Swastikas and Germany in the modern day...

[MGR1]

Originally Posted by areo16

I can't understand this part. Many soldiers were not Nazis. Many died to defend their homeland. I do not understand how you cannot praise them for serving to defend the home you live in. This seems counterproductive to me to raise a generation in depression and regret. I don't think it instills the necessary morality and pride that is necessary to create a prosperous generation, politicians or businessmen. It would leave young generations searching for an identity. I don't agree with this. A middle ground should be found.

Quite simple, really. Yes, they fought for their country, but that country was governed by an aberration. They fought for a lie, and a hideous one at that.

That aberration also caused enormous suffering, not just in those territories that Germany invaded, but also on the German population itself. The catch for the German's is that their suffering was self inflicted because they allowed themselves to be duped, or brainwashed, into supporting that aberration.

It's like my country, Britain. The British Empire is not viewed as being something to be proud of, if it is thought about at all. We suffer from a post-Imperial cringe of epic proportions. To the extent that the United Kingdom could, at some point in the future, dissolve as the last act of de-colonisation.

Mike.