Felines with a striking resemblance to a certain moustached German Staatsmann

[rahock]

We were the good guys and we used the atom bomb War is Hell.
Rick

[Barklessdog]

 I find it ironic is we are aloud to speak of Hitler, Stalin, Custer,  but current political figures, race issues are taboo in most all forums, not just here.

For the most part people are cival here, due to us being older & knowing each other for many years now, I believe.

[uwe]

I see it like you, John, but I also know how Dave - based on experiences in other forums - feels strongly against it. For reasons I respect. I also notice whenever topics turn vaguely to current politics here, a lot of people, who are regular posters here and are certainly smart enough to form a political thought or two, avoid this threads then like the plague. That said, I believe that you can have a sensible and not vicious politcal discussion within a democratic spectrum (I wouldn't want people advocating racism here). Realizing that holding a certain political view doesn't automatically make you a good or a bad person sometimes helps decorum in such discussions.

[Freuds_Cat]

I'm with Al on this one in a big way.

Having read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago and having been in Russia 5 times myself and now having long time Russian friends I have to say that Hitler as Bizarre and evil as he and his henchmen were had an incredibly long way to go to catch up to the tally that Stalin racked up.

As far as talking about people like Hitler and Stalin goes, I come from apparently a country of convicts where life was harsh in those early days. A large Irish influence in both Convicts and Police force has given us a simple but effective way of dealing with things that are normally hard to digest. Parody or satire are the first steps to dealing with trauma on an emotional level here. I would assume that it must be the same in Germany, Holland,  The UK and parts of the USA based on the comments by representitive members of this forum.

I find it refreshing to hear Uwe make plain speaking comments about the the Nazi's without fear of us judging if he has any Nazi in him. Any thinking person has surely made the differentiation between the German people and the Nazi's. I really enjoy the fact that Uwe and his European mates take this fact for granted and regularly have a satirical rib poke between each other on this subject. It proves to me that they very much understand the situation

I respect NoFi's opinion, just thought I'd add my own.

[Freuds_Cat]

Respect and Tolerance go a long way.

[OldManC]

Respect and Tolerance go a long way.

Here here...

And judging from what a lot of the other threads devolve into around here, a healthy lack of taste goes a long way as well. If nothing else, it seems we all have that in common anyway!

[godofthunder]

 Frued I had to quote you."I find it refreshing to hear Uwe make plain speaking comments about the the Nazi's without fear of us judging if he has any Nazi in him. Any thinking person has surely made the differentiation between the German people and the Nazi's. I really enjoy the fact that Uwe and his European mates take this fact for granted and regularly have a satirical rib poke between each other on this subject. It proves to me that they very much understand the situation" I could not agree more with this statement, I wish I could have stated it so eloquently. My wife's family imiegrated from Holkenhiem Germany in 1936. They routinely poke fun at Germany's Nazi past, not out of disrespect to those who died but as a way to deal with such awful memories and to set themselves apart from the Nazi's. I have never met a more liberal and tolerant family as my wife's.

[uwe]

Holkenhiem? Do you mean Hockenheim, Scott?

[godofthunder]

Yep my bad Uwe, Hokenhiem

[Pilgrim]

I value your opinion, Uwe - we in the states don't always get to hear a view from much closer to the events in WWII.  You make good points!

[Highlander]

I still remain nervous about the way the Japanese almost "deny" their part in WWII, and their atrocities against the Koreans and Chinese, albeit in a lesser way, but every bit as awful as anything that went on in Poland and Germany, but "Uncle Joe"...?

Correct me if I'm wrong here but wasn't this one of his quotes...?

"One death is a tragedy, a million is just a statistic..."

The "Road Of Bones" is a fitting tribute to the meaning of this quote...

[uwe]

Nonsense, that is flattering, danke, but I have no deep insight about the matter (nor was I there at the time!), I just used to read a lot about the subject and still do.

[Hornisse]

I love reading about WWII especially since my dad is a veteran of that war.  He fought in the Pacific against the Japanese and drives a Nissan Sentra!

[Lightyear]

I find it ironic is we are aloud to speak of Hitler, Stalin, Custer...............

You're comparing Custer to Stalin and Hitler  Yes, he most certainly had blood on his hands, in the worst way, but I don't think he was in the same league as those two.  Now Pol Pot would fit in.

[Freuds_Cat]

If we are starting a modern despot list I guess we should include Idi Amin Dada. Although with less than a million deaths on his hands he doesn't quite measure upto Pol Pot et al.