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To: Cerb

No. The responsibility is the West’s. They abandoned Poland and all of Central Europe to the Soviet wolves

The West has a sordid record of abandoning their European brethren in the past.

Here is another example:

Balkans to the Ottoman enlavement for 400 years.

Germans have additional responsibility to SHUT UP! given their terror in WWI and WWII

Got that?...and welcome to FR


266 posted on 06/25/2007 11:07:46 AM PDT by eleni121 (+ En Touto Nika! By this sign conquer! + Constantine the Great)
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To: eleni121

You see, that is exactly the problem: the past is used as means to make Germany shut up.

I agree that Germany (and other western European countries) have a special responsibility concerning Poland and I think there were quite some occasions where Germany put in its weight to support Poland (I even read a quote from a Polish newspaper calling Germany “Poland’s lawyer”).

I know and understand the consequences of our WW II past, however, what you should begin to understand is that modern Germans, although knowing their responsibilities, don’t like to be blackmailed by that past. Our Nazi history was a “Totschlagargument” (an argument to make Germans shut up in every discussion) for a long time. However, it is no more.We are aware of what our people has done to Europe and the world, and we won’t forget it, I assure you. But the mood in Germany has changed in recent years, and we won’t step back all the time when someone brings up our terrible history, for the simple reason that we are living in a new world and a new post- cold war - Europe.

We shouldn’t forget our past, but neither should the past dominate our future.

So, yes, I “got that”, but I don’t agree. As one of the biggest and most important countries in Western Europe, Germany has the right to argue for its interests, just like Poland has the right to fight for its interests. Germany has to take responsibility for its past crimes, and is by no means a perfect country, but if you expect us to cower in shame whenever your president brings up our past to push us in acting against our own interests, you will be disappointed.


267 posted on 06/25/2007 12:13:39 PM PDT by Cerb
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