German wreath at the cenotaph

Oh blast! Finger trouble on new sensitive I.pad!! As I was saying! As previously stated my much loved kind thoughtful wonderful stepfather quietly hated the Japanese for the rest of his life! So, having experienced the horrors of Nazi Germany, the camps,the blitz, unprovoked aaggression, I can understand ,although not agree,with an ongoing feeling of hatred. On a visit to my father's grave in the Netherlands, in 2014 I was somewhat taken aback by the quite strong hostility towards Germans even amongst the young, obviously dating back to WW2. I on the other hand was welcomed and almost feted as the daughter of hero! I think we in this country were never invaded and every. country in Europe was, so if you were fighting in Europe, you would have seen extreme cruelty first hand,and perhaps that would colour your attitude for a lifetime. As one very elderly Dutch man said to me quite simply ,that he was boy of 14 when the Netherlands was invaded, and for five years he and his family were SO frightened. Makes you think!!

My father was in WW1 and WW2, newnanny and, when I had a German boyfriend in my teens he was happy to invite him to our home.

Oh I can sort of see it. As previously st

That’s awful Newnanny my Dad was also a soldier in WW2 in the tanks in France Germany and Burns and had no bad words to say after it was all over I think that’s an awful thing to even repeat
It’s never too soon to join forces against the horrors of war its not disrespectful its the reverse How can anyone harbour so much hate for so long

WWI and WWII.

This is for WW1:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties
Russia France and Germany each lost more than twice as many as the British empire. and the USA.

What dreadful sentiments to repeat newnanny!
Thank goodness for people who fought in Workd War I whocan revognise that not every German was a Nazi. Millions of Germans died too and yes, while Hitler started it, War is an ugly place and with atrocities on both sides, and for humanity to survive both sides must forgive and live and work together.

My mother was always very suspicious of German people, and I could never understand that. I now feel that Germany lost as many young men as we did, and although we should never forget, it's time to forgive.

My Dad was a soldier in WWII but is dead now. I know very well he would have been livid to see German's at our Cenotaph as many of his friends were killed when barely more than teenagers. To his dying day my Dad said ' the only good German is a dead one'. Not that I agree with that sentiment, but I understand why he felt this way. Whilst we do still have some who fought in WWII alive I think it is disrespectful to them. In another 10 years they will most likely all be dead, so it could wait until then.

I thought it was very brave of the German president to accept the invitation. He must have been worried about the reception he would receive. It was a step forward and I think he was there as part apology and part respect for ALL the souls that were lost. It was the right thing to do.

I actually found it very moving, definitely the right thing to do.

I doubt if Shazmo was talking about US serving personnel, but about the terrible insult Trump gave when he didn’t turn up for his own men by refusing to attend the wreath laying ceremony because it was raining

Shazmo 24 You clearly have no perception of or even experience that without US contribution in our fight against aggression in WW11 you may not be here to voice your opinion.

Dorabelle fantastic if only more had your little chaps wisdom
Please whilst remembering and thanking the British, and also the commonwealth fighters the Indian, West Indian, the Muslims ( yes there were many fought alongside us) the fantastic and brave Ghurkas the Anzacs and remember that many Germans Italian Japanese didn’t want to be there and were killed and injured and mentally altered too
There are no winners in war we need to move on with peace in our hearts and acceptance in our souls

Dorabelle - your DGS is a bright boy.

Conciliatory actions are in desperately short supply at the moment, so I applaud any I see.
I too loved the Merkel/Macron hug. A united Europe is a beautiful thing.

my 9yr old grandson, whose father is german, said to me "it wasn't the germans who started the war grandma, it was the Nazis"

It was definitely the right thing to do.

When I was a teenager in the sixties, I was in the Army Cadets. One day we were with some Regular Soldiers about to go on manouvers. One cadet asked the Soldier what he should do if he met a German. The response was "Take him down the pub and have a drink with him!"

Holding grudges after all these years will not do any of usany good! I have no problem with Germany laying a wreath at the Cenotaph.

I had the priviledge, and I call it that, many years ago to meet during my working years a lady brought to the UK as one of the survivor of a camp where thousands lost their lives in WW11 .She had then been but a child and survived as deemed fit to work.
She would say little, but show me a 'number' which she had been known by tattooed on her arm.

Thank you GA for your post pointing out that forces from around the world joined our troops.
Very narrow-minded to suggest that the Cenotaph and all it represents is a purely British tradition and concept.

To have the President of Germany attend our own remembrance services surely has to be a good thing?
At least he was respectful unlike Trump who if he had come to lay a wreath at our cenatoph I would have been cross about!

Did anyone see Sunday evening BBC 2 documentary They Shall Not Grow Old ? I wept through out for both sides in this war. So many were so young and it was typical of the humanity we in this country show even to those we fight against to see such compassion given to the wounded enemy.

Considering we were celebrating the end of the Great War, there cannot be many people alive today who experienced the cessation of hostilities in 1918. Those few like the 112 year old lady I read about on the BBC homepage on the 11th must all have been children. Certainly none of my family who served then are still alive.

I think it is high time we respect the soldiers who died or were invalided, irrespective of which side they fought on. After all many of them had no choice, as plenty of soldiers were either too young to vote for the politicians then in power, or not entitled to, as they were not householders.

Would OP have preferred Mrs Merkel, the German Chancellor to have refused the invitation to Paris?

Just to add to grannyactivist's post, there has been much mention of the soldiers of WW1 this centenary year - but of course so many sailors lost their lives too and, of course, the Royal Flying Corps lost airmen too.