Dont mention the War!

Heisenberg.

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FiSe

No.
But Germans will not talk about the war. Not quite sure about the Russians.

Leadership

I lived in Germany for many years and now work for a German company. Its no problem at all to discuss the topics as long as it is not derogatory and constructive.

As for Russians I could not answer.

Manach

Not at all, I'll read what and where I wish. Given that so many nationalities were involved in WWII, then the only safe book to read to avoid offence would be a Harry Potter.

peasant

Well ...
I'm German and I would have no problem with anyone "mentioning the war" to me and wanting to discuss it. After all, it was a pretty defining historical event and there's plenty to disuss in an intelligent manner.

One caveat though:

- I wasn't there
- I didn't start it
- I don't remember it either, not even "Dresden" (in case you want to be sympathetic )
- I don't posess a "genetic conscience", the sins of my grandfathers' generation aren't mine
- I had as much (or rather as little) to do with WWII as yourself

Once you can accept these few basic parameters (which surprisingly few people seem to be capable of doing) we can talk about "the war" all day long

Heisenberg.

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peasant

I think it would be safe to say that almost all Europeans had grandparents that were affected by the second world war in some shape or form

Don't you talk to them about the war either?

Look ...my one grandfather was a mechanic in some motorised unit or other. He was nowhere near any front and drank half of France dry before he got captured by the allies, escaped and walked home.

The other grandfather was a civil servant in the postal service, ended up as an officer on the staff of some corps, organising field post, reported MIA on the eastern front.

That's what I know / have been told. It could well be true. On the other hand, either of the grandfathers could have been involved in some atrocity or another ...I don't know. And quite frankly I don't care either ...because it's got nothing to do with me.

I'm not responsible for what my grandfathers may or may not have done ...only my own actions.... and on that front I have nothing to be ashamed for.


So ...you cannot offend me by talking about the war.
You can offend by not making the distinction between my grandfathers and myself.
But if you really want to offend me then stop your war conversation mid-sentence as soon as I enter the room

Morlar

It is a subject which has cropped up in meeting with Czech people, Polish, Russian and Germans (as well as english) and aside from hearing some off the wall anecdotes its not really a sore subject and nor in my opinion should it be.

I think it would be wrong to expect people to feel responsible for the actions of some people from their Grandparents generation. As mentioned by somone else so long as the discussion is respectful of people & their country's history then its not a problem to discuss.

Heisenberg.

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Manic Moran

If I never mention the war to anyone, how will I ever find out that "Hey, his grand-dad is the last surviving Tiger tank commander, and I need to talk to him to find out some historical facts..."

At our tank museum we've had Russians, Germans, Americans, Brits, Israelis and so on, all willing to discuss their first-hand experiences. History is not biased, it just is history.

NTM

marcsignal

I lived in Germany and,out of general interest, had many conversations with vererans about the war. Like peasant says, as long as you're not being judgemental it's usually not a problem. I think you have to remain cognisant of the fact that it was impossible for a German in 1933 to see forward to 1945, especially if you supported Hitlers Party for economic reasons, as opposed to idealogical ones.

i mean, are all irish people responsible for the actions of the IRA ?

motherfunker

I was on Facebook recently and came across a group called Wehrmacht, I signed up to this group as it was I presumed about people who have an interest in the history of this organization. I was shocked to receive several comments from friends wondering why I had signed up to this group, what was I trying to say. I gave a slightly humorous reply was that I am a hardcore nazi which seemed to appease people but I was very shocked with their initial comments. It is easy to forget that many people have little or no idea about the real facts of WW2 and things are just black and white to them.
I ask every foreigner I meet about the war, I have never met anyone who would not talk about it yet but they have mainly been younger people who have very little to say about it anyway, most of the time its down to "do you still hate the germans?", the answer is usually yes, especially the Russians.

silverharp

My wife is German from the Ruhr area , I never met her grandparents but her parents had no problem relating incidents etc , I think the whole dont mention the war thing starts and ends British comedy.
Both her grandparents fought in Russia , one captured one died. The one that survived was kept prisoner until after the war but he managed to fail a medical test by smoking a copius amount of cigs before hand and was sent home early. One of the Grandmothers had a real hatred for the russians so you can draw your own conclusions what happened to her when they rolled in.
I'm amazed by their Stoism about the whole affair, no bitterness on the whole.

Frank Drebin

We have a Polish bloke in the office here who's family were affected by the war.. We talk about the war all the time and make a few cracks now and then.. I have a healthy interest in WW2 and talk about it where ever I go to whom ever I meet and all people, regardless of nationality enjoy speaking about it..

citizen_p

i tend to talk to a friend of mine thats german more about the cold war...as germany was only unified 20-30 years ago.
i did bring up ww2 before he just said his grandfather was in north africa. so he must have been wehrmacht or luftwaffe.

motherfunker

I was recently researching WW2 german uniforms and was in my local Easons. A polish girl I used to work with was working in there and she came over to talk to me. She saw I was looking for something and asked me could she help. I was a bit unsure of whether to tell her the truth or not but I said I might as well, I said I was looking for an Osprey book about German army uniforms on the Eastern front, she dident flinch and started looking for it for me. I jokingly said to her she probably wasent happy looking for this book, her answer was "I dont care!". She couldent find it so she went off and ordered it for me.