Germany condemns Holocaust conference in Iran

ermany condemned a planned Iranian conference on the Holocaust and summoned Iran's charge d'affaires to the Foreign Ministry, saying Friday that attempts to question the Nazis' murder of Jews were "shocking and unacceptable."

The conference, scheduled for Sunday and Monday, was organized by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called the systematic killing of some 6 million Jews a "myth" and "exaggerated." Some 67 foreign researchers from 30 countries are scheduled to attend the two-day meeting.

"We condemn all past and future attempts of anyone who gives a platform to those who relativize or question the Holocaust," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said.

I spent 10 of my 20 years in the Army stationed in Germany. NEVER IN MY ENTIRE TIME THERE, did I ever, EVER, meet anyone who did not claim that Hitler and his "bunch of gangsters" as one landlord called them, was never a Nazi, did not know a Nazi, never met one, never saw one. So, apparently there actually never were any Nazi's in Germany. That must have been made up also.

That is indeed funny. I am living in Germany and I know many former nazis. The thing is that most of them (some of course did not) changed their point of view over the times due to more information about the issue and -this must also be said- were never involved actively into the Holocaust. The only crime they committed was that they said nothing when the German jews were "resettled" into the east (only some very few Germans knew what was really going on). My own family got the first realistic informations about the brutality of the concentration camps in late 1944. In the first moment they rejected it as "Graeuelpropaganda" (gruel propaganda) just like American families today tend to reject news on violent GIs for -sometimes- good reasons.

Things more complicated as you may think. Between black and white there is a broad grey.

Well - I come from a quite interesting German family. My grandfather was a officer of the German airforce, the Luftwaffe in WWII. Being a professional pilot since 1934 he belonged to the more experienced members of the air arm of the Wehrmacht. During 1933 to 1939 he was convinced about Hitler and the German leadership of that time, since the administrations of the Weimar republic had a quite incompetent policy. He rejected the beginning of WWII because the German Wehmacht was not ready for it in 1939 and he saw no reason in conquering foreign countries. Furthermore from his point of view the progroms against the Jews made no sense either although he had the typical prejudices of Germans who lived in that time. You could compare that best with the prejudice that many Americans have against Mexican immigrants today. Not very likeable (because the "jews suck money" as bankers I write that in quotation marks - do not get me wrong) but nobody you would do any real harm. Until 1944 he served as a flight instructor for young German pilots. Between 1944 and 1945 he was used against the allied bombers with some success. Quite a few Americans lost their lives because of him. As I already said, my family got the first reliable information about the Holocaust in late 1944. Before this information they believed that the Jews were resetteled in eastern Europe.

When the whole truth came out after the war, my granddad and most of his comrades were of course deeply disappointed that their sacrifice for Germany and the blood of their death comrades was misused for such a crime. Therefore they were usually no nazis after 1945 anymore. Of course there are some left in our society. Nevertheless in the meantime all of them are dying out. I.e. the granddad I was talking about is still living but in his 90ties. A great old man I am proud of. The "new" German nazis are usually only crazy people or kids who want to shock their parents. Nothing substantical or dangerous anymore.

My other granddad was a extremely skilled technician who never saw the front, although he was of course also used by the Luftwaffe to run some technical things (radar) in Germany. Being a convinced Christian he never was very attracted by the nazis and their military attitude. Furthermore he understood the Jews as the chosen people because of the bible and therefore he saw no reason to do them any harm.

After the war in the late 50ties my aunt married a American Jew from New York whose European family (44 people) was killed and annihilated by the SS in Minsk. Therefore my cousins are jewish although they have a real former nazi as their granddad. A part of my jewish family lives nowadays in Tel Aviv and still in New York.

Believe it or not - we all love each other and have a great relationship.

You see - nothing is really static and people change over the times. There are enough nazis left to meet them if you really search for them. Just watch the new Borat film that was made in the US.

;-)

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