What are Germans point of views in genral about the 2nd world war?

Question

I've been really intrested in the 2nd world war lately, and i hear all of the people around me opionions on it, (i live in england), but i've wanted to know what is the average German person opionion on it all today,

Answer 1

I'm not sure what the German view is of the war. But I can tell you that they honour their veterans the same as any country that was on the winning side.

Answer 2

Oooooops - - - a very bad man hijacked Germany and dragged it into a war against the will of the people but when all was done all the bad people went away and left behind kind benevolent non violent people who harbor no prejudice or bigotry!! The other argument advanced was; 'I vas only doing my duty!'

Strongly advice that you read Gunther Grass whose novels, 'The Tin Drum' and 'Dog Years,' among other worthy works articulate the views of a German who lived through the Hitler years into the post war struggle for the soul of Germany.

An odd note; in post war Germany former members of the Wehrmarkt, the German Army, were frequently treated like sh^t for losing the War, while former members of the Waffen SS the n**i Army were treated like heros guranteed good jobs and accored respect especially those who had committed atrocities against civilians!!!  

Peace//////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Haben sie eines gutes Tag!

Answer 3

A small group of Germans managed to gain power and using popular stereotypes had them go to war.  It was hard to play off that after what Briton and France did at the end of world war I.  

By putting the entire blame of the first world war on Germany and making them pay for the entire thing they made it a ripe time for Germans to be thinking of another way out, the Treaty of Versailles was one of the worst treaties in history.

Answer 4

I'd say almost all people agree that it was a huge disaster and a lot of senseless death and suffering and that Germany started the war.

As for who is to blame (Hitler/n**i leadership vs. German society/a large part of the people) I am not sure what to call the "general" or "average" view. I am German and personally I find it absurd to blame such a war on a single person or very small number of people when actually almost the entire male German population of adequate age was mobilized for it and we have tons of evidence for how many ordinary people enthusiastically supported the war. On the other hand I also know the view that the second answerer described and it's a view that might be much more comfortable for many people.

Old people have of course their own bad experiences from the later stages of the war and tell their stories of bombings, war captivity, expulsion etc. But here again, people have different views on who is really to blame (the Allies vs. Germany (or "Hitler" or "the n***s") for starting the war at the first place).

So it's all quite a complex issue as people have different views, and also views have changed over the decades after the war (for example, people who were born afterwards have a different perspective to those who lived then).

If you have more questions or want to talk more about it you can e-mail me, I'm really interested in these issues.