Are the Germans ashamed?

Question

Ashamed of their bloody history? Ashamed of Hitler and the Holocaust.

Answer 1

not more than the americans for slavely, or tthe j**s for pearl harbor, all of the world is ahshamed for some reason or another

Answer 2

Just as ashamed as Americans are of their history, which is bloodier than any country's, except for russia, that's a country that should be condemned for their actions during the war and today.

Answer 3

I am not German but i would imagine there are German people who had relatives involved and may still feel some shame. They shouldn't be though as it wasn't them who committed these atrocities.

I am British and may well have ancestors who carried out the orders of Henry VIII in his destruction of the monasteries and their brethren. I feel no shame for this as i wasn't there and had no control over it.

Likewise no German should feel shame for actions they did not commit.

Answer 4

good question. i imagine they should be. but are Americans generally ashamed of our history with the Native Americans? no. Its just a fact that  no one even thinks about any more.

I would like to see the answers from Germans.

by the way, it's nothing like slavery. Everybody in the free world had slaves of different races and ethnicities. but slavery is not GENOCIDE

Answer 5

I don't think "ashamed" is the word for it.  It's more like "embarrassed."  They are embarrassed by Hitler and the Holocaust in the same way that people in America are embarrassed by black slavery and Indian genocide.

In truth German history isn't much bloodier than the history of any other people.  It's just been more public because it has been more recent.

The United States has this same problem because it is a nation that was founded in "historical times."  Thus, there is a record of her conflicts.  We are aware of things like the destruction of the native peoples as the United States developed.

Other countries, whose historical origins are lost in the fog of the past, don't care about these things.  For example, how many Japanese are grieving over the destruction of the native Ainu when the Japanese moved to "Japan,"  or how many Frenchmen care about the suffering of the Celts that occurred when the Franks moved into Gaul and turned it into "France."

Answer 6

I don't think that they are ashamed. I mean are we ashamed of going to war for "weapons of mass destructino that never existed." It's not our fault that that happened, and its not there fault Hitler wanted to conquer the world.

Answer 7

probably not, like any other culture they will stick up for themselves, their history and their people. The Germans as a whole are not to blame, rather some very evil people that were involved in WWII - just like Jews are not all to blame for what they are consistently blamed for.

To blame an entire country or population for a war that lasted years and involved not only the Germans but many other countries and nationalities as well is misinformed and uneducated.

Answer 8

Maybe... they likely have mixed feeling about the issue.  It's just like america and slavery, and their extreme racism towards blacks.

Answer 9

I don't think they should.  You should not be judged by your kin, but by your own actions.  Most of Germany was tricked by Hitler to believe in evil things.  That does not mean the Germans of today believe these terrible things.

Answer 10

They did penance for what the n***s did--although many Germans did nothing, they were not all n***s.  

They paid heavy retributions to Jews, changed their education and judicial systems so that the National Socialist Party could not rise again, and participated (this is West Germany) in NATO against the Warsaw Pact (very important to the US).  Eastern Germany was less able to change, and still harbors more neo-n***s than the west.  

They appreciate people understanding that not all Germans are/were n***s, BTW.  I've been there many times.

Answer 11

I'm just ashamed they didn't get the job done. Kidding!!

Can't dwell on the past i could care less. I don't kill people and hilter does not relate to me.

Answer 12

are the english french and spanish? japanese, chinese, arabs, mongols, greeks, umm no probably not. nor should they be. although they arent as aggressive since WWII. neither are the japanese. tought em a lesson :)

Answer 13

"Perhaps there is more emphasis on the holocaust because so many of us here in the U.S. are survivors, having been either directly affected or lost close family members. I lost two uncles and two aunts. And there is no way that anyone can deny the holocaust.There was an excellent article on the Irving/Lipstadt trial in a recent Atlantic monthly.

As for the question of German guilt, Richard Wagner's great grandson gave a lecture here a couple of years ago. He left Germany and set up a foundation in Italy because he was ashamed of his ancestor. He said something that touched me deeply: "you cannot inherit guilt, but you can inherit shame..."

My comment: The relatives of the victims of other holocausts must feel the same way, but generations pass. I am sure some of my ancestors suffered injustices, but I feel no rancor, and they probably committed crimes, but I feel no shame. That is in essence the attitude of young Germans. Time heals all wounds.

Answer 14

There are always exceptions to everything, this is one of them. There are some people who have so much pride and aren't ashamed of it, some of them even convince themselves that the Holocaust never happened. But there are some that are, but you have to remember it wasn't their fault.

Answer 15

i don't think anyone should be ashamed of something they themselves did not commit. i did not make the decision for there to be slavery and i would most certainly be against it; however, i am not ashamed that people of the past did it. it had nothing to do with me or my ideals. the same probably holds true for current germans that did not make decisions in the early to mid 1900s - they do not approve of what happened, but they do not feel that they are responsible.

Answer 16

It depends who you ask.  I don't think the Germans are unique in the long run.  But, sadly, the people who should be the most ashamed for the Holocaust or any evil are the actual individuals who took part in it.  These people hang on to the belief that what they did was not wrong.  Extremists don't change.

Answer 17

I don't know, are you ashamed of what happened to the Indians?

Are you ashamed of the Japanese internment camps of WWII?

Are you ashamed of the slavery and Jim Crowe laws of only a few years ago?

Answer 18

We might ask ourselves the same thing. Not all Germans were responsible nor did they support Hitler just as many Americans are not supporting the war effort now.

Answer 19

Dumb question. Of course. Any right minded person would feel ashamed that their people commited such atrosities.

But that was over 50 years ago and Germans don't want to kill jewish people or take over the world any more.

Answer 20

Fellini, the famous Italian movie director, can tell you.

Fellini made an award-winning film in the late 1940s (black and white) about a 10-year-old boy growing up in post-war Germany.  IMost of the scenes show him walking through the rubble of ruined cities.  It details how Germans felt at the time - They had to deal with massive death, always-visible destruction, and on top of this, massive guilt.

Answer 21

Yeah. Kinda like our country is ashamed of how long it took to stop slavery and how even longer it took to get over racism. Humans make mistakes and learn from them

Answer 22

If it weren't for Hitler, how would we know that we cannot create artificial Siamese twins?  So no, I'm not ashamed.

Answer 23

Anyone with a conscience and a good heart would be. Are Americans ashamed of destabilizing regions and setting up puppet governments? Are the Russians ashamed of the Gulags? Are Jews ashamed of Zionists? Are Muslims ashamed of Osama Bin Laden? Is Clinton ashamed of NAFTA? Are the Japanese ashamed of Hirohito and his medical experiments which make Dr. Mengele seem like Dr. Suess? Are the Italians ashamed of Mussolini and the Pope? Are the English ashamed of the Royal Family's insatiable greed and inbreeding? Are entertainment executives ashamed of their propaganda movie formulas and exploitation of naive performers?

Frankly, I am ashamed for all mankind and our collective and individual ability to be gravely cruel. I wish I could do something about it. I am mostly ashamed of the people who can actually do something about it but never do!

Answer 24

I'm pretty sure every culture has things in their history that they wish had never happened but this doesn't mean their ashamed of who they are. They didn't personally live in those times so no they should not be ashamed.

Answer 25

I'm german and I'm not ashamed.  I was born this way because, not because I chose it so I might as well be proud of who I am.  Besides I wasn't part of any of it and hold no hard feelings.  I'm really good friends with some Jews!  And African Americans...

Answer 26

They should be, relations between US and GERMANY  nowadays are described as awkward

Answer 27

I don't think ashamed is the right word. They know it was wrong but they are also aware that none of them did it!

You can get heavily penalised for doing anything Hitlerite in public but I don't think the people of Germany today have anything to be ashamed of. The sins of the father etc... without getting alles Biblical!!

Answer 28

Why should Germans be ashamed? They had nothing to do with it.  It was the military leaders and supports, at the time, they should be ashamed.

Answer 29

you know tbh i dont think people are..coz it's nothin to do with us now...it's all in the past...are you ashamed of the leaders in your country who lived like 50-100 years ago..i doubt you are..lol

Answer 30

Why should they be ashamed. Most of the people actually involed in WWII are dead now. The current generation had nothing to do with it.

Answer 31

r u ashamed for the dumb question u posted?

I would be if i were u.

it's in the past, and what else would we be teaching our kids in history class?