So about the "feeling guilty" part: We(the people nowadays) don't really feel guilty about what happened bc it's not our fault. We weren't alive back then but born after that. BUT we do feel responsible in the sense of: It's not our fault what happened but it's our responsibility to teach about it, don't forget about it and with that it's our job to not let that happened again. That's why in history class we usually don't learn about the troups stationary location and when we fought in which areas. Instead we learn about how it was possible to let that happen in the society aspect and the economic and political context.
@@bigboulder I think there a four reasons for this: 1. Migration - over a third of todays German population has a migration background and no family context to the Nazi time. Even if there were born in Germany most of them have a strong bonding to the countries/cultures their parents/grandparents came from. From their point of view its not their history but the one of the native Germans. 2. Time - Its nearly 80 years ago. Its the generation of the great-grandparents of the teenagers today. No one in the age of 15 can imagine a life in the 30s/40s. Its too far away. 4. Its not very attractive to load this burden on your shoulders. As a German your second name seems to be always Nazi and your duty is guilt and responsibility. Still today foreign newspapers using photoshopped pictures of German politicians in Nazi uniforms esp in Turkey, Greece, Britain, Poland.
@@henryluebberstedt7819 I would add something to your reason no. 2 and that could be an "oversaturation" in some curricula. In some schools the history lessons are focussed or at least have a main emphasis on the 3rd reich period of time.
I want to add 2 things from my perspective. 1. I am German and I do not feel guilty about things that happened long before I was born. Knowing about the past is important to be avoid that it happens again and to avoid to make you guilty for doing nothing against facsism. 2. Talking about holocaust is very often talking about the Jewish victims only. But that is not enough. There were so many other victims as socialists, unionists, gay, communists, sinti, roma... . The list goes on and they should not be forgotten beside the Jewish victims. Fascists are enemies of everybody else. So it is not only a thing to be against them for moral reasons but it is also an act of self defense. I think that should be pointed out much more.
Suppression of Christianity created conditions for persecution of others. With dominant German Christian spirit eliminated, it was easy to introduce the Death Cult.
I also went to Buchenwald with the school as a teenager. It's one thing to read about the subject in books and watch films and something completely different to actually be there. For us it was quite challenging to face it as the disturbing emotions slowly creep up when your losing the distance to the events.
I'm not talking for all germans but my personal opinion about German patriotism is that we might seem as we wouldn't be patriotic but really we are just showing it in a more subtle way. So from what I saw about the USA you guys are more the public patriotism type by waving your flag more openly on cars, front yards, hats etc. We germans show our patriotism by following the rules on one hand but also thru openly demonstrate and criticizing/complaining about rules a lot to help get the conversation started and participating in shaping and improving the path of your country. So criticizing your own country is better welcomed/seen in Germany than in the USA (at least that's what I heard from Hailey, a US american youtouber living in Germany.)
I agree with you. I was surprised and touched in Berlin with the way everyone I talked to was so open about the past. I wish it was the same in the US at to things like Hiroshima and Slavery.
You are totally right! It´s some kind of childish and shameful that american patriotism mostly roots in achievements and wars that were reached/created/won centuries or decades ago! The pride of a nation should always consider what the nation you wave your flag to has created during the last decades or years, if it has learned from their past history and was able to change their nation/country towards a better space for PEOPLE to live and prosper! You can always wave the american flag because you´ve succesfully killed a 200k more people down in the middle east, your football team has won or that guy called Trump just held a cringey speech inside a stadium, but at the end of the day you still have have half a million homeless people living in tents inside your world famous big cities, thousands of women that are not allowed to end/abort pregnancy after they were raped and sick incels that are allowed to purchase firearms and use them a few weeks later to mow down innocent people on the streets. In my honest opinion each country should be allowed to wave the countries flag inside their garden, but of the ones who do it the people doing it mostly have no idea, plan or take responsibility of the crimes they have committed against humanity and their own country during the last 10 years!
I've just discovered your channel and instantly subscribed, of course. Much respect for your thoughtful handling of the most difficult theme for a video I can imagine. You already are a very decent and humane young man with your 16 years - at least that's my impression. I have no doubt you'll grow into a great adult who will live his life to the fullest and has much to contribute to society.
I think it`s very good that the Holocaust is taught as compulsory history in the 8/9 th grade at all school in Germany .You learn a lot about your German history ,this also included seeing a film about a KZ which was very sad for me personally and it was hard to see these pictures. As a grown woman , i had visited the Bergen-Belsen KZ to see all these mass graves it breaks your heart.That`s why such a crime must never happen again.💞🙏
I think it is important that every german student goes and visits these memorials and the places were it actually happened. Its mandetory for every german student at one point in their life. Thats important. Iam 35 right now my grandfatehr was born in 1911. He lived through both wars and coudl give me a personal viewpoint on how things went bad and how he did his time fighting on the eastern front and on the western front afterwards as a Stalingrad veteran. From a drafted mans perspective there was no glory and only horror he saw. He cried a lot. Now that the people that lived during that period die and you have less time witnesses its important than ever to show what evil can do and never let it happen again. There is a hug shame on every germans head and we can be thankful that other countries helpes us to get back on the right thrack. We got to nevertheless show everybody that come here the ugly side and then show the step we took or evolved. Never forget and never repeat is the right way to go. Hidinig our horro from the world would be hypocritical. SO Its important for everybod that visits to also see the evil that was here and then embrace the new.
about a dozen of my family dutch Jewish family members on my paternal grandmother's side died in the camps... most in Auschwitz. I really hope to make a visit there someday. Great video.
I've been to Bergen-Belsen and just walking around there in this eery environment with huge mounds with signs in front telling you how many dead there are...was I don't know how to put that in words really, but sufficely to say it was very unpleasant.
That was absolutely not what I expected an exchange student to report about. Congratulations for a job well done.
Thank you :) Much appreciated
So about the "feeling guilty" part: We(the people nowadays) don't really feel guilty about what happened bc it's not our fault. We weren't alive back then but born after that. BUT we do feel responsible in the sense of: It's not our fault what happened but it's our responsibility to teach about it, don't forget about it and with that it's our job to not let that happened again. That's why in history class we usually don't learn about the troups stationary location and when we fought in which areas. Instead we learn about how it was possible to let that happen in the society aspect and the economic and political context.
Thank you for your comment. I can definitely feel that responsibility of Germans educating the youth about it.
Exactly. But from what ive experienced more and more young people in german are starting to become somewhat resilient to that kind of teaching.
@@bigboulder I think there a four reasons for this: 1. Migration - over a third of todays German population has a migration background and no family context to the Nazi time. Even if there were born in Germany most of them have a strong bonding to the countries/cultures their parents/grandparents came from. From their point of view its not their history but the one of the native Germans. 2. Time - Its nearly 80 years ago. Its the generation of the great-grandparents of the teenagers today. No one in the age of 15 can imagine a life in the 30s/40s. Its too far away. 4. Its not very attractive to load this burden on your shoulders. As a German your second name seems to be always Nazi and your duty is guilt and responsibility. Still today foreign newspapers using photoshopped pictures of German politicians in Nazi uniforms esp in Turkey, Greece, Britain, Poland.
@@henryluebberstedt7819 I would add something to your reason no. 2 and that could be an "oversaturation" in some curricula. In some schools the history lessons are focussed or at least have a main emphasis on the 3rd reich period of time.
I want to add 2 things from my perspective.
1. I am German and I do not feel guilty about things that happened long before I was born. Knowing about the past is important to be avoid that it happens again and to avoid to make you guilty for doing nothing against facsism.
2. Talking about holocaust is very often talking about the Jewish victims only. But that is not enough. There were so many other victims as socialists, unionists, gay, communists, sinti, roma... . The list goes on and they should not be forgotten beside the Jewish victims. Fascists are enemies of everybody else. So it is not only a thing to be against them for moral reasons but it is also an act of self defense. I think that should be pointed out much more.
Suppression of Christianity created conditions for persecution of others.
With dominant German Christian spirit eliminated, it was easy to introduce the Death Cult.
I also went to Buchenwald with the school as a teenager. It's one thing to read about the subject in books and watch films and something completely different to actually be there. For us it was quite challenging to face it as the disturbing emotions slowly creep up when your losing the distance to the events.
Well done, God Bless you
I'm not talking for all germans but my personal opinion about German patriotism is that we might seem as we wouldn't be patriotic but really we are just showing it in a more subtle way. So from what I saw about the USA you guys are more the public patriotism type by waving your flag more openly on cars, front yards, hats etc. We germans show our patriotism by following the rules on one hand but also thru openly demonstrate and criticizing/complaining about rules a lot to help get the conversation started and participating in shaping and improving the path of your country. So criticizing your own country is better welcomed/seen in Germany than in the USA (at least that's what I heard from Hailey, a US american youtouber living in Germany.)
I agree with you. I was surprised and touched in Berlin with the way everyone I talked to was so open about the past. I wish it was the same in the US at to things like Hiroshima and Slavery.
You are totally right! It´s some kind of childish and shameful that american patriotism mostly roots in achievements and wars that were reached/created/won centuries or decades ago! The pride of a nation should always consider what the nation you wave your flag to has created during the last decades or years, if it has learned from their past history and was able to change their nation/country towards a better space for PEOPLE to live and prosper! You can always wave the american flag because you´ve succesfully killed a 200k more people down in the middle east, your football team has won or that guy called Trump just held a cringey speech inside a stadium, but at the end of the day you still have have half a million homeless people living in tents inside your world famous big cities, thousands of women that are not allowed to end/abort pregnancy after they were raped and sick incels that are allowed to purchase firearms and use them a few weeks later to mow down innocent people on the streets.
In my honest opinion each country should be allowed to wave the countries flag inside their garden, but of the ones who do it the people doing it mostly have no idea, plan or take responsibility of the crimes they have committed against humanity and their own country during the last 10 years!
@@lorettabigg8513 The highest form of patriotism is being able to critique your country. That's the only way to improve it
I've just discovered your channel and instantly subscribed, of course. Much respect for your thoughtful handling of the most difficult theme for a video I can imagine. You already are a very decent and humane young man with your 16 years - at least that's my impression. I have no doubt you'll grow into a great adult who will live his life to the fullest and has much to contribute to society.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
I think it`s very good that the Holocaust is taught as compulsory history in the 8/9 th grade at all school in Germany .You learn a lot about your German history ,this also included seeing a film about a KZ which was very sad for me personally and it was hard to see these pictures. As a grown woman , i had visited the Bergen-Belsen KZ to see all these mass graves it breaks your heart.That`s why such a crime must never happen again.💞🙏
Love the channel, keep it up!
Thank you :)
I think it is important that every german student goes and visits these memorials and the places were it actually happened. Its mandetory for every german student at one point in their life. Thats important. Iam 35 right now my grandfatehr was born in 1911. He lived through both wars and coudl give me a personal viewpoint on how things went bad and how he did his time fighting on the eastern front and on the western front afterwards as a Stalingrad veteran. From a drafted mans perspective there was no glory and only horror he saw. He cried a lot. Now that the people that lived during that period die and you have less time witnesses its important than ever to show what evil can do and never let it happen again. There is a hug shame on every germans head and we can be thankful that other countries helpes us to get back on the right thrack. We got to nevertheless show everybody that come here the ugly side and then show the step we took or evolved. Never forget and never repeat is the right way to go. Hidinig our horro from the world would be hypocritical. SO Its important for everybod that visits to also see the evil that was here and then embrace the new.
Absolutely 💯
This is why a student exchange is so important
Amazing quality
I’m sure you have your hands full, so upload a vid when you can. We’ll be here. Thank You!
about a dozen of my family dutch Jewish family members on my paternal grandmother's side died in the camps... most in Auschwitz. I really hope to make a visit there someday. Great video.
Thank you
Keep going 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I've been to Bergen-Belsen and just walking around there in this eery environment with huge mounds with signs in front telling you how many dead there are...was I don't know how to put that in words really, but sufficely to say it was very unpleasant.
Never Again!