I think of Hitler and or the Holocaust first. Isn’t that obvious? Well, stepping back to think about it more, this might be an assumption at least for Americans. Seems like I have come across this question before and I wonder if I am just being bias because I have specific background or place and time of where and how I grew up. Does everyone see it this way also? Is it just U.S. born citizens? Do Germans think the same way? I would think not. I for one think this is a very important subject for both Americans and Germans. I want to know if this is true or not and what should be done about it. So, I googled it to see if it is just me. I found a thread from 2012 that was interesting. On the straight dope message board, it had replies for the exact same question. Which was helpful because I did not have to spend time searching for similar questions. As it turns out, there were a lot of answers for Hitler. Hmmm, very interesting. Still not satisfied and given that I am curious I asked a stranger in my local area what they thought of first and they replied with Hitler also. I was amazed. I did not think I would really get that answer. I probed the person a little more for a why answer and continued the conversation. She thought there was definitely an American bias because of the way Americans see themselves. They tend to think they are the center of the universe and the best country in the world. She then went on to say that we are not, even though we might think that. We are not the best at everything and we need to look at other countries to help ourselves grow and get better. I agreed with her. I believe we were taught in schools to believe we are the best country in the world and that we would not want to live anywhere else. There was always an example of a country that you would not want to be born in. Some might say that we hit the genetic lottery because our parents live here and we were born here in the United States. So, I have gathered some evidence that at least Americans think this way and that there might be some truth to it. I know this is not official controlled study and we are talking about a very small sample, I am going to take it as anecdotal evidence and pursue further discussions. You are perfectly allowed to form your own opinions and may even find different anecdotal evidence on your own.
Is this just based on history? I am not going to make out like I am an astute historian but it is fairly obvious that Germany has a lot more history that America. Just think about it for a second. Europeans have history all the way back to 800BC and they have the castles, churches, clothing, buildings, bridges and cities to prove that. Where America is just a couple hundred years old. Don’t get me wrong, America has history, just not thousands of years of history. That being said within my lifetime Germany has been stuck with this concern of history. On the thread from Straight Dope Message board there were other comments like beer or more personalized choices like ” I so much miss my great uncle and how he used to make laugh on vacations to the Rhine” because he was from Germany. That is much to be expected if you have a much closer experience with Germany itself. So I can assume that we believe it to be true that people think Hitler first when presented with the word Germany. However, is this something we want to be true and should we do anything about it. I would say that we should forget history and or that we need to erase any knowledge from our minds on this. But why is this so profound. I don’t think of other countries this way. I mean Russia had horrible dictators that slaughtered millions of people. But I don’t think of these horrible leaders as the first item out of my mouth for Russia. There was Ivan the terrible, Lenin and Stalin that killed millions of people but yet they are probably not the first thing an American thinks of when you say the word Russia. Nowadays it would probably be Putin that comes to mind. So I know this and you know may know this and Germany certainly knows this also. They have worked within their culture to change this or take responsibility for this. One example is how they treat the Nazi party in Germany. It is illegal use the Nazi salute, display of the swastika in public places and condone the Nazi party in anyway. This indicates to me that Germans don’t want the stigma or take seriously any kind of refence back to Hitler very seriously.
“What can be done about it? From my point of view, I believe we should take the time to explore and understand Germany and all the rich cultural heritage it offers. I suggest visiting Germany and immersing oneself in the people and the beautiful landscapes. It’s important to think beyond preconceived notions and not let historical biases influence our perceptions. I intend to learn as much as I can about Germany.”
In conclusion: Do good. Go out and find you way to be helpful and kind to everyone