World War I & II topic

Right. As it stands, that doesn't give me any reason to be worried about North Korea.
 
Another prophet of disaster, who says this ship is lost
Another prophet of disaster, leaving you to count the cost
Taunting us with visions, inflicting us with fear
Predicting war for millions, in the hope that one appears.
 
Horst Tappert who portrayed Derrick (very famous German crime series, also in my country and probably others) was a member of the Waffen SS. He was a member of the Totenkopf division. A division from which many members committed war crimes. Tappert had always said that he was a company medic in the Wehrmacht.

In the Netherlands, MAX (a broadcast station which has a focus on people with an age of 50 years and older) decided to stop broadcasting Derrick. "We're not going to honour an actor who lied about his past".

If anyone is familiar with the series, check out this parody:
 
Interesting. I have never heard of this guy or the show. But I do not think I would pull the show because an actor was in the Armed Forces as I do not believe that every member of the German Armed Forces (Waffen SS included) is automatically a war criminal and I am sure if we started banning shows based on actors/directors lying about past associations there would be a lot of shows not on TV anymore
 
Here in the States they teach History wrong. They don't tell us about how the Majority of Germans never voted for Hitler. Or How Hitler's brown shirts at the beginning established fear through killing Germans that opposed them in the late 1920's. They just say Germans were Nazi's and that's it. You have to do your own research to see that not all Germans were bad. And they definitely didn't tell us about how Russia,England,USA&France divided Germany and Berlin between the four of them and basically starved a lot of the Germans until we started dropping food of to the Germans starving in the Russian side and the United States only did that because they feared the influence of Communism coming from the Russian side.
 
I don't know. The Waffen SS was pretty much the elite arm of the Nazi Party - entering it meant being above-and-beyond the usual call. I would say that members of the Waffen SS were, if not war criminals, certainly bona fide Nazis that do not deserve to be lauded in any way. I don't necessarily agree with pulling the show, mind you, but I do think it should be used to teach a lesson, as well.

I could say a lot about the inability of the American school system to teach history, but it's so patchy based on the way the several states teach that there's no real uniform criticism, other than to say "Americans teach all history as American history."
 
TheSeventhSonRoberto said:
and basically starved a lot of the Germans until we started dropping food of to the Germans starving in the Russian side and the United States only did that because they feared the influence of Communism coming from the Russian side.
Click to expand...

Are you referring to the Berlin Blockade? The ones getting the supplies were West Berliners. The Soviets cut off all land access routes to West Berlin, while still offering supplies to the people. The offer was rejected, and American, British, Canadian and South African pilots flew in supplies (the French had no forces available, but provided an airport). Hadn't they done that, the people of West Berlin would sooner or later have gotten their supplies from the Commies. East Germany wasn't starving... not to much more of an extent than West Germany, anyway.
 
Bearfan, I am not sure if I would find many (let alone a few) actors who had such a controversial past as someone being in the Waffen SS.
Enlighten me if you find other "past associations" of the same level. Don't forget that this person also lied about it. And the channel MAX is focussed on older people, basically people for whom WWII is a lot "closer" than younger/average viewers.
 
Foro, do you think that people tainted by association with vile racist groups such as the SS should be expunged from having a place in society?
 
A place? He still has a place in society, if 1 broadcaster bans his series. That said, I am curious about other channels in other countries. Do they really not mind, and continue as if nothing has been discovered?

I wouldn't like to see someone like him being celebrated, especially not as much as he was. He is dead for some years now, so unfortunately he cannot be confronted with his lies (and possible actions) anymore.

Check this out: Work went way too slow in Germany when it comes to punishing their own people. When I heard of this, I had to pinch my arm to see if I was awake. Attempts for prosecution, at last! :yes:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Auschwitz-guards-account-nearly-70-years.html
 
There have been trials like this ever since 1965. Maybe it didn't all go smoothly or perfectly, but saying nothing has been done is a gross insult to those people who dedicated their lives to bringing these people to justice.
 
I think that people can change, and this guy doesn't seem to have acted in any way like he was still a Nazi afterwards.

And to say that work went slow in Germany is really not...understanding the post-war tribunals at all.
 
A few years ago I saw a documentary that focused on the lack of action in Germany when it comes to prosecuting German citizens, and honestly, things have been going slow. The Central Office of the State Justice Administrations for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes have built quite an archive, but has not enough resources to do something with that information. It's not entirely their own fault. It's the lack of funds.

When it comes to post-war tribunals, in my opinion there were too little in the last decades. Good to see some change, or at least, some attempts.
 
Really? A documentary? Who made it? Who was the target audience? By what standards was there a lack of action? What was the interest in making it? When was it made? What was the title? Why don't you become chief prosecutor?
 
Not to mention, who paid for it to be made? I've seen lots of documentaries, amongst them one about how everything Nostradamus said MIGHT ACTUALLY BE TRUE. :ninja:
 
It seems to me that "I saw a documentary once" might settle slightly lower than "the opinion of a German with a degree in history".
 
As was implied before, documentaries can be very biased. They are like statistics, and can tell you whatever you want them to. They have a tendency to make the facts seem fuzzy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top