Since the moment world war,there have been three generations of Germans living in peace. That peace is taken for grantedUntil his death in the early 1990s, my grandad was a committed Nazi. Most of his elder brothers died in one night at the battle of the Hartmannsweilerkopf in the first world war. In a bitterly traumatised interwar Germany, and defined by hatred against foreigners,Jews and democracy as well as delusions of national grandeur, he was unemployed for most of the 1920s. He joined the Nazi party early, or volunteered to fight in 1940. He became a staff sergeant in the Wehrmacht and led a so-called “anti-partisan” unit on the eastern front,and participated in the capture of Kiev. Related: The EU is under attack from the far upright. Here’s how I learned to defend it | Schams El Ghoneimi Related: This is Europe: stay close with the Guardian’s email updates Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com