[SauronOfMordor]

I'm not getting this: what the hey did he say that PO'd these people? Do they think that present-day Germans should be held responsible for WWII and the atrocities committed then?

Follow the money. If modern-day Germans are no longer responsible, then there is no longer any legal basis for any further reparations payments from Germany to Israel. See link at Israel's Finance Ministry regarding German reparations

[Pharmboy]

Well, I see your point, but I believe there is a difference. The duly constituted government of Germany at that time stole property and money from the Jews. The descendants of those Jews deserve to be paid back by the state.

This, however, appears to be a matter of generational collective guilt. As another poster noted above, if this logic holds then present-day Jews could be held responsible for Christ's crucifixion.

[Alexander Rubin]

I don't think that the younger generations of Germans should be held responsible for the Holocaust, but neither do I think it's all about the money. Some people (and with good reason in some cases, and just plain orneriness in others) hold a grudge against even young Germans for what their grandparents did. My older family members are definitely still angry at Germany. Some even were surprised that I would want to travel there even.