Intrepid1

If this were a simple matter of not visiting countries with which the US has had major disagreements in the past then there would be a lot of European countries starved for US visitors, INCLUDING the UK, Italy, etc., etc.

But of course we have now added the "religious" issue as well as the "atrocity" issue.

I think Elaine has summed it up pretty well. It is entirely up to you and if your "friends" are trying to send you on some sort of guilt trip, knwoingly or unknowingly, then you may have a couple of issues to deal with.

What DO these people hope to accomplish by not going to Germany and perhaps frowning on those who do? I can understand it as a symbolic gesture but realistically that is all it is.

If you think it is "wrong" to go there then don't go. If you think it is not wrong, then go; your friends will either have to accept that or find new ones.

ucsun

remember the heinous crimes committed there, but also celebrate a country that has much to offer. you can't penalize a new generation of people for what an older generation did. then we'd never evolve as people. people need to reexamine their ill harboring will towards people, then we'd be making progress.

Robespierre

Besides, all the Nazis are in Argentina!

loisco

I had the same feelings about Germany..I am Jewish ..but married to a non-Jew, so we agreed that we would go to Germany and if I got uncomfortable we would leave. (this was many years ago by the way). I agreed to go only to Southern Germany. (somehow this didn't seem as bad). I mean how can a place that has The Romantic Road be evil..anyway it turned out fine. The area was lovely and we had good food....or maybe I just refused to let it bother me.

I was more bothered in Austria on the same trip I believe, when I saw guards who were permanently stationed in front of a synagogue because there were so many attacks on it...!!

CharlieB

It appears that many Eastern European Jews do not have the same misgiving. A recent article on the Deutche Welle site (www.dw-world.de)states that since Germany offered citizenship to Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Bloc in 1991, some 190,000 have become German citizens. Indeed, the rate of immigration now exceeds that to Israel

traveldawg

Why has this one come up again? Visit where you want to visit...the people that hang on to old grudges are the ones that keep the world in turmoil.

twoflower

This is a thought-provoking thread and I'm glad it was resurrected. I've been to Germany several times and go along with the poster who said "You condone nothing by taking a trip there, and you broaden your mind and experience." In my case I learned to take people as I find them, not judge them by their national history. I learned similar lessons when I took in Japanese language students as a B&B host (in WW2 my part of the world was more threatened by Japan than Germany). By visiting places like Dachau we are perhaps keeping alive our feelings of horror and helping prevent a recurrence. I hope so anyway.

Art

I lived in Germany for almost 7 years and people are people. Also remember, if it bothers you that Hitler was not German, but Austrian as were several of his top Nazi’s'. Lower Germany has some beautiful country and I found the Germans to be very friendly and hospitable.

herman

Elaine has it exactly right. Each is entitled to their own feelings. Traveldawg misses the point. It's not "grudges" that people hang on to, but feelings and memories that may wane but that do not go away.

My family was forced to leave Hamburg in 1935. It was a blessing. All our relatives had similar experiences, and none were exterminated. I do not have a grudge, but to this day I cannot help but feel uncomfortable when I have contact with Germans, no matter how innocent. German cities have programs to subsidize return visits of former residents that were forced to leave during the Hitler regime. The City of Hamburg where I lived before 1935 made me such an offer. I was not really mentally prepared to accept anything from a country whose history is so abhorrent. I felt it would be like making a pact with the Devil. However, after talking with a friendly woman representative, I accepted the offer, rationalizing that I wasn’t accepting much from this nice Devil. I made the trip, was able to find my former residence, visit the University where my father had worked, and met many gracious and friendly Germans. Nevertheless, the feelings remain and that's just the way it is.

richardab

It my opinion that Germany is the most friendly country I have been to in Europe.