JimLes
Well-Known Member
Also, a story from a University instructor of mine. This lady named Connie taught me a class on German culture(the only class in my first degree I got an A+ in). She was a German and a Gentile, born in the late 60s. Even her parents might not have had memories of the war, but they'd all been raised with the knowledge of what happened and denazification and everything that happened in West Germany after the war. She lived in Bonn, which was then the temporary capital of Germany. One year in high school, they went on a 10-day class trip all over southeast West Germany. This is obviously before the reunification, but at the time when it was becoming a little more acceptable to be a German nationalist. To a degree, anyway.
The two teacher chaperones were a middle-aged music teacher and a younger geography teacher. Both male. At the beginning of the trip, they were in Beyrouth for one of the many, many Wagner festivals there. If you don't know how Wagner felt about Jews, Google it. They watched a performance of Siegfried and the music teacher was just about orgasming. This is a man who was apparently also a local activist of CDU(think Republicans). When the cast came out for their bow, he encouraged all the students to stand up and applaud. Then he said "Marvel children, at what only a German intellect can conceive of."
They then went south into Bavaria and did all kinds of sightseeing, and then on one of the last days, they went to Dachau. Connie said the whole tour was harrowing, but the fact that it ended in gas chambers made it particularly difficult. At this point, the students were all trying to hold back tears. Even though this was a solemn occasion and not a tour of some Bavarian castle, there was still a bit of chit chat between students along the way. Not in the gas chamber, though. It was deadly quiet, and then a voice in the back said "Marvel children, at what only a German intellect can conceive of." The geography teacher, who turns out was a socialist. Connie said all the kids wept. Just wept for several minutes. Many of them had to sit on the floor and several of them were hugging and holding onto the geography teacher. Only after a few minutes did they notice that the music teacher was standing against the wall, red in the face and shaking with rage. The whole drive back to Munich no one said a word, apparently.
The two teacher chaperones were a middle-aged music teacher and a younger geography teacher. Both male. At the beginning of the trip, they were in Beyrouth for one of the many, many Wagner festivals there. If you don't know how Wagner felt about Jews, Google it. They watched a performance of Siegfried and the music teacher was just about orgasming. This is a man who was apparently also a local activist of CDU(think Republicans). When the cast came out for their bow, he encouraged all the students to stand up and applaud. Then he said "Marvel children, at what only a German intellect can conceive of."
They then went south into Bavaria and did all kinds of sightseeing, and then on one of the last days, they went to Dachau. Connie said the whole tour was harrowing, but the fact that it ended in gas chambers made it particularly difficult. At this point, the students were all trying to hold back tears. Even though this was a solemn occasion and not a tour of some Bavarian castle, there was still a bit of chit chat between students along the way. Not in the gas chamber, though. It was deadly quiet, and then a voice in the back said "Marvel children, at what only a German intellect can conceive of." The geography teacher, who turns out was a socialist. Connie said all the kids wept. Just wept for several minutes. Many of them had to sit on the floor and several of them were hugging and holding onto the geography teacher. Only after a few minutes did they notice that the music teacher was standing against the wall, red in the face and shaking with rage. The whole drive back to Munich no one said a word, apparently.
