Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/04/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I stand on the opposite side of this issue, and not too far from the Sony radio reaction, when it comes to Germany. I still see the focus on individuals and organizations as a form of alibi. Sometime ago, I called attention to the role of Central European entities to some of the current adventurism and bogus rehabilitations. I was publicly attacked by a semi official arm of the German government as a hateful person based on my ethnicity. Mind you, I never identified myself as anything other than an American veteran. After I did some cursory research, I found out that the writer was from the German embassy in Mexico CIty, one of their largest missions in the world. You figure out why! I went to the Jewish Federation, here in LA, for advice on a response. They got a chuckle out of it, as did I, and told me it would be pointless to get into a spitting contest with them. So I left enough alone. But it was a reminder that the Balkan Spiel in still in play at Berlin, well in to the late 20th century, and into this one. S.d. On Apr 1, 2010, at 3:50 PM, Nathan Wajsman wrote: > This hits very close to home. My father lost most of his extended family > during the Holocaust and spent the years 1943-45 killing as many German > soldiers as possible. His war ended on VE-Day in Bernau, 35 km from > Berlin. > > Yet, he never advocated collective guilt. His first wife was German. We > visited Germany frequently during my childhood and adolescence, and today > I am very comfortable there. The Germany of today has nothing to do with > the Germany of the 1930s. > > If you want to pick on a country, pick on Japan whose leaders still feel > obliged to make annual visits to a shrine which commemorates war criminals. > > Nathan > > Nathan Wajsman > Alicante, Spain > http://www.frozenlight.eu > http://www.greatpix.eu > http://www.nathanfoto.com > > Books: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/search?search=wajsman&x=0&y=0 > PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws > Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog > > > > > > > On Apr 1, 2010, at 5:49 PM, Lawrence Zeitlin wrote: > >> Frank writes: >> "My cousin bought a little Sony portable radio in the 60s with the money >> earned on his paper round. My uncle smashed it to tiny pieces using his >> hammer, and gave him the money..." >> - - - - - >> I am a Korean War vet and I absolutely refuse to buy anything made in >> North >> Korea. Not that I have had much opportunity to buy North Korean goods. >> South >> Korea is OK. My parents, who lost relatives in the holocaust were appalled >> that I bought a German made Leica until I told them about the Leitz >> "Freedom >> Train." However I still feel uneasy about visiting Germany. Emotional >> scars >> last a long time. >> Larry Z >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information