New History Show Aims to Restore Germans' Sense of Self

There's only one way
There's only one way the German people will ever be able to recover their self-respect. It's by dethroning the false version of history that makes them responsible not only for WWI and WWII, but numerous so-called atrocities that never even happened. But to do this they would need a revolution, because the present German state was erected on the basis of these lies.

http://holocaust-lies.blogspot.com/

The word: 'Heimat' or Homeland has always been solidly anchored in the heart of all Germans. Many sentimental songs have been written about the love that all Germans have for their 'Heimat'.
After WW2 many Germans left home and emigrated to other countries. I cannot speak for others, but I have lost that romantic connection with my former Heimat. I am a happy Canadian and when I visit Europe, I seldom go to Germany. It seems strange and I cannot explain it. That does not stop me from remembering my wonderful childhood in a part of Germany that is now Russian territory.
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Recently the Germans had a competition for the most beautiful German word. They chose the word 'Habseligkeiten'. It means 'belongings' and describes not riches like bank accounts but the few things that some poor soul calls his own. I agree. There were several years in my life when all my belongings were in a canvas bag about 12"x12".

detano inipo :
that's pretty much how we feel .
while we have visited germany in the past , it's mainly to visit mrs h's sister and do some sightseeing .
mrs h grew up in insterburg and since it is now possible to visit that former part of germany again , i asked her if she would like to go for a visit , but she really has little (no) interest in it .

when we decided to go to canada we wanted to become canadians and not hypheneted canadians - as some prefer it .

i guess we felt really at home in canada when our parents visited us after we had been in canada for ten years and my father said : "you have made a good decision ; we should have gone to canada after WW I " .
hbg

hamburger, ich habe auch meine ganze Kindheit in Insterburg verbracht. Erst in der Wichertstrasse and spaeter in der Caecilienstrasse. Als dann das Rollen der russischen Artillerie lauter wurde bin ich mit dem Zug nach Westen.
Nun habe ich keine Lust, diese Stadt die einst so wunderschoen war, nochmal zu besuchen.

detano inipo :
das ist ja recht interessant !
mrs h wuchs in insterburg auf ; ihr vater hatte dort ein transport-unternehmen(rudolf reinhardt) .
die familie wohnte in der wilhelmstrasse , zog dann aber zum ende des krieges nach karlswalde - am stadtrand von insterburg .

mein alter boss kam auch aus einem vorort von insterburg .
die familie kam allerdings schon etwa 1920 nach kanada als er gerade ein jahr alt war .
die familie hatte einen recht 'ostpreussischen' namen : baltruweit .

wir haben einige buecher ueber ostpreussen , dabei auch zwei : "insterburg im bild" mit einer strassenkarte .
mal sehen ob wir deine "alte heimat" finden .

wenn wir in den 70er und 80er jahren deutschland besuchten , hatte eine tante meiner frau immer eine schoene flasche "baerenfang" fuer mich !
hbg

I havn't taken the time to read this thread yet, but I would like to assert the view that Germany has manifested the greatest extremes of Western history and culture. The horrors of the two world wars and the Holocaust represent the depths and German philosophy and music represent the heights. I think it was Goethe--the bearer of Germany's soul--who said, almost synecdochically: I'll sound the heights and depths that man can know.

All I want to say is that if the Germans really want a sense of self, they could just ask the Dutch.. we have a very strong sense about the Germans

Are you serious or is that more swamp talk?

From what I understand, this is in many ways the case.

I cannot, of course, know how well and how completely, but I think, for instance, that Germany has faced its past far better and more honestly than countries such as my own (and I suspect the US, though I do think there is more self examination in the US re slavery, at least, if not about the effective, if unintentional, genocide of the native Americans) than there is about the effective genocide in my own country's history.

It seems to me that it is very important for countries to accept and face the horrors in their past, and that without it the flag waving etc is hollow and disgusting.


My sense is that there is a deterioration in people's general knowledge about history, and that this is creating, for many, some kind of weird vacuum from which they view current realities...or, as with Japan (and, until the last 30 years or so, my country) deliberate falsifying of history, or a kind of ability to simply ignore large chunks of it.

Good post, Dlowan. It does seem that the losers (e.g., Japan and Germany) have a better record of facing their past than the winners (e.g., Australia and the U.S. regarding aborigines and Native Americans, respectively).
Many Mexicans HAVE faced up to their ancestors' behavior regarding its native peoples, but that has not motivated its ruling classes to behave accordingly to Mexico's predomininantly "Indian" lower classes.

JLNobody, Japan has never addressed WWII in its history books, that is
until just recently.

dlowan, the more we know about our history the better the chances
of never repeating it. At least that was and is Germany's intent to teach
the complete history including all atrocities of the holocaust to its generations post WWII. It is of most importance especially in todays
world where hatred towards the moslem world has become so prevalent,
and I was glad to see that Germany did not partake in the invasion of
Iraq, despite feeling the immense pressure of the US.

cj wrote :
" I was glad to see that Germany did not partake in the invasion of
Iraq, despite feeling the immense pressure of the US."

i'm glad canada too stayed out of iraq - but i believe the people of iraq should be given all the help they need to get their country back on its feet again .

unfortunately , both canada and germany got sucked into the afghanistan conflict .
as i posted in the afghanistan thread , two of canada's top brass resigned when being told to ready troops for afghanistan .
so what did the canadian government do ? they fished around until they found a general who was willing to do their bidding .
now it seems clear that unless a way can be found not only to negotiate and deal with the afghanistan government but ALSO with all the tribal leaders and factions - and let's not forget pakistan ! - , there is not much likelyhood of achieving peace in the region .
apparently , studying and learning from history is not much favoured by our political leaders .
hbg

Thanks hamburger, for the pictures. I have a photo book on Insterburg as well, but not a map. Most of my uncles and aunts were farmers in East Prussia and had some of the proud Trakehner horses.

welcome to a2k , noinipo !
your opinion is always welcome here .

i assume that you are somwhat familiar with "google" and that you can read german .
if you are interested in information about insterburg , please click on the link below .
under "bilder" you will find many pictures from insterburg .
btw the link is from the german google .
there are a number of canadian horse breeders that had trakhener horses brought over from germany - you can find them by "googling" - or let me know and i'll direct you to the link .
there is also a horse-breeder in the former "ost-preussen" who has continued the breeding of the trakhener horses .
hope you'll stick around on a2k and post here .
hbg

click here for link to "insterburg" :
...INSTERBURG...

hamburger, I am detano inipo. My password did not function and I had to come back here under a new name.
Love those pictures of Insterburg, thanks.

mir kam die sache ja schon komisch vor :wink:
hbg

At least you remembered your old avatar

Walter, my new name is shorter, but it says the same thing. Read the two backwards.