscheinlich. In 7/8 geht es ums Mittelalter (nicht in der 5/6) frühe Neuzeit Französosche Revolution etc. Erst in der 9 wird Die NS zeit das erste mal thematisiert. Dann wird es in der Oberstufe noch ein Halbjahr vertieft. Dazu kann man sich sowohl die offiziellen Bildungspläne als auch Lehrwerke anschauen. Sollte es an deiner Schule so passiert sein, hätte sie sich also gegen die norm gestellt. Es kann sein, dass die NS Zeit an Projekttagen oder bei Ausflügen vorher thematisiert wird, dafür andere Themen ausfallen zu lassen wäre sehr ungewöhnlich.
@@carpediem5232 Wie gesagt bei uns war es so in der Art. Dass es im Bildungsplan anders drinnensteht ist mit auch bewusst. Vielleicht hatten wir das ganze auch 1 2 Jahre später angefangen, aber spätestens ab der 8/9 habe ich jedes Jahr was vom zweiten Weltkrieg gehört. Das war sogar so n ding das sogar die Lehrer das wussten. Die sind dann als neue Lehrkraft beispielsweise reingekommen und haben gesagt dass sie dieses Jahr mal wieder wie die letzen Jahre was zum theme NS Zeit etc machen werden 😅🤷♂️
One characteristic of Germans is self-reflection. We deal with our mistakes, while others like to bury them. That's why it was so surprising to you. You probably don't know anything like that from your country. 🙂 Nice video again. 👍
Correct statement would be: We think that we are the most and only self-reflecting, but actually we bury quite a lot especially our chauvinism and ignorance and underestimate everybody else. That is why we started two wars where everybody with a clear mind knows they cannot be won except our stupid ancestors.
Depends on the context and the way the eagle looks. Does it look like a "Fette Henne" (fat chicken) it's our current eagle. Does it look like its hunting a mice stay away from it....
That is true, but basically the Nazis just copied all these symbols from before, and even if they were used outside of the Nazi time, they are often connotated with it. Also the Iron Cross and the German flag (the black-white-red one) are symbols from the Kaiserreich, however they are deeply connected with Nationalism in general and also with the Nazis. The Holy Roman Empire had very different flags, however, typically there was a two-headed eagle present, which is very rarely used today, so basically all eagles you see on flags today have nothing in common with the two-headed eagle from the HRE other than both being eagles.
it's the darkest part of our history...so it is a must to learn a lot about it...and we do a lot. i wish, kids in the US would learn more about the genocide in north-America or slavery
America is very aware of slavery which is why racism is still real and alive today in America dummy. You’re speaking about Britain and Spain with the genocide that first discovered America. Not like it was our relatives or anything like Germany where there grandparents were nazi supporters and just like 80 years ago. How could you even claim to be naive to not know what was happening to allow such a evil man take leadership of y’all’s country
Your country was very poor and y’all hated it so chose to kill off everyone and gain control and wealth but when shit hit the fan and yall leader took such a coward way out. We took ur money away in ww1 and y’all cried about it and started ww2 so we helped y’all rebuild. You don’t show the flag or rep it for a reason
Germany is my favourite country I have visited! I’m from the UK and we were not taught about our horrific history (which is a lot!) and that makes me sad that it took going to university and being pointed into the right direction to do my own research.
@@fluffymarshmellow2881 it must be so frustrating that people are still so prejudiced when German isn’t synonymous with Nazi, I think people don’t understand that it wasn’t the whole country! I love your country 💙 especially the little villages near ski resorts that are incredibly friendly and beautiful! My best friend and I also went to Berlin a couple of years ago and didn’t want to leave 😊 hopefully you’ll get to come to the UK soon, highly recommend the Peak District in Yorkshire (it’s beautiful) and has lots of little villages around it, and the Lake District in Cumbria which is similar but with mountains 💙
@@hannahj8099 Of course, it is not the Germans who are responsible for the Second World War and the mass genocide, we all know that they were mythical Nazis, no one knows how they won the democratic elections in Germany, but they are not the Germans. Nobody knows the origin of the Nazis, but there are suspicions that they parachuted from the moon and began to terrorize the peaceful German nation, which no longer had blood on their hands.
@sam's club ??? Barely any of those who have blood on their hands are still alive so I don't get what you are referring to. What does it have to do with America and Russia though.
The thing about talking about WW2 in Germany is that everybody (or most people) are very open about talking about the history of our country. What most people do not or rarely talk about or even know is what part their family played in WW2 because this is something we don't talk about in families. My grandma for example always shared a story about how her dad came back from Russian war captivity on Christmas Eve and how happy she was because they thought they would never see him again. And of course this is a happy memory for her and it always made me super emotional hearing that story. And just in the past years I realized that him being kept in captivity in Russia means that he was in fact part of the Nazi regime. We all think that of course our family was in opposition (in German we say: im Widerstand) but the truth is that almost all of us do have family members who cooperated with the NS. Therefore recently the term "Deutsche mit Nazihintergrund" (Germany with Nazi background) started to be used in leftist bubbles as an analog to "Deutsche mit Migrationshintergrund" (Germans with migration background) because this very personal part of the history we still lack talking about. Also most of the big German companies and therefore most of the super rich in Germany have earned a huge part of their wealth during and because of the NS regime (that money is also referred to as "Nazierbe" (Nazi heritage). We also do still have a lot of expressions in Germany that are still widely used but actually date back to the Nazi time or have been abused by the Nazis. One for example being "Jedem das Seine" (echt to their own). These word have been displayed at the entrance at the concentration camp in Buchenwald. First of all many people don't even know about this or simply don't want to take the effort to change the way they are used to speaking. So you still hear this expression being said a lot. But when you pointing something like this out in the broader public in Germany people around you get very defensive because we all want to stay in our happy little bubble where we can talk about the horrors of what Germany did in the past from a distance. But hardly anyone is ready to admit that their beloved (and by now often deceased) family members were part of a system that killed so many people or even actively killed people themselves. Or that the wealth they posses today has been accumulated with the help of the NS regime. Or even worse that by using a well known saying they reproduce Nazi ideology. (Sorry for that long remark but I wanted to add that it's not all being handled ideally here in Germany even though it often seems like it in regards to WW2.)
In short, i think we are very open to this topic, but we dont like to get reduced as people, associated to the Nzs. or if we have to talk about it every time. In school we learn a lot about it, and sometimes it is a little overdosed, what creates resistance in some people if talked about this topic.
Really interesting! I'm staying since September 2021 in the UK and I find it so interesting to see how different the perspectives are. It was really helpful to see your video and as a German I would say that you understood very good how Germans think about world war 2 and how they are today. Thanks 😊
thanks for commenting on that....I did not know how to spell it! LOL i wanted to look it up because I am in Hannover and wondered where it was....it's a couple hours south hahaha
It depends according to my experience. My mother was born 1939 and WWII was a no go in school curriculum in the first years after 1945 according to her. She does not want to talk about it despite not having own memories from time, films and documentations about WWII makes her change the TV program on a regular bases. German history, especially the time after 1815, the Wiener Kongress, 1848, 1871 WWI, Weimarer Republik, the rise of Facism leading to the "Tausendjähriges Reich; Holocaust and WWII) and post WWII Germany/Eastern Germany are topics of History in school classes on a regular bases. You should know your country´s history because you can reflect on it to avoid making mistakes from the past.
I think it's a generational thing. My mother was born in 1942 and like yours there was no discussion about the war at home with her family or at school. To this day she will not talk about WWII or watch any movies, documentaries or other related material. I believe as time passes, younger people are more inclined to have these discussions because it is important.
@@robincraft4682 Directly after the war a lot of people in influential positions in institutions like millitary, police, big corporations, the CDU or even NATO still where former Nazis, partly even fairly high ranking ones. The Nuremberg trials only punished the very first line of the NSDAP elite. But everyone who was just a bit lower in the hierarchy stayed. A lot of Nazi scientists, generals and agents where also recruited by the US after the war to give them an edge over the soviets. The real confrontation with the Nazi history and de-nazification didn't take place till the student protests of 1969
On the contrary my grandparents were born in 1925 and 1929, hence both of them had and have very vivid memories of WWII and Nazi Germany, my grandfather was even forced to fight in the Wehrmacht. It was and is of utterly importance for them to talk about their experiences and the horrors of war and the Holocaust which they didn’t realise in its full extent until after the war. My grandfather even left us with his memories written down, it brings me to tears every time I read it. The most important message from both of them is that it’s our generations duty to make sure something like this will never happen again.
@@CHarlotte-ro4yi If you want to understand how it was to experience the horrors of WW2, I recommend watching the 1985 movie "come and see" by soviet director Elem Klimov. It's the most realistic, most clear depiction of what war is like for ordinary people that ever existed. It follows the story of a 15 year old boy that wants to join the partisans in Nazi occupied Belarus in 1943. The director himself experienced the siege of Stalingrad as a kid and his co-director was a partisan in Belarus as a teenager. The movie is mostly based on his experiences. When it was first shown in Germany one woman got up from her seat and declared "I must declare that everything that you see in this movie is true and really happened. I was in the Wehrmacht, I was there and took part in it and more tho I'm ashamed that my children and grandchildren will see this movie and know what I did". You can currently watch it in russian with English subtitles for free on UA-cam. Belarusfilm made it available on their UA-cam channel because of the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Victory over the Nazis. I really recommend watching it. It's really good and it gives you perspective. But beware, it's really heavy. It's not comparable to Hollywood movies in any way ua-cam.com/video/NJYOg4ORc1w/v-deo.html
My first memory of my grandma is her and me sitting on her couch while she's telling me about fleeing from the bombs every night, trying to get in the bunker in time.
If you want to wear some clothes with a german sign, then wear a shirt of the german football team. That is accepted very well here in germany. We also wear it during the European Championship (Europameisterschaft) or the World Championship (Weltmeisterschaft). And in this time, it is ok for us to show some flags.. And for me, as a german, I am proud of the country how it is today. Yes there are some problems, like in any other country, but overall, I am happy to be a german and a european at the same time 🤗
Can you make a video about if Americans talk about slavery and annihilation of Native Americans? Would be interesting to hear how are you dealing with your troublesome past as a nation and what people's approaches are. Is it uncomfortable subject for people and what you learn at school about that.
Germany was an established civilixed country at the rise of hitler. US in the the times you elude to was mostly wild frontier. Indians werent being direct mass executed in Philidelphia for instance. Trail of tears was horrible but also literally in middle of wild frontier. There is a differance. Germans knew of the concintration camps and starving and incinterations happening. But yes they taught us all of our US history good/bad
My grandfather got shot in the head in WWII but survived. He came in a hospital near lake of constance, where my grandmother was a nurse. They got 10 kids and my Dad was the oldest, born in 1944.
National Pride ist hier wirklich nur ein Ding während der WM und EM. wie du schon sagst, abgesehen davon sieht man davon kaum was aufgrund des stark ausgeprägten Nationalismus während der NS Zeit. Und den 2. Weltkrieg hatte ich, wenn ich mich richtig erinnere, das erste Mal in der 6. Klasse und über die Jahre bis in die 12. Klasse hat sich das Thema immer wieder wiederholt mit unterschiedlichen Schwerpunkten, um zu versuchen uns beizubringen, wie es zu all diesen Ereignissen kam. Ich hab durch meinen Vater allerdings schon früher und auch im Endeffekt mehr über den 2. Weltkrieg gelernt, da er mit mir als Kind schon gerne sogenannte Bunkertouren machte bei denen wir und den Atlantikwall und Museen dort anschauten. Hinzu kamen dann noch Dokumentation mit echtem Filmmaterial aus der Zeit, bei denen ich meinen Vater mit 12/13 um Erlaubnis fragte sie schauen zu dürfen, da sie offiziell erst ab 16 waren. Mein Uropa war in der SA und ist damals Märsche in unserer Heimatstadt mitgelaufen. Das wurde mir von meiner Oma mal erzählt, aber dann auch nicht weiter drüber geredet. Was ich damit sagen will: ich denke für Familien ist es neben dem was die Kinder in der Schule lernen sehr unterschiedlich, ob es besprochen wird oder nicht.
Selbst die DDR hatte mehr Nationalstolz als diese BRD. Hier wird man klein gehalten und darf kein Nationalstolz mehr haben, sonst ist man gleich Nazi. Unsere Nation macht sich damit schwach und beliebig.
That topic was a big part in our 7th grade history class. I believe we watched the movie "Schindlers List" two times in school and as a 12-13 year old (now I'm 22) it was a pretty impactfull watch. It is so sad that there are still people around that support that horrible stuff that happened back then. Thanks Montana for talking about such a important topic👍🏻
I can't really pin point when I (German, early 30s) got to learn about WW2 first. I remember that in elementary school we went to a historical museum and learned about it. In 5th/6th grade my teacher brought in an old man who experienced it first hand and was sent to a labour camp. We also read books like "Anne Franks diary" or "Damals war es Friedrich". Or we watched movies like "Das Leben is schön" (which I'd not recommend to 11 and 12 year olds! I was super shocked afterwards). All in all during my time in school we learned about the topic over and over again, even visiting a concentration camp in 10grade. In school it was definitly talked about a lot in all kinds of subjects. I always felt like the teachers made sure to somehow keep us aware. My grandparents themselves didn't speak a lot about it - but you have to take in account that they went through a lot of trauma (fleeing, friends disappearing or seing them being killed due to massive bombing, my great grandfather was sent to Theresienstadt for being a half-jew, family never coming back from war...) so I'm greatful for every little bit they mustered up the strengh to tell us. My grandfather most liked to dream about how his city looked like before the war...and how devestated he felt when things like in November 1938 the progrom nights started. His sister always told us that she would chop of limbs from her male relatives so that they wouldn't get send to war if this would ever repeat itself. I think we Germans are way more aware, maybe even more than any other country, about the cruel things that happened in the past. Sadly, and I feel that this is happening all over the world, extreme opinions and values, xenophobia etc are on the raise again. Thanks for your video and showing a bit awareness about these kind of things. I think all countries should have more awareness and open education about their wrongdoings of the past.
The world war is late in curriculum for an obvious simple reason: history progresses in timeline and the curriculum follows that since one chapter is built upon another, every point in history has had it's history coming before and having led to it happen in the way it happened. In 5th grade, first comes the ancient time, then comes medieval age and so son. And the world wars as 20th century are like the last chapter of history before history closes and "now" begins. This is so natural to me that i wonder in what other way history lessons could be organized. Of course you came just for a slice of history lessons for one year. Maybe you can tell the spectators how history lessons are conveyed in the states.
I talked about this to a Canadian friend of mine, it was hard to explain to him that in continental Europe the view on ww2 is a bit different than in North America. To him ww2 was a tragedy occurring overseas and its most visceral scars worn over there for the past 70 years have been by veterans. But in Europe ww2 was daily life for years for most of our grandparents or great grandparents and its shadow loomed large over most in the decades after. It left much deeper scars and monuments to atrocities (not only fallen soldiers) still dot big cities, small towns and even villages alike. As a kid my grandfather talked about fighting in the woods, afraid every day, but My grandmother also told me about carrying hidden letters around afraid to be discovered my other grandmother once terrified me by telling me how back home her entire family was lined up and by soldiers but they were lucky enough to speak German, for years every time I drove out of town I drove past a statue remembering burning of a house with live civilians inside. Never again
Hi Montana, I find it very pleasant that you approach supposedly taboo topics with great openness. WWII was a while ago, but it also left traces in many German families that still have an impact today. For example, my father experienced the war as a little boy, nights in an air raid shelter, evacuation and hunger. Historically formative events always have an impact on subsequent generations, simply because you know contemporary witnesses personally.
It's important to talk about your past, about the history, especially about the bad things that happened, it's the only way to learn something about it and improve yourself. If you talk about it in a serious and honest way, there is nothing wrong about it. Until the end of sixties it was almost a taboo to talk about these things and the change was a long process and was forced by the younger generations. Something horrible like that should not happen again and one of the best opportunities to not let that happen again is to talk about it and show the people. Movies like Schindler's list, Die weiße Rose, The Pianist, The boot or Stalingrad are a good movies and opportunity to go into the topic and experience can be to visit a concentration camp. My question is the way to US handle's all the war topics in their schools. Not only WW2, but also Vietnam, Laos, Kambodscha, Korea and a lot of other so called military conflicts that happened. I'm not so sure how honest the US education is about it??
@TriXtreme ist echt schön das sie das Denken, nur mit der Realität hat das leider nicht soviel zu tun. Die Wahlergebnisse in vielen östlichen Bundesländern, aber auch einigen westlichen Bundesländern im Zuge der AFD zeichnen für mich ein anderes Bild ab, in vielen anderen europäischen Ländern haben rechtspopulistische bis rechtsextreme Parteien durchaus wieder einen Zulauf. Das wird dann christlich- konservativ verkauft ist aber beweitem mehr. Italien, Frankreich, aber auch Österreich, die Schweiz und Staaten wie Ungarn, Polen, Tschechien und die Ukraine beeinflussen das Geschehen in Europa genauso wie Deutschland. Zu glauben es würde nichts passieren, diesen Irrglauben sind nach dem ersten Weltkrieg viele Menschen erlegen. Vorallem jüdische Bürger die im ersten Weltkrieg noch für Deutschland gekämpft hatten und das Eiserne Kreuz erhielten, die hatten den Glauben das Hitler bloß eine kurze Ärger macht und dann wieder verschwinden würde. Der Irrglaube war fatal. Sicher ist überhaupt nichts. Darüber reden, die Menschen sensibilisieren und sie für Demokratie zu begeistern ist ein gutes Mittel um den Frieden zu erhalten. Alles ignorieren und überhaupt nicht mehr darüber sprechen würde den radikalen Kräften in die Hände spielen. In Ungarn sieht man das die Tage wieder ziemlich gut. Da wird der Opferkult wieder gefüttert, weil man sich nach dem verlorenen ersten Weltkrieg ungerecht behandelt fühlt. Eine Demokratie ist immer fragiles Gebilde und man muss sich jeden Tag darum kümmern.
@@robertzander9723 Moin Robert, der Kommentar, auf den du antwortest wird mir nicht mehr angezeigt.. Demokratie ist etwas perfektes, dass wir immer nur annähern können, aber niemals in Serfektion erreichen werden. Ansonsten bin ich voll und ganz deiner Meinung. Besonders, was die USA angeht. Bedenkenswert finde ich aber auch noch, dass ich, Jahrgang 1955 zur ersten Generation gehören werde, die ihr ganzes Leben ohne Krieg im gesamten Leben leben werde. Jedenfalls, wenn man die letzten 2000 Jahre zurückgeht. Schöne Woche Ben
@@robertzander9723 This is a strange point of view, because the east germans suffered from Stalinist dictatorship and recognise the signs; the real fascists today are the government, abolishing human rights and the Antifa, beating down people with different political views like the SA
My former boss is a german, he doesnt like talking about wars, but he said one thing..he likes peace and doesnt like violence and i believed it cuz my boss is calm af, his voice tone didnt change even if hes so damn mad already..😂😂 and i admire him for being so calm,composed and well mannered in the middle of 3 troublesome people😂.. sometimes when im looking at him while he is talking about work related stuff i dont actually listen to that, im actually waiting for him to explode but he doesnt😂i can say he is the MOST PATIENT AND CALM PERSON IVE MET ON EARTH.
Certainly, we have (for example) lost many of our grandfathers and/or their brothers, young people that really don't want to fight, but they had no choice or they get executed. What a terrible time. Every one should know and talk about this history, so that this will never happen again. But it is better to look into the future
My Maternal Grandmother was a Holocaust Survivor. She knew first hand that there were wondering, kind and caring Germans and others who were not. War either brings out the best or worst in people.
Actually... yes. She would be pleased that three generations later people actually changed their ways. And no, I don't assume whithout any evidence to the contrary that this Lady would have been so stupid as to blame kids born eighty years after the fact. You are welcome.
i can remember like it was yesterday... When i was in Hauptschule we did a day trip to the concentration camp Buchenwald. We where a bunch of young guys normally doing a lot of funny stuff and laughing a lot. But the moment we entered the cremation Houses Basement afte we have seen the Pictures of Bodies laying on top of each other in this rooms was just such a sad and depressing thing. All of us stayed completely quiot the entire time as we walked around in these rooms. Just standing there, remembering what this place once was gave me goosebumps in the most uncomfortable way i could imagine. I think it is very important to learn everything and talk about it so that something like this will never happen again. Im really thankful, that i can still visit places like this. Maybe you will get the chance to visit such a plase aswell, even it is not the most joyfull thing to do... Lets focus on the happy things in life. I really enjoyed this video. I hope that you will have a great time here. :-)
You all have to realize that some of our grandparents grew up during the war or in the postwar period. Because of that the younger generation also notes that it‘s not so far in the past. For example, I spray graffiti pretty well and sprayed a gas mask because it looked cool. My grandpa saw it and was sad. He told me that when he was a child, men came to every house and everyone from the family (including children) had to try on gas masks. Personally, I didn't even think about this context when I sprayed it and I felt quite sorry. As a German, you are FORCED to think it a lot about because it is still present. Even because many countries still have problems with Germans because of the war, although our generations today really can't help it at all and we find it as cruel and wrong as the rest of the world. If not even more.
"Those strange German ways" Thank you for your videos Montana. I am old enough to be your Father. Your videos are very informative about the wonderful people of Germany. Thanks. Keep up your love of Germany.
yes it's really a big topic today in school i had it in middle school and high school. Our teachers taught us that we need to know history and how it happened so that we can prevent it from happening again. In fact, what exactly happened during the war we hardly did at all, just how it started and ended. We were also in middle school and high school in a concentration camp, there are really a lot of documentaries and films / series about it. But it's actually only now like that, in the generation right after the war, nobody wanted to talk about what happened, it was a taboo topic, everything that reminded of it was partly simply thrown away, it only started later on this openness. there are also many old people who still don't want to talk about it. In my opinion is all history important, to learn how we can do it better.
World War II is as nearly as far away as the year 2100. 82 years since start of WW II, 76 years to the end of WW II. 79 years to the year 2100. For me both is far away. I was born over 30 years after the end of the war and I will never see the year 2100. It is important not to forget and learn from this mistakes but it is also important to realise that the generation before and after me are not guilty.
We're not ashamed of WW2 because it's not our fault and not our opinion. We are not the people who did this and we try to do everything we can to keep history from repeating itself
It is part of our german history. Today no one has to feel guilty for what happened decades ago, so of course we are open to talk about it. The generation which experienced WW2 is probably almost gone, they may not have talked about it much. My grandfather which has served at the age of 14 in 1944/1945 on command didn't talk much about it. The family knew he served in Berlin and flew to western germany as he had a chance to escape from the cruelty of war. None of us wanted to ask questions and wouldn't even understand what he and other people went through during this time. He never saw, his parents and siblings again for the next 71 years. I think many countries have a dark history and shouldn't be to proud. The most important thing is to not forget about the past. BTW it is just luck or bad luck where you are born, wehter it is a wealthy country or not. It is luck and therefore you don't have to be to proud i think. Each and everyone can be proud of himself for things he/she archieved. Being proud of a country is senseless for me.
We are confronted with that in such a young age.. Like everyone in my class knew everything about it even way before we had the history.. I learned most things with 8... Because we went on a trip to a more unknown country and they were completely freaked out and called us Nazis silent. I was like wtf do i look like i have one of the sick looking SS uniforms?
From the young men born around 1920 not even half survived the war. Nearly all major cities were literally bombed to dust. I think for other western countries that is just not imaginable (Compare the numbers of UK or US...). The Thirty Years war was even worse though.
Auch wir hatten das Dritte Reich bis in die Oberstufe (und bis zum Abwinken). Ich hab 1984 Abi gemacht. Also mussten wir das Thema danach nicht ständig auffrischen. Tabu war es manchmal für die, die WWII noch selbst erlebt hatten. Mein Vater redet jetzt erst gelegentlich davon (Baujahr 1932).
I think in Germany everyone is at some point exhausted about the extent of Nazi history that is shoved down your throat throughout the entire time in school. Everything is discussed to death and nothing is left to say 😂 documentaries are all the time on TV, movies are released continually about Nazis, museums have related themes all the time in their program, not even to speak about the literature, etc. It is everywhere. I think at some point everyone shuts down 😂
Being a daughter of German immigrants in USA. My middle school history teacher while lecturing about about WW2 pointed at me and told the class that if the Nazis walked into the classroom everyone would be killed except for me. I got a lot of bullying after that.
It's calles "Vergangenheitsbeweltigung", we deal with our past and acknowledge it to learn from it. I think other countries should take a slice and deal with their dark past as well.
Germans did experience the slippery slope from patriotism to nationalism, from rally grounds to concentration campgrounds and they have learned their lesson....
Hey Montana :), first of all, I really enjoy watching your videos. I actually found your channel by accident because you did some videos about Passau and I went to uni in Passau whilst you were there, too. It was kind of crazy that we were in the same little town at the same time. I loved seeing your perspective on Germany and Passau in particular. Regarding the topic of this video... I think it's so great that you're talking about this very important topic and especially the "national pride". To be honest, I really don't get why people are proud of their country because they didn't do anything to live there most of the times. I consider myself very lucky to be born in Germany because I think it's a beautiful, quite wealthy country and it is very safe. But I'm not proud if you know what I mean. I also think that, besides the German past, german culture is just very critical in general. I feel like Germans often like to complain about things that go wrong in the country and stuff that they don't like. Especially since Covid, whatever happens in the country or is decided by the government, there will be people to complain about it. It's just how we are, I guess. But maybe you had different experiences whilst your stay here. :) Greetings from Bavaria Jasmin
As many have mentioned, learning about WW2, but more importantly how the Nazis become the ruling party in 1933, is an important topic in school. But it is also a very prominent subject on TV. Since the 1980s, especially the documentaries of Guido Knopp (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guido_Knopp) have dissected every aspect of that time: Who elected the Nazis, how they planned and executed the Shoa, how WW2 started, the war crimes of the Wehrmacht, especially in the former Soviet Union - just to name a few. Sometimes it feels like a bit much of information and repetition, but the recent rise of right winged and outright fascist parties in Germany (and in many other countries) just shows how important this knowledge is.
Thanks Montana. You really have a great power of observation. As a somewhat older teacher from 1948, I can say that sometimes I have the impression that the Germans harbor a certain secret sympathy for certain characteristics of Nazi Germany. For example, documentaries have been shown on TV for hours and on several channels at prime time for many years. Most of them take a critical view of the Hitler era. But there is no gain in knowledge. The reception at school has frozen and celebrates more of the secret pride. Unfortunately, the students' interest is waning. However, the total time is part of the fixed curriculum in all federal states from grade 9.
It is not a pride. It is more like they don't want to have the children know what happened during the war. When I was in 10th grade (I'm german in Germany), we had the topic of the nazi regime and the war. Well, we had a bit about the war. My teacher almost entirely spoke about the horror of the Holocaust. Yes that is horrible. But every single time, she spoke about the fighting, she only spoke about the fear that the soldiers had. And when I added only a bit of brutality, she changed the topic. She did not speak of bombings, she did not speak about other groups other than the jews, that were taken away and killed. But we have to know about the brutality. Without knowing what will happen to us, if we go to war, we will more likely go to war again. The documentations are the same. Speaking of the war but avoiding what really happened. I'm glad that my family told me much about it. About the horrors that they had witnessed or the fates of relatives.
@@jarlnils435 Na ja, das ist die Frage. Die Schule hat nicht die Aufgabe, den Horror des Nazi-Krieges und Holocausts zu vermitteln. Die Fakten ja, aber nicht so, dass die Schüler Traumata davontragen. Und das ist auch gut so, oder? Jedenfalls gibt es da nicht die eine, für alle gültige Antwort drauf.
@@target9972 als ob ein 10. Klässler von einem Bericht über die Schrecken des Krieges traumatisiert wird. Ich kenne einige, die Im Westen nichts Neues in der 9. Klasse lesen sollten. Hab ich auch, aber außerhalb der Schule. Das vermittelt sehr gut, was Krieg ist. Und es sorgt dafür, das man es nicht will. Und das ist wichtig. Auch auf Kosten einer verlorenen "Unschuld" im Sinne das man Krieg nicht mehr als Heroisch sieht. Krieg ist furchtbar, aber wenn dieser Horror nicht vermittelt wird, wird die Bereitschaft einen Krieg anzufangen in der Masse zunehmen. Im Ernstfall sind Männer ab 16 Jahre potentielle Rekruten. Also sollte man es auch Schülern in dem Alter zumuten, Geschichten über Horror zu hören oder zu lesen. Andererseits kann man auch die Jugend in Watte packen und die Augen vor der Realität verschließen. Diese Mentalität hat ja leider in den letzten 10 Jahren stark zugenommen. Meine Familie hat großen Wert darauf gelegt, dass mein Bruder und ich über die Zerstörung und die Verluste des Krieges lernten. Damit wir keinen Krieg wollen. Allerdings bin ich trotz allem Bereit, wenn meine Familie durch Krieg bedroht wird, zu Kämpfen. Aber niemals um ein fremdes Land anzugreifen.
@@jarlnils435 agree, but: Wie kam es zu Kriegen, welche Interessen, welche Kräfte?! Aktuell sind wir alle Zeugen eines realen Krieges vor unsere Haustür, den wir während der Entfaltung studieren können. So kann man seine Überzeugungen und Erkenntnisse, seine Glaubenssätze "am offenen Herzen" studieren, analysieren ...
@@jarlnils435 Unsere Geschichtsbücher werden gerade umgeschrieben, so haben die Schüler ab sofort einen Krieg direkt vor ihren Augen und müssen nicht mehr 80 Jahre zurückschauen und darauf vertrauen, dass stimmt, was ihnen die Alten vorsetzen.
My opinion as a German: What good is it to not talk about it? We need to learn about it, we need to analyze it, we especially need to know how it came about! We need to take care that we learn from the past and never ever let it happen again. The heritage is not that we once were the bad guys, but that we need to be the ones that educate ourselves and others about it in order keep it from happening again ... and gosh ... the US was really close to something similar in recent times. BTW: national pride is not a big thing here. We more or less are not proud to be german, because that has a negative connotation, however I can say that many people are happy to be german and that is worth more, I think, than being proud about something you have nothing done for to achieve.
And the most important, we need to know what happened during the war. The brutal reality of the war. So that people stop saying, that modern warfare is less gruesome than ancient warfare because we fight from the distance. It's an idiotic oppinion, but I know people who believe that. And they forget the bombs.
@@jarlnils435 Absolutely. When I was in the army in the 90s they did not glorify it, they simply said how it is. We should not think of war as a clean thing, war means lotting, pillaging, and rape ... this is actually what we were told. They said, this is what happens and it is ugly and no one wants it.
@@FHB71 sadly, german schools don't teach about that reality. Because, I don't know, "The poor children musn't know about such horrors". I was always stopped by my teacher, when I told my classmates about the brutal stories that my grandparents told me. My grandparents told me that, because they did not want me to go to war.
Excellent video Montana! It is very important to keep the knowledge and awareness about this time alive to prevent these horrible things from happening again. This is the lesson we Germans learned from this part of our history. And keeping the memory about these 12 years and what happened during those dark days of our history in the minds of our citizens is one of the main goals of our post Word War II society. And I hope that this period in human history will be a lesson to the whole world and shows the terrifying path racism and fascism leads us to. Therefore the time of the National Socialism and all its aspects is give a humongous part in our education system. Furthermore you frequently will see documentaries and also movies about this time on our public television. The ZDFInfo, a channel of our public television network, is often dedicating whole days our even a series of days those 12 years. However, it's not only about World War II because the bad things started to happen way earlyer, actually immediately after Hitler and the NSDAP got control over the political system and the country itself in 1933.
Was almost expecting "CuriosityStream" plugin when you talked about wanting to learn more about it. ^^ I think you need to also split stuff up a bit. While they are tied together, WW2 and the Holocaust are two things which are handled very differently. In school and documentary they are pretty much mixed together I guess, but the way they are handled in day to day life can be somewhat different. For example you are fine (to some degree) to make jokes about Hitler (search for Bullyparade & Hitler on youtube) and WW2 - while this will trigger some kind of a "uuuhhh" response, it is still be seen as acceptable in lots of circumstances. Jokes about the Holocaust on the other hand, are a definite no-go.
Hello Montana, even though your channel is more on the humorous side I think the topic is chosen well right now as you grow smarter yourself. And experiemced that a country you met such a great host family can have a partially cruel history. Reflecting about why following a/any government might be bad could lead to understanding the circunstances better now as well as in the past which could lead to a more "free spirit" mindset?
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We visited the Documentation Center in Nuremberg with school. And the concentration camp in Dachau. The people who typically don't want to be "bothered" with the Nazi era are mostly right-wing extremists who unfortunately still exist today. The cheapest time to buy German flags is when there is a world soccer championship and Germany is eliminated before the final. Then no one wants the flags anymore and they are sold cheaply or even given away for free.😅
I think that it is important for us to make sure we can prevent that this happens here again. Thats why the Weimar Republic is also a very important topic for us because it gave rise to the Nazis (and yeah i know that the results of WW1 also laid the ground for that rise). For me it feels much more real when i see one of the rare coloured films from that time. These black and white documentations create a distance in my mind and it feels like it is long in the past. But if i see coloured recordings of the marches and of Hitler i seems much more real and much more recent.
It's Part of German History and we can't Change it even if we'd want to. But yeah maybe we are more opened about Things Like that than other countries. Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably learned more about WW2 than about WW1 in school
The main point why the 20th century starts so late in German schools ist just due to the fact that in Europe the history beginns much much earlier in time and therefor are much more decades of history to cover. In Germany history classes start at 5th grade and when we start there it beginns with stone age at the point where the stone age moves to coper age (at that period of time the first cities were built in mankind and the first civilisations started (Ur, Uruk Sumerians and then the ancient egypt), in 6th grade we cover the ancient greek and ancient rome timeperiod, 7 grade we cover medieval ages and renaissance, in 8th grade we cover early colonialism, and 3o year war and absolutism in france, in 9th grade frederick the great, the french revolution and the napoleonic wars come and the 1848 revolution, in 10th grade we cover the 20th century. in the a level classes which are grade 11 to 13 then the entire 20th century is covered in depths... now you should see why we haste from event to event with that much to cover... there is no time to cover the american revolution and the american civil war for example because it hasn't to do that much with us...
For that we have English class, but certainly we had also a small part of US history in history lessons as it is instrumental for development of modern democracies. But it is correct that the foreign history is not well covered after 800 (Charlemagne). Little bit Napoleon, US, Russian revolution that's it. Ask which Central European country except Switzerland stayed democratic till Nazi occupation in 1938 and you might not get many correct answers even if the answer is only some 100km away.
@@florianmeier3186 In my Classes we had french absolutism, french revolution and british industrialization very wide as topic. Also we had in the 10th grade the GDR and it's system of supression compared to the nazi supression. To me the GDR has allways been and will allways been a foreign country because i never lived in it and i've been too young to have personal recollection on the wall breaking in 89 except that i seem to have been interruptive to my mom at news watching.
As a little child I have been in Dresden during the night of February 1945 when countless bombs destroyed this unique city and at least 25 000 persons died in a terrible manner - even today I see the burning city before my eyes and during my life any barbecue festivities have been terrible for me for you will notice there the smell of burned flesh. - So I talk upon World War II.
In Germany you will meet more people with a USA flag on their T-shirt than with a Germany flag. German neo-Nazis carry the Reich war flag. It is black-white-red. I'm East German and sometimes I wear shirts with old symbols from the Soviet Union. During the GDR era, friendship with the Russians was imposed on us because they were our liberators. But that wouldn't have been necessary because I like the Russian people that much too. With over 20 million victims, the Russians paid the largest blood toll to destroy the 3rd Reich. I am very grateful to you for that. But I am also grateful to the Western Allies. Everyone who fought and destroyed this murderous criminal system. Greetings from Germany and good luck and joy in your further life! Tschüss! 🖖
We are probably the last ones who can directly talk with Holocaust survivors. I had multiple conversations with survivors during my time in school and their stories are absolutely eye-opening. We can't change the past and we are certainly not proud of it, so it's our responsibility to create a better future in which nothing like that could ever happen again.
One more try to get the rest of my text accepted- I wonder if UA-cam blocks words like a Person's name starting with an "H". So you have to do some guesswork. Germans and dead family members Many Germany boys of your age were forced to waste their youth on "H" - suffering and dying thousand of miles from home. When Germans talk about this they never would use the word "to die". Almost always they use the phrase "he stayed in Stalingrad or the East Front". When writing this I realize again with shudder what a cynical wording this is. Since there are still many living that where born after 1945 there are many situations where they say "Meinen Opa habe ich nie kennengelernt, der ist im Krieg geblieben". "Zwei meiner Onkel sind an der Ostfront gefallen". The word "gefallen" has several meanings - you may use it for "to like someone" By the way - also girls of your age suffered under WWII - they were forced in factories for the production of ammunition or even planes. On many "Bergwerk" "Salzbergwerk" "Stollen" postings in Wikipedia you may find it. And the aerospace succes of the US is in a way based on Wernher von Braun, and the development of "H's" "V1-rocket" and "V2-rocket" just google "KZ Mittelbau-Dora Zwangsarbeit" or "Wernher von Braun". How is that for a lasting reminder ... even for Americans?
Surely we do Talk about WWII, especially today, 1/27, 5/8 and 9/1. On January 27th, 1945, Auschwitz was freed by the Red Army, May 8th 1945 was the day of surrender and on the 1st of September 1939 WWII begun, all of the three Dates are now official rememberance days; whether the 9th of August 1945 as the day of Japan's surrender in the Pazifik can be counted I don't know
This girl clearly has no idea what she’s talking about. Her saying America is very weird how prideful we are with our flag and national pride bc she saw Germany isn’t? She don’t have the common sense to understand they aren’t bc they are ashamed and embarrassed of that flag bc when they do wave there flag it’s about war and genocide. Who would want to represent that? Only the Germans but not even they can bc they lost the war so they have to blame hitler and act like they were victims too when they supported him the whole country until they started losing
Very good and thoughtful interpretation. I dont think discussing the war is taboo per se. What is taboo or frowned upon is discussing right wing ideology or a certain Adolf. As an American the war was described to much from American perspective and not so much how other countries suffered or were involved as far as I can remember.
Yes, it is talked about a lot and taught in school.Germans are very aware of their History.And remind people so it doesn’t happen again.America should teach more of their History, so that their citizens know what they have been involved in.
We are very much aware of our history. We don’t glorify it like germans we know the death camps and holocaust was built well after war begun. We know Germany not hitler was tired of the economy being in such poor status and y’all wanted change even if it meant death to millions once Germany had a leader to say what they were thinking they supported him all the way until they started losing
WW2 was taught three times in my school time in history class. First in fourth grade (but not to intense), than 10th grade and last in 12th grade but it definitely came up way more often in different classes.
I dont know how its handeled in other schools, but in mine we started learn about ww1 and ww2 in 5th grade and from there on we had this every year. It was a very age appropriate thing. For example I'm 5th grade we had a theater about a jude and his family and we talked about it afterwards. In 6th grade we read about it and work through the book. In 7th grade we learned more especially on ww1 in history class were we dived in it very far. In 9th and 10th class we really learned everything about Hitler, ww2, the holocaust and the time after the war. It was an extrem experience because they talked about it so much and we saw so many pictures, movies and diarys. I know that it's also a theme in years 11-13 but as far as I can consider this, we talked about so many aspects before the later classes. We even drove to a koncentration place to learn more about it. (I'm sorry about my English. I'm still learning)
My eldest girl is 7, and about to finish her first grade. Once, my grandma was seven and about to finish her first grade. Around that time, her home town was bombed regularly, her teacher as well as several class mates died, nearly all the children in her class photo look skinny, unhealthy, some with ragged clothes, somehow shaken. And this messed with her whole life, all the 60 years to come. Where we live now, the war is present until now. The city still has many shelters, windowless concrete monsters right between houses. When going for a walk or visit villages south from our town by bus, we sometimes see roofs of destroyed bunker entrances, tank barriers and so on. Our town has placed many stumble stones, little metal stones in front of houses (or where the houses used to be) of victims, giving us names, birth and death dates and cause of the death. The next ones we can see from our window. Of course my daughter sees and asks, and I answer. So even if she won't have the topic in school for years, she knows that baaad things did happen and shall never ever happen again.
We were taught history lessons by the past. Starting with the Goths in 5th grade through the Romans in 6th grade, the empires over the Middle Ages in 7th-8th grade. Then on to Napoleon, the French Revolution and then World War I and World War II in 10th grade. Our school trip went to Munich where we visited the Dachau concentration camp. Our history lessons build on our history. My father was born in 1946 and when he asked my grandfather how it came to this, they were silent and never spoken to. They too saw atrocities and had to participate. You had no chance. the men became soldiers and the women had to work in the manufacture of weapons. Many old people are still traumatized by the bombing raids on the cities. Bombs are found every day, which then have to be painstakingly defused. So the war is still omnipresent today The young Germans are very aware of their past and their responsibilities. That is why they are promoting the unification of europe with the euro as their currency so that war between countries in europe never breaks out again.
We read in the 80s...Damals war es Friedrich...in 6 or 7 grade....and in 12th grade „Das 7. Kreuz“ (Anna Seghers) ...in Germany the NS time is topic in nearly all subject... btw. there look up for the Stolpersteine (project) ...I live in Aachen 500 m from Anne Frank, her sister and her mothers „Stolpersteine“. When their father was already in NL they lived for some time here in Aachen with their maternal grandmother...Anne Frank‘s mother grew up in Aachen...married here
If you know about the things that are oassed in the procurement genheut, so you can avoid the same mistakes in the future. This is the reason why there is so much talk about the past in Germany. But still it is crazy to hear that so many people still equated Germany with WW2.
TO ASK A EUROPEAN about the WWII is LIKE ask an AMERICAN who lost is PARENT or CHILD or PAIR on the SEP. 11 TERROR on the WORLD TRADE CENTER. YOU JUST NOT RIP UP DEEP HURTS on OTHER PEOPLE. or it is to ask someone who just lost someone to tell about their feeling while they TRY TO RECOVERING FROM... a bit rude.
Perhaps you should tell your american followers, that we here in Germany are reminded every day on this historical desaster. Our politic is influenced by this. A little example. In the states you have boot camps for criminals to correct them. The german word for camp is "Lager". If you were a german politician and would publicly say, you want to have Straflager (penal camps) for strong criminals, you would stop your career and you would be blamed to be a NAZI, because Auschwitz also was a Lager. We have a lot of taboos depending on that horrible time. An other thing is, to see the Nazi-time separated. You would get a better understanding when you take a look on german history from 1070/71 when the Reich was founded an the special relation from Germany to France and Britain.WWII was the last part of a triple war- beginning in 1870 and ending with the capitulation on 09.05.1945. Btw, try to find out, if Americans do speak so often about Vietnam as we do about WWII, the Holocaust etc.
Different countries deal with it very differently. In Japan the students actually learn very little about the war because the government wants to sweep the negative history under the rug, so a lot of Japanese people are very ignorant or clueless about it. I watch a German UA-camr who lives in Japan and he says that sometimes people there ask him if Hitler is still alive or tell him stuff like "next time we will do it better and win together".
WW2 is everywhere in German schools. The goal is that students don't just know about WW2, they want the students to know what caused both world wars and how to prevent that from happening again.
That´s so true.
The first time we read a book about that topic was in third grade. It was "Ich bin ein Stern" and since then, it was always part of the Curriculum. We discussed it in german class, biology, pedagogy, psychology, history and ethics.
It´s always kind of "funny" to hear that people believe it would be a taboo or we would get offended.
Nothing agains Austria, but the were involved too, so.......
I think it's mostly about National Socialism and the Holocaust. WW2 is usually discussed rather briefly. Military history is not big in Germany (compared to the UK or the US). The only battle most students have heard of is Stalingrad. Nobody knows Wieluń or Tobruk, very few know el-Alamein or Montecassino. Also, massacres like Oradour-sur-Glane are overshadowed by the Holocaust. Dunkirk is pretty well known now after the film of the same name but I'm not sure it came up in school (probably half a sentence in a text).
We discussed Oradour in our French class; I remember that we also read a French poem about it.
ITS COMING HOME HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Basically, after you've reached the 8th grade the teacher barely talks about anything else than second and first world war or Weimarer Republik
for me 8th grade was feudal times up to industrial revolution. ww1 was 10th grade and ww2 + surroundings was 11th and 12th grade
I think we never specifically talked about WW1🤔 just as a precursor for the Weimar Republic and it's fall, which is a petty. It's a really interesting conflict and the key to understanding the first half of the 20th century.
yeah its pretty sad how overfocused we are on this in history lessons
@@zombee0036 That's true for the history classes, but WWII and the Nazis are covered in pretty much every single class. We started with "Als Hitler das rosa Kaninchen stahl" in 3rd grade - and I'm note even sure it was the first time.
@@thomaswolf2896 nope it isnt. it might have been like that at your school but you cant generalize curricula. i on my part heard about the 3d reich only in history classes, with maybe one book in german classes for abitur and in religion classes in the context of morals. i never heard about 3d reich in classes until 10th grade
Many classes also go to visit old concentration camps which is mentally very stressfull and takes a lot of preparation to kind of brace yourself for it because it hits you emotionally way more then expected. Also we value talking about ww2 to educate and prevent history repeating itself
I havent been to a concentration camp but part of my class went on a class trip to Prague and while we were there we also visited Theresienstadt. This was "only" a work camp but it was already really depressing.
I dont know, maybe my class went to a concentration camp while I was an exchange student in the U.S. but I didnt go to one during my time in school.
@@folkehoffmann1198
Before the topic came up in history class, I attended a kind of educational youth camp, and we visited Mittelbau Dora near Nordhausen. This was the first time for me to learn who the Nazis were and what they did.
I don’t think that we ever visited a museum of that kind during any school trip.
isn't it mandatory to visit a concentration camp in grade 9? I'm from Baden-Württemberg and we visited Dachau in 9th grade
@@becca5161 That probably depends on which state you live in and maybe also what kind of school you go to.
Since we have different curricular in different parts of germany it some parts may have a visit as mandatory and some don't, i think in my part (Niedersachsen) it is recommended but not mandatory. I have friends who did not visit a concentration camp but railway tracks and old trains used to transport to those camps and some who only watched movies on them as part of their curricular, but i also have many who visited camps
It’s important to talk about it so history doesn’t repeat itself. I’m German and in we talk about it a lot! It’s sad that ppl still only associate the war with us🥴
True, es kommt aber auf die Leute an xD
Wir lernen einfach aus der Geschichte, dass wir nichts aus Geschichte lernen.
Screen HD ja leider hahah
@@klasch059 Kein Kommentar. Dachte was schreibt mir denn jetzt für ein Boomer einen Aufsatz. Ein wenig enttäuscht dass es ein Reichsbürger ist.
@@klasch059 Moment mal. kannst Du Dich mal bitte entscheiden. Wenn Du sagst, der erste Weltkrieg sei nie beendet worden, wie kann dann der 3. da sein?
@@screenhd4288, um Gotteswillen, ich bin doch kein Reichsbürger ..., nicht mal im Entferntesten, denn die gibt es tatsächlich erst durch Hitler und sein Reichsbürgergesetz von 1935 und ich würde solche Bestrebungen das Deutsche Reich zu zerstören ..., oder gar zum Staat zu machen definitiv nicht unterstützen oder dulden.
Ich habe euch doch gebeten, euch mit der wahren Geschichte zu befassen und eben nicht mit den Lügen von kriminellen Regierungen der Neuzeit.
Ich würde die Nazis gerne bremsen auf ihrem Weh der Welteroberung, aber England verhindert das mit seinen Kolonien, von denen die USA auch eine ist.
Was meist du wer die Präsidentschaftswahlen gefälscht hat? Oder wer dieser Welt, Corona diktierte und nun alle in diese dummen Regeln zwingt und euch alle durchimpfen will? Ich liebe die Menschen weltweit, aber ich kann sie nicht schützen, wenn sie das nicht wünschen oder wollen, denn Wissen schützt vor Fehlern.
Ich müsste eigentlich traurig sein und ganz ehrlich bin ich das auch manchmal, weil ich so hilflos bin und das nicht, weil ihr euch nun bereitwillig Opfert, sondern das ihr es nicht besser geprüft habt, was man euch für Angebote macht. 43 Jahre versuche ich die Menschen aufzuwecken, leider nur mit mäßigem Erfolg. Die Macht der offiziellen Mainstreammedien gepaart mit einem infiltrierten Bildungssystem ist leider größer als die Vernunft der meisten Menschen. Schade.
Hey, German Guy here.
I think its pretty important to say its actually a Crime in Germany to denie the holocaust because its considered to be disrespectful to all the victims
It's illegal in many countries.
So you don't believe in free speech. Germany is using nazi tactics to stop the rise of nazism.
@@micchaelsanders6286 that's denial and ignorance
@@Gucci-fo6vv No. it’s what’s happening. You cannot restrict free speech, even if it’s ugly.
@@micchaelsanders6286 finaly someone who isnt brainwashed
Also one big difference I noticed in the difference between mainly the english speaking world compared to german education on all things related to WW2.
In germany the actual war part doesnt matter. We generally cover the war aspect basically along the lines of:
"War started, we invaded theses countries, then the Soviet Union, this was the maximal extend of germany, Stalingrad, germany got pushed back on all sides, war reached germany and millions had to flee in the east, Hitler shoot himself, Occupation zones" - this is covered in basically one or two 45 minute lessons.
But on the other hand we focus the other 90% of the history lessons on: "How did the Nazis rise to power (in detail), How did the first german democracy fail, How did the nazis "usurp" the state institutions for their purpose, society in nazi germany. And then the big topics of: "normal" War crimes (non holocaust related stuff like massacres of civilians for example) during the war, the Holocaust specifically, where and how did the concentration camp/extermination camp system work. Also a very important part is the indoctrination of the population and the hole "how did it come to this in these few years" aspects. These topics cover, depending on school form, up to half a year or more of history class in your final school years.
meanwhile in the english speaking world it is more like: "this is how the frontline moved, this battle was important, that general was great during that battle, combat was brutal, D-Day, etc."
The main focus is the war while the war crimes and especially the rise of the nazis are only a side topic.
Personally I definitly prefer the german way on this topic (might also be because Im more familiar to it so im clearly biased). The war itself honestly is compleatly irrelevant apart from the start and its end result. What we should learn from WW2 is how a countries democracy got entirely turned around into a facist dictatorship that made one of the most "civilized and modern" people of its time (germany in the 1920s was very open and modern) into complicit and active mass murderers that would fight for a dictatorship to the bitter end within barely a decade of nazi rule so that future generations wont make the same/similar mostakes :)
Never looked at it the way you just did. But now I have to agree. And exactly this type of questions "How could they get into this mess?" are the questions I asked myself when looking at the post election chaos in the USA last year.
Das hat mich damals auch gewundert. WR, Vorkriegszeit, [...] Einmarsch der roten Armee, Nachkriegszeit. 😅 ergibt ja aber eigentlich auch Sinn. Man will keine feldzüge und Einheiten glorifizieren, relevante Politik wurde nicht mehr gemacht und das Leid der Bevölkerung(en) sieht man danach auch noch.
Die eigentliche(n) Schlacht(en) mögen militärisch relevant sein, aber gesellschaftlich und historisch geht es doch um eben die genannten anderen Aspekte.
@@koloblicin4599 Hat aber auch Sinn gemacht. Habe ich aber erst verstanden, als ich meiner Tochter 30 Jahre später, also kurz vor ihrem Abitur, erklären konnte, wie eine Inflation entsteht und welche Folgen das hat.
It seems your history class was rather poor? 90% Nazi times? In our case it was maybe 8-10% which is still rather significant. But 90%? That means the rest of the European and German history in less than a year? That is a pitty.
@@florianmeier3186 we don‘t go to school for only a year….just saying
I was born in Germany and live there, but when I’m honest I don’t think it is a tabu and the most people can agree with me. I really don’t understand why all people in America think that we never talk about it or are shy every time someone ask us something about it
Because most Americans shy away from facing and talking about their own cruel history; from Native Americans to slavery/black people's oppression. Yet they love to claim what heroes they are for liberating Germany from the Nazis, all the while it's perfectly okay to wave a Hakenkreuzflagge in the US and go unpunished for this :/
Americans made so many films about WW2 and played them on TV for decades, so most Amis are more aware and focussed. Now you can watch them on N-TV ad nauseam. Also the holocaust is made omnipresent in the USA.
@Deep Claymore naja, ich denke in der Bildung und im Gespräch konzentriert man sich hierzulande eher auf die "wichtigen" Dinge und nicht auf irgendwelche Schlachten, die die Nazis gewonnen haben.
Well they are literally trying to make it illegal to talk about history that isn’t white washed and sugarcoated here so I suppose that’s why.
@@D0MiN0ChAn oh please that was in the 1400-1700 like 14 generations ago when there was still empires and kings. Germany did unspeakable acts against mankind in the past 80 years. Literally one generation ago. We are surprised they are so open about it bc we know there grandpas and grandmas were very much nazi supporters until shit hit the fan. That shocks us that they are so open to that like it’s a good thing
WW2 is actually one of the thing we learn like every year in history class about haha. I mean it’s important but we kinda skip all other parts of history to repeat that topic all year :)
But nice video to see all this from an American perspective 🙏
thank you so much!
Which school did you go to. Even for history class this isn't the case.
WW2 is onl part of the curriculum for 2 years in history.
"all other parts of history" are skipped? Where?
@@carpediem5232 Ich meine klar in 5&6 haben wir auch noch bisschen anderen Stuff gemacht ( Ägypten, Mittelalter, Römer, etc. ) aber spätestens ab der siebten hatten wir jedes Jahr ( wenn auch nicht nur ) die Weimarer Republik oder den zweiten Weltkrieg als Thema :)
Und ich war auf nem Gymnasium in BW
Hab ich so aber auch schon von paar Kollegen gehört 🤷♂️
@@luka_phx8095 Höchst unwahrscheinlich. In 7/8 geht es ums Mittelalter (nicht in der 5/6) frühe Neuzeit Französosche Revolution etc.
Erst in der 9 wird Die NS zeit das erste mal thematisiert.
Dann wird es in der Oberstufe noch ein Halbjahr vertieft.
Dazu kann man sich sowohl die offiziellen Bildungspläne als auch Lehrwerke anschauen.
Sollte es an deiner Schule so passiert sein, hätte sie sich also gegen die norm gestellt.
Es kann sein, dass die NS Zeit an Projekttagen oder bei Ausflügen vorher thematisiert wird, dafür andere Themen ausfallen zu lassen wäre sehr ungewöhnlich.
@@carpediem5232 Wie gesagt bei uns war es so in der Art. Dass es im Bildungsplan anders drinnensteht ist mit auch bewusst. Vielleicht hatten wir das ganze auch 1 2 Jahre später angefangen, aber spätestens ab der 8/9 habe ich jedes Jahr was vom zweiten Weltkrieg gehört.
Das war sogar so n ding das sogar die Lehrer das wussten. Die sind dann als neue Lehrkraft beispielsweise reingekommen und haben gesagt dass sie dieses Jahr mal wieder wie die letzen Jahre was zum theme NS Zeit etc machen werden 😅🤷♂️
One characteristic of Germans is self-reflection. We deal with our mistakes, while others like to bury them. That's why it was so surprising to you. You probably don't know anything like that from your country. 🙂
Nice video again. 👍
At least since the 1970s...before that it was more the "nothing to talk about / collectively keep silent".
Since then it has gotten far better :D
@@noobster4779 I started school at the end of the 80s.
Not really at this point its mostly just moral self elevation for the most part as explained here ua-cam.com/video/GnUqrF9mAA8/v-deo.html
Correct statement would be: We think that we are the most and only self-reflecting, but actually we bury quite a lot especially our chauvinism and ignorance and underestimate everybody else. That is why we started two wars where everybody with a clear mind knows they cannot be won except our stupid ancestors.
@@florianmeier3186 Your statement underlines my statement. Thanks for the confirmation.
"Who doesn't learn from the mistakes of the past is doomed to repeat them."
Germany 1945 during World War II
ua-cam.com/video/b6j6ug_gX1c/v-deo.html
That German eagle symbol is not a Nazi thing.
Ever seen the flag of the Holy Roman Empire? Flag of the Deutsches Kaiserreich? Weimar Republic?
Bundeswappen Deutschlands, Deutsche Mark...
Depends on the context and the way the eagle looks. Does it look like a "Fette Henne" (fat chicken) it's our current eagle. Does it look like its hunting a mice stay away from it....
That is true, but basically the Nazis just copied all these symbols from before, and even if they were used outside of the Nazi time, they are often connotated with it. Also the Iron Cross and the German flag (the black-white-red one) are symbols from the Kaiserreich, however they are deeply connected with Nationalism in general and also with the Nazis. The Holy Roman Empire had very different flags, however, typically there was a two-headed eagle present, which is very rarely used today, so basically all eagles you see on flags today have nothing in common with the two-headed eagle from the HRE other than both being eagles.
I just realized how insane it is to read all this comments every day...how? get my energy montana
Germans were national socialists, not nazis
it's the darkest part of our history...so it is a must to learn a lot about it...and we do a lot. i wish, kids in the US would learn more about the genocide in north-America or slavery
I agree.
the 30 years war was much more devastating and horrible for germany than wwII
Trust me Americans are reminded everyday about slavery lmao
America is very aware of slavery which is why racism is still real and alive today in America dummy. You’re speaking about Britain and Spain with the genocide that first discovered America. Not like it was our relatives or anything like Germany where there grandparents were nazi supporters and just like 80 years ago. How could you even claim to be naive to not know what was happening to allow such a evil man take leadership of y’all’s country
Your country was very poor and y’all hated it so chose to kill off everyone and gain control and wealth but when shit hit the fan and yall leader took such a coward way out. We took ur money away in ww1 and y’all cried about it and started ww2 so we helped y’all rebuild. You don’t show the flag or rep it for a reason
Germany is my favourite country I have visited! I’m from the UK and we were not taught about our horrific history (which is a lot!) and that makes me sad that it took going to university and being pointed into the right direction to do my own research.
Awww thanks for appreciating our country!
@@fluffymarshmellow2881 it must be so frustrating that people are still so prejudiced when German isn’t synonymous with Nazi, I think people don’t understand that it wasn’t the whole country! I love your country 💙 especially the little villages near ski resorts that are incredibly friendly and beautiful! My best friend and I also went to Berlin a couple of years ago and didn’t want to leave 😊 hopefully you’ll get to come to the UK soon, highly recommend the Peak District in Yorkshire (it’s beautiful) and has lots of little villages around it, and the Lake District in Cumbria which is similar but with mountains 💙
@@hannahj8099 Of course, it is not the Germans who are responsible for the Second World War and the mass genocide, we all know that they were mythical Nazis, no one knows how they won the democratic elections in Germany, but they are not the Germans. Nobody knows the origin of the Nazis, but there are suspicions that they parachuted from the moon and began to terrorize the peaceful German nation, which no longer had blood on their hands.
@sam's club ???
Barely any of those who have blood on their hands are still alive so I don't get what you are referring to.
What does it have to do with America and Russia though.
@sam's club eh??! Wow you are pretty racist🙄
The thing about talking about WW2 in Germany is that everybody (or most people) are very open about talking about the history of our country. What most people do not or rarely talk about or even know is what part their family played in WW2 because this is something we don't talk about in families. My grandma for example always shared a story about how her dad came back from Russian war captivity on Christmas Eve and how happy she was because they thought they would never see him again. And of course this is a happy memory for her and it always made me super emotional hearing that story. And just in the past years I realized that him being kept in captivity in Russia means that he was in fact part of the Nazi regime. We all think that of course our family was in opposition (in German we say: im Widerstand) but the truth is that almost all of us do have family members who cooperated with the NS. Therefore recently the term "Deutsche mit Nazihintergrund" (Germany with Nazi background) started to be used in leftist bubbles as an analog to "Deutsche mit Migrationshintergrund" (Germans with migration background) because this very personal part of the history we still lack talking about. Also most of the big German companies and therefore most of the super rich in Germany have earned a huge part of their wealth during and because of the NS regime (that money is also referred to as "Nazierbe" (Nazi heritage). We also do still have a lot of expressions in Germany that are still widely used but actually date back to the Nazi time or have been abused by the Nazis. One for example being "Jedem das Seine" (echt to their own). These word have been displayed at the entrance at the concentration camp in Buchenwald. First of all many people don't even know about this or simply don't want to take the effort to change the way they are used to speaking. So you still hear this expression being said a lot. But when you pointing something like this out in the broader public in Germany people around you get very defensive because we all want to stay in our happy little bubble where we can talk about the horrors of what Germany did in the past from a distance. But hardly anyone is ready to admit that their beloved (and by now often deceased) family members were part of a system that killed so many people or even actively killed people themselves. Or that the wealth they posses today has been accumulated with the help of the NS regime. Or even worse that by using a well known saying they reproduce Nazi ideology. (Sorry for that long remark but I wanted to add that it's not all being handled ideally here in Germany even though it often seems like it in regards to WW2.)
Germany 1945 during World War II
ua-cam.com/video/b6j6ug_gX1c/v-deo.html
In short, i think we are very open to this topic, but we dont like to get reduced as people, associated to the Nzs. or if we have to talk about it every time.
In school we learn a lot about it, and sometimes it is a little overdosed, what creates resistance in some people if talked about this topic.
Really interesting! I'm staying since September 2021 in the UK and I find it so interesting to see how different the perspectives are. It was really helpful to see your video and as a German I would say that you understood very good how Germans think about world war 2 and how they are today. Thanks 😊
Germany 1945 during World War II
ua-cam.com/video/b6j6ug_gX1c/v-deo.html
You just know when you've stayed in the south of Germany when Bad Laasphe is a place in the north :P
thanks for commenting on that....I did not know how to spell it! LOL i wanted to look it up because I am in Hannover and wondered where it was....it's a couple hours south hahaha
I actually feel sorry for anyone forced to live in Wittgenstein. Great hills and woods but ugh, the weather is even worse than in Netphen!
@@ericderami niedersachsen gang
Whaaaat, it's not even in the northern half of Germany. Why did she say it's in the north of Germany? Wtf.
It depends according to my experience. My mother was born 1939 and WWII was a no go in school curriculum in the first years after 1945 according to her. She does not want to talk about it despite not having own memories from time, films and documentations about WWII makes her change the TV program on a regular bases. German history, especially the time after 1815, the Wiener Kongress, 1848, 1871 WWI, Weimarer Republik, the rise of Facism leading to the "Tausendjähriges Reich; Holocaust and WWII) and post WWII Germany/Eastern Germany are topics of History in school classes on a regular bases. You should know your country´s history because you can reflect on it to avoid making mistakes from the past.
I think it's a generational thing. My mother was born in 1942 and like yours there was no discussion about the war at home with her family or at school. To this day she will not talk about WWII or watch any movies, documentaries or other related material. I believe as time passes, younger people are more inclined to have these discussions because it is important.
@@robincraft4682 Directly after the war a lot of people in influential positions in institutions like millitary, police, big corporations, the CDU or even NATO still where former Nazis, partly even fairly high ranking ones. The Nuremberg trials only punished the very first line of the NSDAP elite. But everyone who was just a bit lower in the hierarchy stayed. A lot of Nazi scientists, generals and agents where also recruited by the US after the war to give them an edge over the soviets. The real confrontation with the Nazi history and de-nazification didn't take place till the student protests of 1969
Or actually I think it was 68
On the contrary my grandparents were born in 1925 and 1929, hence both of them had and have very vivid memories of WWII and Nazi Germany, my grandfather was even forced to fight in the Wehrmacht. It was and is of utterly importance for them to talk about their experiences and the horrors of war and the Holocaust which they didn’t realise in its full extent until after the war. My grandfather even left us with his memories written down, it brings me to tears every time I read it. The most important message from both of them is that it’s our generations duty to make sure something like this will never happen again.
@@CHarlotte-ro4yi If you want to understand how it was to experience the horrors of WW2, I recommend watching the 1985 movie "come and see" by soviet director Elem Klimov. It's the most realistic, most clear depiction of what war is like for ordinary people that ever existed. It follows the story of a 15 year old boy that wants to join the partisans in Nazi occupied Belarus in 1943. The director himself experienced the siege of Stalingrad as a kid and his co-director was a partisan in Belarus as a teenager. The movie is mostly based on his experiences. When it was first shown in Germany one woman got up from her seat and declared "I must declare that everything that you see in this movie is true and really happened. I was in the Wehrmacht, I was there and took part in it and more tho I'm ashamed that my children and grandchildren will see this movie and know what I did". You can currently watch it in russian with English subtitles for free on UA-cam. Belarusfilm made it available on their UA-cam channel because of the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Victory over the Nazis. I really recommend watching it. It's really good and it gives you perspective. But beware, it's really heavy. It's not comparable to Hollywood movies in any way
ua-cam.com/video/NJYOg4ORc1w/v-deo.html
My first memory of my grandma is her and me sitting on her couch while she's telling me about fleeing from the bombs every night, trying to get in the bunker in time.
If you want to wear some clothes with a german sign, then wear a shirt of the german football team. That is accepted very well here in germany.
We also wear it during the European Championship (Europameisterschaft) or the World Championship (Weltmeisterschaft). And in this time, it is ok for us to show some flags..
And for me, as a german, I am proud of the country how it is today. Yes there are some problems, like in any other country, but overall, I am happy to be a german and a european at the same time 🤗
Can you make a video about if Americans talk about slavery and annihilation of Native Americans? Would be interesting to hear how are you dealing with your troublesome past as a nation and what people's approaches are. Is it uncomfortable subject for people and what you learn at school about that.
Germany 1945 during World War II
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Germany was an established civilixed country at the rise of hitler. US in the the times you elude to was mostly wild frontier. Indians werent being direct mass executed in Philidelphia for instance. Trail of tears was horrible but also literally in middle of wild frontier. There is a differance. Germans knew of the concintration camps and starving and incinterations happening. But yes they taught us all of our US history good/bad
My grandfather got shot in the head in WWII but survived. He came in a hospital near lake of constance, where my grandmother was a nurse. They got 10 kids and my Dad was the oldest, born in 1944.
National Pride ist hier wirklich nur ein Ding während der WM und EM. wie du schon sagst, abgesehen davon sieht man davon kaum was aufgrund des stark ausgeprägten Nationalismus während der NS Zeit.
Und den 2. Weltkrieg hatte ich, wenn ich mich richtig erinnere, das erste Mal in der 6. Klasse und über die Jahre bis in die 12. Klasse hat sich das Thema immer wieder wiederholt mit unterschiedlichen Schwerpunkten, um zu versuchen uns beizubringen, wie es zu all diesen Ereignissen kam.
Ich hab durch meinen Vater allerdings schon früher und auch im Endeffekt mehr über den 2. Weltkrieg gelernt, da er mit mir als Kind schon gerne sogenannte Bunkertouren machte bei denen wir und den Atlantikwall und Museen dort anschauten. Hinzu kamen dann noch Dokumentation mit echtem Filmmaterial aus der Zeit, bei denen ich meinen Vater mit 12/13 um Erlaubnis fragte sie schauen zu dürfen, da sie offiziell erst ab 16 waren.
Mein Uropa war in der SA und ist damals Märsche in unserer Heimatstadt mitgelaufen. Das wurde mir von meiner Oma mal erzählt, aber dann auch nicht weiter drüber geredet.
Was ich damit sagen will: ich denke für Familien ist es neben dem was die Kinder in der Schule lernen sehr unterschiedlich, ob es besprochen wird oder nicht.
Selbst die DDR hatte mehr Nationalstolz als diese BRD. Hier wird man klein gehalten und darf kein Nationalstolz mehr haben, sonst ist man gleich Nazi. Unsere Nation macht sich damit schwach und beliebig.
That topic was a big part in our 7th grade history class. I believe we watched the movie "Schindlers List" two times in school and as a 12-13 year old (now I'm 22) it was a pretty impactfull watch. It is so sad that there are still people around that support that horrible stuff that happened back then.
Thanks Montana for talking about such a important topic👍🏻
Germans not only talk about WW2, they are more knowledgeable than most Americans that don't even know what years it took place, who fought it, etc.
I can't really pin point when I (German, early 30s) got to learn about WW2 first. I remember that in elementary school we went to a historical museum and learned about it. In 5th/6th grade my teacher brought in an old man who experienced it first hand and was sent to a labour camp. We also read books like "Anne Franks diary" or "Damals war es Friedrich". Or we watched movies like "Das Leben is schön" (which I'd not recommend to 11 and 12 year olds! I was super shocked afterwards). All in all during my time in school we learned about the topic over and over again, even visiting a concentration camp in 10grade. In school it was definitly talked about a lot in all kinds of subjects. I always felt like the teachers made sure to somehow keep us aware. My grandparents themselves didn't speak a lot about it - but you have to take in account that they went through a lot of trauma (fleeing, friends disappearing or seing them being killed due to massive bombing, my great grandfather was sent to Theresienstadt for being a half-jew, family never coming back from war...) so I'm greatful for every little bit they mustered up the strengh to tell us. My grandfather most liked to dream about how his city looked like before the war...and how devestated he felt when things like in November 1938 the progrom nights started. His sister always told us that she would chop of limbs from her male relatives so that they wouldn't get send to war if this would ever repeat itself.
I think we Germans are way more aware, maybe even more than any other country, about the cruel things that happened in the past. Sadly, and I feel that this is happening all over the world, extreme opinions and values, xenophobia etc are on the raise again. Thanks for your video and showing a bit awareness about these kind of things. I think all countries should have more awareness and open education about their wrongdoings of the past.
The world war is late in curriculum for an obvious simple reason: history progresses in timeline and the curriculum follows that since one chapter is built upon another, every point in history has had it's history coming before and having led to it happen in the way it happened. In 5th grade, first comes the ancient time, then comes medieval age and so son. And the world wars as 20th century are like the last chapter of history before history closes and "now" begins. This is so natural to me that i wonder in what other way history lessons could be organized.
Of course you came just for a slice of history lessons for one year.
Maybe you can tell the spectators how history lessons are conveyed in the states.
I talked about this to a Canadian friend of mine, it was hard to explain to him that in continental Europe the view on ww2 is a bit different than in North America. To him ww2 was a tragedy occurring overseas and its most visceral scars worn over there for the past 70 years have been by veterans. But in Europe ww2 was daily life for years for most of our grandparents or great grandparents and its shadow loomed large over most in the decades after. It left much deeper scars and monuments to atrocities (not only fallen soldiers) still dot big cities, small towns and even villages alike. As a kid my grandfather talked about fighting in the woods, afraid every day, but My grandmother also told me about carrying hidden letters around afraid to be discovered my other grandmother once terrified me by telling me how back home her entire family was lined up and by soldiers but they were lucky enough to speak German, for years every time I drove out of town I drove past a statue remembering burning of a house with live civilians inside. Never again
Germany 1945 during World War II
ua-cam.com/video/b6j6ug_gX1c/v-deo.html
Hi Montana, I find it very pleasant that you approach supposedly taboo topics with great openness. WWII was a while ago, but it also left traces in many German families that still have an impact today. For example, my father experienced the war as a little boy, nights in an air raid shelter, evacuation and hunger. Historically formative events always have an impact on subsequent generations, simply because you know contemporary witnesses personally.
It's important to talk about your past, about the history, especially about the bad things that happened, it's the only way to learn something about it and improve yourself.
If you talk about it in a serious and honest way, there is nothing wrong about it.
Until the end of sixties it was almost a taboo to talk about these things and the change was a long process and was forced by the younger generations.
Something horrible like that should not happen again and one of the best opportunities to not let that happen again is to talk about it and show the people.
Movies like Schindler's list,
Die weiße Rose, The Pianist, The boot or Stalingrad are a good movies and opportunity to go into the topic and experience can be to visit a concentration camp.
My question is the way to US handle's all the war topics in their schools. Not only WW2, but also Vietnam, Laos, Kambodscha, Korea and a lot of other so called military conflicts that happened.
I'm not so sure how honest the US education is about it??
@TriXtreme ist echt schön das sie das Denken, nur mit der Realität hat das leider nicht soviel zu tun.
Die Wahlergebnisse in vielen östlichen Bundesländern, aber auch einigen westlichen Bundesländern im Zuge der AFD zeichnen für mich ein anderes Bild ab, in vielen anderen europäischen Ländern haben rechtspopulistische bis rechtsextreme Parteien durchaus wieder einen Zulauf. Das wird dann christlich- konservativ verkauft ist aber beweitem mehr. Italien, Frankreich, aber auch Österreich, die Schweiz und Staaten wie Ungarn, Polen, Tschechien und die Ukraine beeinflussen das Geschehen in Europa genauso wie Deutschland.
Zu glauben es würde nichts passieren, diesen Irrglauben sind nach dem ersten Weltkrieg viele Menschen erlegen. Vorallem jüdische Bürger die im ersten Weltkrieg noch für Deutschland gekämpft hatten und das Eiserne Kreuz erhielten, die hatten den Glauben das Hitler bloß eine kurze Ärger macht und dann wieder verschwinden würde. Der Irrglaube war fatal. Sicher ist überhaupt nichts.
Darüber reden, die Menschen sensibilisieren und sie für Demokratie zu begeistern ist ein gutes Mittel um den Frieden zu erhalten. Alles ignorieren und überhaupt nicht mehr darüber sprechen würde den radikalen Kräften in die Hände spielen. In Ungarn sieht man das die Tage wieder ziemlich gut.
Da wird der Opferkult wieder gefüttert, weil man sich nach dem verlorenen ersten Weltkrieg ungerecht behandelt fühlt. Eine
Demokratie ist immer fragiles Gebilde und man muss sich jeden Tag darum kümmern.
@@robertzander9723 Moin Robert, der Kommentar, auf den du antwortest wird mir nicht mehr angezeigt..
Demokratie ist etwas perfektes, dass wir immer nur annähern können, aber niemals in Serfektion erreichen werden.
Ansonsten bin ich voll und ganz deiner Meinung. Besonders, was die USA angeht.
Bedenkenswert finde ich aber auch noch, dass ich, Jahrgang 1955 zur ersten Generation gehören werde, die ihr ganzes Leben ohne Krieg im gesamten Leben leben werde. Jedenfalls, wenn man die letzten 2000 Jahre zurückgeht.
Schöne Woche Ben
@@robertzander9723 This is a strange point of view, because the east germans suffered from Stalinist dictatorship and recognise the signs; the real fascists today are the government, abolishing human rights and the Antifa, beating down people with different political views like the SA
My former boss is a german, he doesnt like talking about wars, but he said one thing..he likes peace and doesnt like violence and i believed it cuz my boss is calm af, his voice tone didnt change even if hes so damn mad already..😂😂 and i admire him for being so calm,composed and well mannered in the middle of 3 troublesome people😂.. sometimes when im looking at him while he is talking about work related stuff i dont actually listen to that, im actually waiting for him to explode but he doesnt😂i can say he is the MOST PATIENT AND CALM PERSON IVE MET ON EARTH.
Haven't seen this yet but this will be interesting
We do talk about WWII a lot.
Greetings from a German🤝
Our past is not taboo in our society.
Do Americans talk about the native americans or slaves?
Certainly, we have (for example) lost many of our grandfathers and/or their brothers, young people that really don't want to fight, but they had no choice or they get executed. What a terrible time. Every one should know and talk about this history, so that this will never happen again. But it is better to look into the future
Germany 1945 during World War II
ua-cam.com/video/b6j6ug_gX1c/v-deo.html
My tortured to death grandma’s family would be pleased to hear how great Germans are.
My Maternal Grandmother was a Holocaust Survivor. She knew first hand that there were wondering, kind and caring Germans and others who were not. War either brings out the best or worst in people.
Actually... yes. She would be pleased that three generations later people actually changed their ways.
And no, I don't assume whithout any evidence to the contrary that this Lady would have been so stupid as to blame kids born eighty years after the fact.
You are welcome.
i can remember like it was yesterday... When i was in Hauptschule we did a day trip to the concentration camp Buchenwald. We where a bunch of young guys normally doing a lot of funny stuff and laughing a lot.
But the moment we entered the cremation Houses Basement afte we have seen the Pictures of Bodies laying on top of each other in this rooms was just such a sad and depressing thing. All of us stayed completely quiot the entire time as we walked around in these rooms.
Just standing there, remembering what this place once was gave me goosebumps in the most uncomfortable way i could imagine.
I think it is very important to learn everything and talk about it so that something like this will never happen again. Im really thankful, that i can still visit places like this.
Maybe you will get the chance to visit such a plase aswell, even it is not the most joyfull thing to do...
Lets focus on the happy things in life.
I really enjoyed this video. I hope that you will have a great time here. :-)
You all have to realize that some of our grandparents grew up during the war or in the postwar period. Because of that the younger generation also notes that it‘s not so far in the past.
For example, I spray graffiti pretty well and sprayed a gas mask because it looked cool. My grandpa saw it and was sad. He told me that when he was a child, men came to every house and everyone from the family (including children) had to try on gas masks. Personally, I didn't even think about this context when I sprayed it and I felt quite sorry. As a German, you are FORCED to think it a lot about because it is still present. Even because many countries still have problems with Germans because of the war, although our generations today really can't help it at all and we find it as cruel and wrong as the rest of the world. If not even more.
*to think about it a lot
"Those strange German ways" Thank you for your videos Montana. I am old enough to be your Father. Your videos are very informative about the wonderful people of Germany. Thanks. Keep up your love of Germany.
Germany 1945 during World War II
ua-cam.com/video/b6j6ug_gX1c/v-deo.html
😊👍 nice Video
yes it's really a big topic today in school i had it in middle school and high school. Our teachers taught us that we need to know history and how it happened so that we can prevent it from happening again. In fact, what exactly happened during the war we hardly did at all, just how it started and ended. We were also in middle school and high school in a concentration camp, there are really a lot of documentaries and films / series about it. But it's actually only now like that, in the generation right after the war, nobody wanted to talk about what happened, it was a taboo topic, everything that reminded of it was partly simply thrown away, it only started later on this openness. there are also many old people who still don't want to talk about it. In my opinion is all history important, to learn how we can do it better.
World War II is as nearly as far away as the year 2100.
82 years since start of WW II, 76 years to the end of WW II. 79 years to the year 2100.
For me both is far away. I was born over 30 years after the end of the war and I will never see the year 2100.
It is important not to forget and learn from this mistakes but it is also important to realise that the generation before and after me are not guilty.
I have so far just seen the Titel and 𝕚 can say YES WE DO SPEAK ABOUT WW2 (in 10th or 11th grade in most schools)
We're not ashamed of WW2 because it's not our fault and not our opinion. We are not the people who did this and we try to do everything we can to keep history from repeating itself
Today generation of germans shouldnt be ashamed of war. You didnt take part So its not your fault. Cheers
It is part of our german history. Today no one has to feel guilty for what happened decades ago, so of course we are open to talk about it. The generation which experienced WW2 is probably almost gone, they may not have talked about it much.
My grandfather which has served at the age of 14 in 1944/1945 on command didn't talk much about it. The family knew he served in Berlin and flew to western germany as he had a chance to escape from the cruelty of war. None of us wanted to ask questions and wouldn't even understand what he and other people went through during this time. He never saw, his parents and siblings again for the next 71 years.
I think many countries have a dark history and shouldn't be to proud. The most important thing is to not forget about the past.
BTW it is just luck or bad luck where you are born, wehter it is a wealthy country or not. It is luck and therefore you don't have to be to proud i think. Each and everyone can be proud of himself for things he/she archieved. Being proud of a country is senseless for me.
May be the US should talk more about Vietnam, Cuba, Korea, Mexico, Congo, Iran, Afghanistan, .....too
Super, dass du auch ernstere Themen ansprichst. Respekt an dieser Stelle!
Do US schools talk about Vietnam? Or the Gulf War and the weapons of mass destruction that were not there?
We are confronted with that in such a young age.. Like everyone in my class knew everything about it even way before we had the history.. I learned most things with 8... Because we went on a trip to a more unknown country and they were completely freaked out and called us Nazis silent. I was like wtf do i look like i have one of the sick looking SS uniforms?
From the young men born around 1920 not even half survived the war. Nearly all major cities were literally bombed to dust. I think for other western countries that is just not imaginable (Compare the numbers of UK or US...).
The Thirty Years war was even worse though.
Auch wir hatten das Dritte Reich bis in die Oberstufe (und bis zum Abwinken). Ich hab 1984 Abi gemacht. Also mussten wir das Thema danach nicht ständig auffrischen. Tabu war es manchmal für die, die WWII noch selbst erlebt hatten. Mein Vater redet jetzt erst gelegentlich davon (Baujahr 1932).
I think in Germany everyone is at some point exhausted about the extent of Nazi history that is shoved down your throat throughout the entire time in school. Everything is discussed to death and nothing is left to say 😂 documentaries are all the time on TV, movies are released continually about Nazis, museums have related themes all the time in their program, not even to speak about the literature, etc. It is everywhere. I think at some point everyone shuts down 😂
True. Even the French have stopped talking for ever about their Résistance and the Brits about the war (well most of them).
In germany we talk a looooot about it
Being a daughter of German immigrants in USA. My middle school history teacher while lecturing about about WW2 pointed at me and told the class that if the Nazis walked into the classroom everyone would be killed except for me. I got a lot of bullying after that.
ou that's so sad ... that is being deliberately mean and so narrow-minded from the teacher's point of view.
It's calles "Vergangenheitsbeweltigung", we deal with our past and acknowledge it to learn from it. I think other countries should take a slice and deal with their dark past as well.
"...bewältigung", with respect. :)
Germans did experience the slippery slope from patriotism to nationalism, from rally grounds to concentration campgrounds and they have learned their lesson....
We did. Americans on the other side did not. Or to be more precise, some americans learned, a lot of them did not.
Hey Montana :),
first of all, I really enjoy watching your videos. I actually found your channel by accident because you did some videos about Passau and I went to uni in Passau whilst you were there, too. It was kind of crazy that we were in the same little town at the same time. I loved seeing your perspective on Germany and Passau in particular.
Regarding the topic of this video... I think it's so great that you're talking about this very important topic and especially the "national pride". To be honest, I really don't get why people are proud of their country because they didn't do anything to live there most of the times. I consider myself very lucky to be born in Germany because I think it's a beautiful, quite wealthy country and it is very safe. But I'm not proud if you know what I mean. I also think that, besides the German past, german culture is just very critical in general. I feel like Germans often like to complain about things that go wrong in the country and stuff that they don't like. Especially since Covid, whatever happens in the country or is decided by the government, there will be people to complain about it. It's just how we are, I guess. But maybe you had different experiences whilst your stay here. :)
Greetings from Bavaria
Jasmin
Germany 1945 during World War II
ua-cam.com/video/b6j6ug_gX1c/v-deo.html
Without seeing the entire video, yes we talk about it. Every year its mentioned, so we don't forget.
The fonts were “Naziesque?” Wth does that even mean?
As many have mentioned, learning about WW2, but more importantly how the Nazis become the ruling party in 1933, is an important topic in school. But it is also a very prominent subject on TV. Since the 1980s, especially the documentaries of Guido Knopp (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guido_Knopp) have dissected every aspect of that time: Who elected the Nazis, how they planned and executed the Shoa, how WW2 started, the war crimes of the Wehrmacht, especially in the former Soviet Union - just to name a few. Sometimes it feels like a bit much of information and repetition, but the recent rise of right winged and outright fascist parties in Germany (and in many other countries) just shows how important this knowledge is.
Thanks Montana. You really have a great power of observation. As a somewhat older teacher from 1948, I can say that sometimes I have the impression that the Germans harbor a certain secret sympathy for certain characteristics of Nazi Germany. For example, documentaries have been shown on TV for hours and on several channels at prime time for many years. Most of them take a critical view of the Hitler era. But there is no gain in knowledge. The reception at school has frozen and celebrates more of the secret pride. Unfortunately, the students' interest is waning. However, the total time is part of the fixed curriculum in all federal states from grade 9.
It is not a pride. It is more like they don't want to have the children know what happened during the war.
When I was in 10th grade (I'm german in Germany), we had the topic of the nazi regime and the war.
Well, we had a bit about the war.
My teacher almost entirely spoke about the horror of the Holocaust. Yes that is horrible.
But every single time, she spoke about the fighting, she only spoke about the fear that the soldiers had. And when I added only a bit of brutality, she changed the topic.
She did not speak of bombings, she did not speak about other groups other than the jews, that were taken away and killed.
But we have to know about the brutality. Without knowing what will happen to us, if we go to war, we will more likely go to war again.
The documentations are the same. Speaking of the war but avoiding what really happened.
I'm glad that my family told me much about it. About the horrors that they had witnessed or the fates of relatives.
@@jarlnils435 Na ja, das ist die Frage. Die Schule hat nicht die Aufgabe, den Horror des Nazi-Krieges und Holocausts zu vermitteln. Die Fakten ja, aber nicht so, dass die Schüler Traumata davontragen. Und das ist auch gut so, oder? Jedenfalls gibt es da nicht die eine, für alle gültige Antwort drauf.
@@target9972 als ob ein 10. Klässler von einem Bericht über die Schrecken des Krieges traumatisiert wird.
Ich kenne einige, die Im Westen nichts Neues in der 9. Klasse lesen sollten. Hab ich auch, aber außerhalb der Schule. Das vermittelt sehr gut, was Krieg ist. Und es sorgt dafür, das man es nicht will. Und das ist wichtig.
Auch auf Kosten einer verlorenen "Unschuld" im Sinne das man Krieg nicht mehr als Heroisch sieht.
Krieg ist furchtbar, aber wenn dieser Horror nicht vermittelt wird, wird die Bereitschaft einen Krieg anzufangen in der Masse zunehmen.
Im Ernstfall sind Männer ab 16 Jahre potentielle Rekruten. Also sollte man es auch Schülern in dem Alter zumuten, Geschichten über Horror zu hören oder zu lesen.
Andererseits kann man auch die Jugend in Watte packen und die Augen vor der Realität verschließen. Diese Mentalität hat ja leider in den letzten 10 Jahren stark zugenommen.
Meine Familie hat großen Wert darauf gelegt, dass mein Bruder und ich über die Zerstörung und die Verluste des Krieges lernten. Damit wir keinen Krieg wollen.
Allerdings bin ich trotz allem Bereit, wenn meine Familie durch Krieg bedroht wird, zu Kämpfen. Aber niemals um ein fremdes Land anzugreifen.
@@jarlnils435 agree, but: Wie kam es zu Kriegen, welche Interessen, welche Kräfte?! Aktuell sind wir alle Zeugen eines realen Krieges vor unsere Haustür, den wir während der Entfaltung studieren können. So kann man seine Überzeugungen und Erkenntnisse, seine Glaubenssätze "am offenen Herzen" studieren, analysieren ...
@@jarlnils435 Unsere Geschichtsbücher werden gerade umgeschrieben, so haben die Schüler ab sofort einen Krieg direkt vor ihren Augen und müssen nicht mehr 80 Jahre zurückschauen und darauf vertrauen, dass stimmt, was ihnen die Alten vorsetzen.
Why would Germans not talk about it? That’s just wrong
My opinion as a German: What good is it to not talk about it? We need to learn about it, we need to analyze it, we especially need to know how it came about! We need to take care that we learn from the past and never ever let it happen again. The heritage is not that we once were the bad guys, but that we need to be the ones that educate ourselves and others about it in order keep it from happening again ... and gosh ... the US was really close to something similar in recent times. BTW: national pride is not a big thing here. We more or less are not proud to be german, because that has a negative connotation, however I can say that many people are happy to be german and that is worth more, I think, than being proud about something you have nothing done for to achieve.
And the most important, we need to know what happened during the war. The brutal reality of the war.
So that people stop saying, that modern warfare is less gruesome than ancient warfare because we fight from the distance.
It's an idiotic oppinion, but I know people who believe that. And they forget the bombs.
@@jarlnils435 Absolutely. When I was in the army in the 90s they did not glorify it, they simply said how it is. We should not think of war as a clean thing, war means lotting, pillaging, and rape ... this is actually what we were told. They said, this is what happens and it is ugly and no one wants it.
@@FHB71 sadly, german schools don't teach about that reality. Because, I don't know, "The poor children musn't know about such horrors". I was always stopped by my teacher, when I told my classmates about the brutal stories that my grandparents told me.
My grandparents told me that, because they did not want me to go to war.
@@jarlnils435 Well, they teach about the war, but they do not teach, what I heard in the army certainly.
Excellent video Montana!
It is very important to keep the knowledge and awareness about this time alive to prevent these horrible things from happening again. This is the lesson we Germans learned from this part of our history. And keeping the memory about these 12 years and what happened during those dark days of our history in the minds of our citizens is one of the main goals of our post Word War II society. And I hope that this period in human history will be a lesson to the whole world and shows the terrifying path racism and fascism leads us to. Therefore the time of the National Socialism and all its aspects is give a humongous part in our education system. Furthermore you frequently will see documentaries and also movies about this time on our public television. The ZDFInfo, a channel of our public television network, is often dedicating whole days our even a series of days those 12 years. However, it's not only about World War II because the bad things started to happen way earlyer, actually immediately after Hitler and the NSDAP got control over the political system and the country itself in 1933.
This ain't a lesson, this is just brainwashing propaganda you swallowed your whole life! Get rid of it and do your research offside the mainstream...
One has to give the Germans a lot of credit for how they do not deny their past or avoid difficult questions.
Was almost expecting "CuriosityStream" plugin when you talked about wanting to learn more about it. ^^
I think you need to also split stuff up a bit. While they are tied together, WW2 and the Holocaust are two things which are handled very differently. In school and documentary they are pretty much mixed together I guess, but the way they are handled in day to day life can be somewhat different. For example you are fine (to some degree) to make jokes about Hitler (search for Bullyparade & Hitler on youtube) and WW2 - while this will trigger some kind of a "uuuhhh" response, it is still be seen as acceptable in lots of circumstances. Jokes about the Holocaust on the other hand, are a definite no-go.
Hello Montana, even though your channel is more on the humorous side I think the topic is chosen well right now as you grow smarter yourself. And experiemced that a country you met such a great host family can have a partially cruel history. Reflecting about why following a/any government might be bad could lead to understanding the circunstances better now as well as in the past which could lead to a more "free spirit" mindset?
Like a great german comedian once said "We are proud of not being proud"
GERMANY 🇩🇪 IS 1 of the most BEAUTIFUL AND GREATEST HISTORICAL COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD THE PEOPLE ARE WONDERFUL THE FOOD AND SOCIAL LIFE IS KILLER!! AND DIFFERENT REGIONS OF GERMANY HAVE A DIFFERENT IDENTITY ALTHOUGH GERMAN THERE IS A DIFFERENT STYLE!! LOVE GERMANY! I FIRST VISITED IN 1987 and can’t tell you how many times I have been back!! I learned the language and late in life (24) I’m really good with languages I know Italian from Home Polish I dated a Polish Girl for a year and of course AMERICAN ENGLISH because it’s my country of Birth!! I’m also an 8th Grade dropout well after Grammar school but all my languages are Good I been told my German was better than my English! I understand why coming from New Jersey!! I also worked in Germany for a year and a Half ( construction/Ironwork ) my Trade at home since I was 18. I had a Flat in Berlin I shared with 2 other Guys I worked with both Bricklayers from SCOTLAND 🏴 who are CRAZY AS SHIT 1 I have become friends with for almost 30 years now we sadly we are like Brothers and consider one another as Family I have watch his children grow up and now watching their children grow they are so GREAT as PEOPLE they even call me “UNCLE VINNY” I been too weddings a few funerals and for some long visits to the UK 🇬🇧!! But back to Germany 🇩🇪 I recommend everyone visit it’s THE CLEAN COUNTRY in the WORLD and even the worse B&B⭐️, HOTEL, or PENSION⭐️ if you are under 24 will not be dirty or disappointing!! When too visit ANYTIME and if you LOVE
🎄CHRISTMAS🎄 Germany!! The land of CHRISTMAS🎄🎄 TREES SANTA🎅🏼 CLAUS and the GREATEST ALMOST A FANTASY CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY I RECOMMEND AT LEAST ONCE IN YOUR LIFE TO SPEND IT IN GERMANY 🇩🇪!! You may even want to stay and NEVER GO BACK HOME AGAIN ESPECIALLY THE USA where everything even Holidays have lost their appeal and meaning do to OVER MARKETED AND POLITICIZED, REMOVING EVEN ITS RELIGIOUS ASPECT, ALMOST MAKING IT OFFENSIVE TO THE MOST DISGUSTING AND HATEFUL RACIST PEOPLE EVER! Yes GERMANY HAD A HARD PERIOD IN THE ANNUALS OF HISTORY and many people died and suffered but also remember that the NATIONAL SOCIALIST weren’t GODLESS AS THE BOLSHEVIKS who totally DESPISED AND HATED GOD just as they do and say today and although the regime in power were murderous against a certain race of people the amount of Deaths is incomparable with the Amount of MURDERS done by EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY THAT EVER TURNED MARXIST! In the history span of 100 YEARS 1917-2017 MARXISM was and been behind and responsible for the DEATHS OF 100 MILLION LIVES ALL OVER THE WORLD!! Again GERMANY does not get a pass for their contribution but it is also NOT FAIR AND A LIE TO GIVE AND EVEN ALLOW TO GO ON TODAY WITHOUT BACKLASH OR RETRIBUTION WHAT MARXISM SOCIALISM WILL BRING ON TO PEOPLE!!
Why are you WRITING IN CAPS
@@stefanw07 why does it bother you so I mean if this bothers you with all the real problems in the world maybe you’re the problem??
@@vincentadams9569 bruh what 😂
@@stefanw07 You asked a STUPID QUESTION YOU GOT YOUR STUPID ANSWER!
Move on!
We visited the Documentation Center in Nuremberg with school. And the concentration camp in Dachau.
The people who typically don't want to be "bothered" with the Nazi era are mostly right-wing extremists who unfortunately still exist today.
The cheapest time to buy German flags is when there is a world soccer championship and Germany is eliminated before the final. Then no one wants the flags anymore and they are sold cheaply or even given away for free.😅
I think that it is important for us to make sure we can prevent that this happens here again. Thats why the Weimar Republic is also a very important topic for us because it gave rise to the Nazis (and yeah i know that the results of WW1 also laid the ground for that rise).
For me it feels much more real when i see one of the rare coloured films from that time. These black and white documentations create a distance in my mind and it feels like it is long in the past. But if i see coloured recordings of the marches and of Hitler i seems much more real and much more recent.
Germany 1945 during World War II
ua-cam.com/video/b6j6ug_gX1c/v-deo.html
It's Part of German History and we can't Change it even if we'd want to.
But yeah maybe we are more opened about Things Like that than other countries. Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably learned more about WW2 than about WW1 in school
Why is the ww2 still so present in the us
The main point why the 20th century starts so late in German schools ist just due to the fact that in Europe the history beginns much much earlier in time and therefor are much more decades of history to cover.
In Germany history classes start at 5th grade and when we start there it beginns with stone age at the point where the stone age moves to coper age (at that period of time the first cities were built in mankind and the first civilisations started (Ur, Uruk Sumerians and then the ancient egypt), in 6th grade we cover the ancient greek and ancient rome timeperiod, 7 grade we cover medieval ages and renaissance, in 8th grade we cover early colonialism, and 3o year war and absolutism in france, in 9th grade frederick the great, the french revolution and the napoleonic wars come and the 1848 revolution, in 10th grade we cover the 20th century. in the a level classes which are grade 11 to 13 then the entire 20th century is covered in depths...
now you should see why we haste from event to event with that much to cover... there is no time to cover the american revolution and the american civil war for example because it hasn't to do that much with us...
For that we have English class, but certainly we had also a small part of US history in history lessons as it is instrumental for development of modern democracies. But it is correct that the foreign history is not well covered after 800 (Charlemagne). Little bit Napoleon, US, Russian revolution that's it. Ask which Central European country except Switzerland stayed democratic till Nazi occupation in 1938 and you might not get many correct answers even if the answer is only some 100km away.
@@florianmeier3186 In my Classes we had french absolutism, french revolution and british industrialization very wide as topic. Also we had in the 10th grade the GDR and it's system of supression compared to the nazi supression. To me the GDR has allways been and will allways been a foreign country because i never lived in it and i've been too young to have personal recollection on the wall breaking in 89 except that i seem to have been interruptive to my mom at news watching.
Don't mention the war, I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it. FawltyTowers, episode the Germans, it's hilarious.
As a little child I have been in Dresden during the night of February 1945 when countless bombs destroyed this unique city and at least 25 000 persons died in a terrible manner - even today I see the burning city before my eyes and during my life any barbecue festivities have been terrible for me for you will notice there the smell of burned flesh. - So I talk upon World War II.
Germany 1945 during World War II
ua-cam.com/video/b6j6ug_gX1c/v-deo.html
Can i have your hamburger then?
In Germany you will meet more people with a USA flag on their T-shirt than with a Germany flag. German neo-Nazis carry the Reich war flag. It is black-white-red. I'm East German and sometimes I wear shirts with old symbols from the Soviet Union. During the GDR era, friendship with the Russians was imposed on us because they were our liberators. But that wouldn't have been necessary because I like the Russian people that much too. With over 20 million victims, the Russians paid the largest blood toll to destroy the 3rd Reich. I am very grateful to you for that. But I am also grateful to the Western Allies. Everyone who fought and destroyed this murderous criminal system. Greetings from Germany and good luck and joy in your further life! Tschüss! 🖖
We are probably the last ones who can directly talk with Holocaust survivors. I had multiple conversations with survivors during my time in school and their stories are absolutely eye-opening.
We can't change the past and we are certainly not proud of it, so it's our responsibility to create a better future in which nothing like that could ever happen again.
One more try to get the rest of my text accepted- I wonder if UA-cam blocks words like a Person's name starting with an "H". So you have to do some guesswork.
Germans and dead family members
Many Germany boys of your age were forced to waste their youth on "H" - suffering and dying thousand of miles from home. When Germans talk about this they never would use the word "to die". Almost always they use the phrase "he stayed in Stalingrad or the East Front". When writing this I realize again with shudder what a cynical wording this is. Since there are still many living that where born after 1945 there are many situations where they say "Meinen Opa habe ich nie kennengelernt, der ist im Krieg geblieben". "Zwei meiner Onkel sind an der Ostfront gefallen". The word "gefallen" has several meanings - you may use it for "to like someone"
By the way - also girls of your age suffered under WWII - they were forced in factories for the production of ammunition or even planes. On many "Bergwerk" "Salzbergwerk" "Stollen" postings in Wikipedia you may find it. And the aerospace succes of the US is in a way based on Wernher von Braun, and the development of "H's" "V1-rocket" and "V2-rocket" just google "KZ Mittelbau-Dora Zwangsarbeit" or "Wernher von Braun".
How is that for a lasting reminder ... even for Americans?
In the Us, do you talk about the destruction of the American Indian? Or the Mexican American War?
Surely we do Talk about WWII, especially today, 1/27, 5/8 and 9/1. On January 27th, 1945, Auschwitz was freed by the Red Army, May 8th 1945 was the day of surrender and on the 1st of September 1939 WWII begun, all of the three Dates are now official rememberance days; whether the 9th of August 1945 as the day of Japan's surrender in the Pazifik can be counted I don't know
This girl clearly has no idea what she’s talking about. Her saying America is very weird how prideful we are with our flag and national pride bc she saw Germany isn’t? She don’t have the common sense to understand they aren’t bc they are ashamed and embarrassed of that flag bc when they do wave there flag it’s about war and genocide. Who would want to represent that? Only the Germans but not even they can bc they lost the war so they have to blame hitler and act like they were victims too when they supported him the whole country until they started losing
Very good and thoughtful interpretation. I dont think discussing the war is taboo per se. What is taboo or frowned upon is discussing right wing ideology or a certain Adolf. As an American the war was described to much from American perspective and not so much how other countries suffered or were involved as far as I can remember.
Germany 1945 during World War II
ua-cam.com/video/b6j6ug_gX1c/v-deo.html
to combine ww1 und ww2 in the „great war“ makes sense
I don't think there is anything to be ashamed for Germans.
Yes, it is talked about a lot and taught in school.Germans are very aware of their History.And remind people so it doesn’t happen again.America should teach more of their History, so that their citizens know what they have been involved in.
We are very much aware of our history. We don’t glorify it like germans we know the death camps and holocaust was built well after war begun. We know Germany not hitler was tired of the economy being in such poor status and y’all wanted change even if it meant death to millions once Germany had a leader to say what they were thinking they supported him all the way until they started losing
WW2 was taught three times in my school time in history class. First in fourth grade (but not to intense), than 10th grade and last in 12th grade but it definitely came up way more often in different classes.
In public we are not like yes ww2 was ... and my grandparents ...
we only talk about it when others ask politely!
I dont know how its handeled in other schools, but in mine we started learn about ww1 and ww2 in 5th grade and from there on we had this every year.
It was a very age appropriate thing. For example I'm 5th grade we had a theater about a jude and his family and we talked about it afterwards. In 6th grade we read about it and work through the book. In 7th grade we learned more especially on ww1 in history class were we dived in it very far. In 9th and 10th class we really learned everything about Hitler, ww2, the holocaust and the time after the war. It was an extrem experience because they talked about it so much and we saw so many pictures, movies and diarys. I know that it's also a theme in years 11-13 but as far as I can consider this, we talked about so many aspects before the later classes. We even drove to a koncentration place to learn more about it. (I'm sorry about my English. I'm still learning)
And I'm pretty confident we went to the "Haus der Geschichte" in cologne when I was I 1st grade, 4th grade and 7th grade
WW2 marks the beginning of the historical era we still live in, even more so, than the end of the cold war, so, yeah, it's still extremely relevant.
My eldest girl is 7, and about to finish her first grade.
Once, my grandma was seven and about to finish her first grade. Around that time, her home town was bombed regularly, her teacher as well as several class mates died, nearly all the children in her class photo look skinny, unhealthy, some with ragged clothes, somehow shaken. And this messed with her whole life, all the 60 years to come.
Where we live now, the war is present until now.
The city still has many shelters, windowless concrete monsters right between houses. When going for a walk or visit villages south from our town by bus, we sometimes see roofs of destroyed bunker entrances, tank barriers and so on.
Our town has placed many stumble stones, little metal stones in front of houses (or where the houses used to be) of victims, giving us names, birth and death dates and cause of the death. The next ones we can see from our window.
Of course my daughter sees and asks, and I answer. So even if she won't have the topic in school for years, she knows that baaad things did happen and shall never ever happen again.
no dijiste nada
We were taught history lessons by the past. Starting with the Goths in 5th grade through the Romans in 6th grade, the empires over the Middle Ages in 7th-8th grade. Then on to Napoleon, the French Revolution and then World War I and World War II in 10th grade. Our school trip went to Munich where we visited the Dachau concentration camp. Our history lessons build on our history.
My father was born in 1946 and when he asked my grandfather how it came to this, they were silent and never spoken to. They too saw atrocities and had to participate. You had no chance. the men became soldiers and the women had to work in the manufacture of weapons. Many old people are still traumatized by the bombing raids on the cities. Bombs are found every day, which then have to be painstakingly defused. So the war is still omnipresent today
The young Germans are very aware of their past and their responsibilities. That is why they are promoting the unification of europe with the euro as their currency so that war between countries in europe never breaks out again.
We read in the 80s...Damals war es Friedrich...in 6 or 7 grade....and in 12th grade „Das 7. Kreuz“ (Anna Seghers) ...in Germany the NS time is topic in nearly all subject... btw. there look up for the Stolpersteine (project) ...I live in Aachen 500 m from Anne Frank, her sister and her mothers „Stolpersteine“. When their father was already in NL they lived for some time here in Aachen with their maternal grandmother...Anne Frank‘s mother grew up in Aachen...married here
Hitler was a Jew not a German
do japanese know about the war also?
If you know about the things that are oassed in the procurement genheut, so you can avoid the same mistakes in the future. This is the reason why there is so much talk about the past in Germany. But still it is crazy to hear that so many people still equated Germany with WW2.
TO ASK A EUROPEAN about the WWII is LIKE ask an AMERICAN who lost is PARENT or CHILD or PAIR on the SEP. 11 TERROR on the WORLD TRADE CENTER.
YOU JUST NOT RIP UP DEEP HURTS on OTHER PEOPLE.
or it is to ask someone who just lost someone to tell about their feeling while they TRY TO RECOVERING FROM... a bit rude.
Perhaps you should tell your american followers, that we here in Germany are reminded every day on this historical desaster. Our politic is influenced by this. A little example. In the states you have boot camps for criminals to correct them. The german word for camp is "Lager". If you were a german politician and would publicly say, you want to have Straflager (penal camps) for strong criminals, you would stop your career and you would be blamed to be a NAZI, because Auschwitz also was a Lager. We have a lot of taboos depending on that horrible time.
An other thing is, to see the Nazi-time separated. You would get a better understanding when you take a look on german history from 1070/71 when the Reich was founded an the special relation from Germany to France and Britain.WWII was the last part of a triple war- beginning in 1870 and ending with the capitulation on 09.05.1945. Btw, try to find out, if Americans do speak so often about Vietnam as we do about WWII, the Holocaust etc.
Different countries deal with it very differently. In Japan the students actually learn very little about the war because the government wants to sweep the negative history under the rug, so a lot of Japanese people are very ignorant or clueless about it. I watch a German UA-camr who lives in Japan and he says that sometimes people there ask him if Hitler is still alive or tell him stuff like "next time we will do it better and win together".