Born 1960, the (by the time I could have a first grasp of what war could be) 20 years or so that had passed since the capitulation seemed like an eternity to me, but memories of WWII (not WWI, that was pretty much forgotten, blocked out by the even greater horror of WWII) lingered everywhere. But the common sentiment was: How lucky we are that it is over and what a terrible time it was. Revanchism existed of course too in post-war Germany, but not with my parents and relatives. To them 1939-45 was a political and ethical aberration that very nearly destroyed the country.
Dieburg,
where I grew up, was in the former American Occupation Zone, several villages and cities close by had large US military facilities, GIs in uniform were a regular sight (as were dark-complexioned children) - having been able to surrender to Americans was generally perceived as divine grace, even if undeserved. My mom felt forever guilty for having refused sweets from a black US Army tank commander shortly after Dieburg's surrender
(there wasn't much fighting, a French POW officer - Dieburg had a military hospital for POWs - negotiated a swift surrender together with some German town representatives by meeting an American advance party and talking a handful of German soldiers and their motley crew of either geriatric or underage Volkssturm members out of shooting at US tanks with a lone anti-tank gun they had - the Americans had understandably indicated they would view this as an unfriendly act and react accordingly)because she - age 14 at the time - had been fed with Nazi propaganda according to which US troops distributed poisoned food. The (rightfully) exasperated GI called her a
"f***ing Nazi" 
from his tank turret (if truth be told, he wasn't that far off either, she had been a glowing member of the
Bund Deutscher Mädel, the girls arm of the Hitler Youth, a thing she would later regret) when she froze and refused to pick up the sweets. My mom - who got to love American sweets later on, Hershey's bars, Lifesavers ... what have you, Coca-Cola was her favorite drink throughout her life - always mused how she would have liked to apologize to him. (She also already regretted not having picked up the sweets by the time she was home - wartime sugar-starved as she was! Plus her more practical minded sweet tooth little sister scolded her for being "such a moron" and not taking the sweets.
)
