Compiled by Sonja (Germany) For Christopher Lackert Cold Spring Harbor High School, New York United States
Hi, Chris. I interviewed some people about the National Socialism; these were my questions.
I think that National Socialism is a topic which no one likes to talk about, but I think it's important to know as much as possible about this serious topic. The more you know about the horrible crimes of the Nazis, the less you are in danger to think, "that time wasn't as bad as the teachers always say." I'm not ashamed about Germany's past. It is not my past. I think it is a horrible past, and I never would look for excuses, or deny the fact that millions of people were killed just because they were Jewish or had another political opinion than the Nazis, but I've got nothing to do with that, even my parents weren't alive when those things happened. But I'm aware of Germany's latest history, and I can understand if some people hate Germans, and I understand if they can't differentiate between me and the people who killed their parents or grandparents. I never had any real bad experience in foreign countries, but when I was in France, I noticed that the people there seem to think that all Germans don't like immigrants, especially from Turkey and Italy. I read a school book and there was described how a German father told his family about the new worker in his factory, how lazy he was, and that immigrants steal German people's work. They described the scene as if every German person would talk about immigrants this way. I don't think that the National Socialism has any real chance in Germany. Of course, there are some neo-Nazis, but they aren't strong enough to move anything.
My Mother: She thinks that the National Socialism is an important topic, but she doesn't like the way some people use it to show how bad the world is. She isn't personally ashamed of Germany's past, but she is aware of Germany's guilt. My mother hopes that Germany's population won't be so stupid to let something like the National Socialism and the Holocaust happen again.
Sarah, 19: She thinks that it depends on the way the teachers deal with it, how interesting the National Socialism is. She isn't ashamed of Germany's past because she wasn't alive when the Holocaust happened. She doesn't believe that National Socialism and its crimes could return to Germany, maybe in another country but not in Europe. But she believes if something like that would happen again, it would be much more horrible than it was in Germany because such people like those who had the power in Germany between 1933 and 1945 would have much more possibilities to manipulate the people nowadays, the media for example. When she was in Holland, she was treated very badly without any reason just because she was from Germany.
Daniela, 17: Just like Sarah she thinks that the National Socialism as a topic for school lesson depends on the way the teachers deal with it. She is also not ashamed of Germany's past, for the same reasons the other persons I interviewed. She doesn't believe that the National Socialism could return to Germany because she can't imagine that Germany's population would be so stupid. She never had any bad experiences in foreign countries.
These are the answers of the people I interviewed. In fact, they are almost the same. They are so similar because the people I know all have almost the same opinion about National Socialism. I don't have contact with people who don't believe that something like the Holocaust ever happened, or even say it was right. Even if I knew such people, I wouldn't send you their answers; I would be very ashamed of such thoughts, because they would confirm the stereotype which many people have about the German population. I hope my letter is useful to you. Yours, Sonja