tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907216.post4754755629819011360..comments2024-03-22T22:39:49.773-05:00Comments on I don't know, but . . .: Hitler's Beneficiaries by Gotz Alyjameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907216.post-33930552943141298792021-03-19T23:40:24.487-05:002021-03-19T23:40:24.487-05:00In the '70s and the '80s, I knew a fair nu...In the '70s and the '80s, I knew a fair number of Germans of my generation in Latin America, either as coworkers or fellow tourists. I got the impression that they were making an effort to come to terms with the crimes of their parents. More than the Japanese, I'd say. I would add that I found Germans more compatible than the Brits- too reserved- or the French- too arrogant. <br /><br />In the 1990s, my sister married the German-born stepson of an Operation Paperclip engineer. His stepfather's memoir had some of the attitude that AVI mentions- he mentioned being angry at the Allied bombing- but he corrected himself by adding, "but that is what we were also doing." <br /><br />Like so many German emigrants of his generation- at least I have read a number of such memoirs- my sister's husband had a career-first career- in the US military. Why did so many German emigrants who came as children to the US after WW2 end up in the military? I suspect that paying back what they had gained by coming to the US played a part. For example, after several years in the US the Paperclip Engineer had the chance to return to Germany, but the children were adamant about remaining in the US. Promised land versus bombed-out land.<br /><br />My brother-in-law said that they had some Jewish relatives. His Paperclip Engineer stepfather never joined the party.<br /><br />My brother-in-law broke the family mold by showing an entrepreneurial bent from an early age. Republican. His brother followed the family trade by becoming a Ph.D. chemist. Democrat. Very. Such as sending a letter to my sister that included a passage about that Nazi Trump. <br /><br />Be very wary of Germans who criticize the US, as that criticism often hides a German fault. Such as Herta Daubler Gmelin, famous for comparing Bush to Hitler, whose SS father's signature helped facilitate transport of Slovakian Jews to the camps. Or Germans who condemn the US for its use of the death penalty, conveniently forgetting that the impetus for banning the death penalty in West Germany came from the far "right" to stop executing Nazis.<br /><br />RichardJohnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07490819511630683969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907216.post-62042759145221274992021-03-19T10:41:08.840-05:002021-03-19T10:41:08.840-05:00Agreed. I have had occasional contact over the yea...Agreed. I have had occasional contact over the years with Germans from the war years, though they were usually children or quite young. They retained bitterness for harsh treatment they felt they had received, as in the bombing of Dresden or things "stolen" by the Allies when they took over. Almost no insight into what their country had done. To a one, the felt that the reports of what had happened to the Jews was exaggerated, and they felt it was all a later PR campaign. They were mostly good about keeping quiet about it. Mostly.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907216.post-48341901696314352782021-03-19T05:01:48.094-05:002021-03-19T05:01:48.094-05:00I have put this book on my to-read list. Thanks fo...I have put this book on my to-read list. Thanks for the suggestion and summary.RichardJohnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07490819511630683969noreply@blogger.com