← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Fliegende Hollander
Thread ID: 3982 | Posts: 6 | Started: 2002-12-12
2002-12-12 21:11 | User Profile
Note in the following link:
(1) "an attack on two boys staying with British host families in Morden, south London, in October. The pair, aged 15 and 16, had been invited to play football by local teenagers but were set upon by another group when it was discovered they were German. One had his glasses broken and the other was shoved into a bush."
(2) The claim by "two computer experts claimed they had been forced out of their jobs after British colleagues bombarded them with anti-German abuse. Jens Puhle and Heinrich Sawatzki said colleagues at Motorola in Swindon, Wiltshire, had goosestepped around the office and made references to gas chambers."
The perpetrators of these Teutonophobic offenses should be given sensitivity training in addition to such other punishments as their misconduct warrants. At the very least they should be required to watch the movie "Slaughterhouse Five." They should be required to learn about the firebombing of Dresden directed by "Bomber Harris" and approved by that flatulent sot Winston Churchill.
[url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,5500,856562,00.html]http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/st...,856562,00.html[/url]
History teaching in UK stokes xenophobia, says German envoy
Focus on Nazi era and repetition of stereotypes blamed for attack on schoolboys
Jeevan Vasagar Monday December 9, 2002 The Guardian
The German ambassador has attacked history teaching in British schools, claiming it fuels xenophobia by focusing solely on his country's Nazi past. Thomas Matussek's comments follow an assault on two German schoolboys by a gang of youths in London. The newly appointed ambassador also criticised the media, but expressed serious concern that British schoolchildren were not taught about modern German democracy. He told the Guardian: "I want to see a more modern history curriculum in schools. I was very much surprised when I learned that at A-level one of the three most chosen subjects was the Nazis. "I think it is very important that people know as much as possible about the Nazi period and the Holocaust. But what is equally important is the history of Germany in the past 45 years and the success story of modern German democracy. "This is necessary to convey to young people that the Germans have learned their lesson and that they have changed." Mr Matussek praised the film Schindler's List for redressing the balance in a medium which normally portrays his countrymen as villains. The Spielberg film tells how a German industrialist saved Jewish lives. But he rebuked British newspapers: "A lot of what is reported about Germany in parts of the media is not so much based on direct knowledge of Germany. The repetition of cliches and the repetition of stereotypes is sometimes a substitute for reality. "You see in the press headlines like 'We want to beat you Fritz'. It ceases to be funny the moment when little kids get beaten up, if totally innocent young German schoolchildren get beaten up." His remarks were prompted by an attack on two boys staying with British host families in Morden, south London, in October. The pair, aged 15 and 16, had been invited to play football by local teenagers but were set upon by another group when it was discovered they were German. One had his glasses broken and the other was shoved into a bush. Children in the party from the Harsewinkel Realschule in western Germany were also heckled as "Nazis" in the street. Their English teacher, Gunhild Rübesamen, complained that German children were being harassed despite their country's efforts to confront its wartime guilt. "Would Russian schoolchildren be described as communists?" she asked. "The Soviet Union was not exactly a democratic state. As a teacher I ensure that young Germans are informed about and confronted by the third reich and the Holocaust." She added: "The youth of the partner countries should work together. The young people of one land should not stigmatise those of another because of the crimes of their ancestors." The German School in Richmond, south-west London, has in the past advised pupils to speak English on buses to avoid trouble. Now its director, Gerd Köhncke, is seeking to overcome hostility by inviting another local school to share sports facilities and join classroom exchanges. He said harassment had declined since the initiative was launched. "It has to do with the media," he said. "Not only in the press but on television, which still has all those old war films where Germans are always stupid and aggressive." Last month two computer experts claimed they had been forced out of their jobs after British colleagues bombarded them with anti-German abuse. Jens Puhle and Heinrich Sawatzki said colleagues at Motorola in Swindon, Wiltshire, had goosestepped around the office and made references to gas chambers.
Special report Germany
2002-12-12 22:05 | User Profile
Those two examples are the best they could come up with? That's pretty weak. A couple of boys getting roughed up and some office joking-around? Suck it up.
Perhaps Germans should just stay out of England if they're that sensitive.
2002-12-13 05:12 | User Profile
Come on, TD --- can't you see the satire here. I expected it to blow way over rban's head. Speaking of rban, he appears to have become very feisty of late. Perhaps the prospect of trolls even more loathsome than leo excites him. Remember how leo picked Christmas time to peddle his filth on the old Sam Francis Forum?
I say out with the trolls --- they make a mockery of the compact to which all members agree to abide by posting here.
2002-12-13 07:36 | User Profile
Originally posted by Fliegende Hollander@Dec 12 2002, 23:12 Come on, TD --- can't you see the satire here.
Of course, Dutchman. I myself was just stirring the pot a little bit.
Couple of things I wanted to post tonight, but it appears how I spend the remainder of the evening has already been chosen for me.
Y'all please carry on. I've got some trash to take out.
2002-12-13 07:46 | User Profile
Originally posted by Texas Dissident@Dec 13 2002, 03:36 > Originally posted by Fliegende Hollander@Dec 12 2002, 23:12 Come on, TD --- can't you see the satire here.**
Of course, Dutchman. I myself was just stirring the pot a little bit.
Couple of things I wanted to post tonight, but it appears how I spend the remainder of the evening has already been chosen for me.
Y'all please carry on. I've got some trash to take out.**
Good call, TD. Those trolls are such a waste. I am disappointed that they were not worthy opponents. At least if they had actual points of view to share or defend in a mature way, we all could have become better from the exchange. But, they chose their own fate.
2002-12-13 12:35 | User Profile
Originally posted by Fliegende Hollander@Dec 12 2002, 21:11 ...Their English teacher, Gunhild Rübesamen, complained that German children were being harassed despite their country's efforts to confront its wartime guilt...
There was a comedy sketch on UK TV a couple of years ago where a German tourist character would strike up a conversation with strangers and always insist on saying, [heavy accent], 'I feel I must apologise for the conduct of my country during the war', and would never take no for an answer. It used to crack me up (but maybe you had to be there).
The Guardian, like all left wing papers, likes two kind of stories like this. I'm sure the NY times is the same. 1) The home country doesn't like foreigners, which is an outrage and shows that the occupants of the home country are contemptable. 2) Foreigners don't like the home country, which is always reasonable and shows that the occupants of the home country are contemptable.