Germans to stand with Allies for 1st time at D-Day rites

[Mace]

Sixty years ago, the Allied troops storming the Normandy beaches knew one thing for sure: Germans were the bad guys.

But today, Germans are good guys. As a nation, Germany is democratic, prosperous and an integral part of Europe. Germany has an army but is loath to use it for anything other than United Nations (news - web sites)-approved peacekeeping missions.

So it was with surprisingly little controversy that Germany, for the first time, was invited to participate in this year's D-Day remembrances.

In the small villages and towns that dot the Normandy coast, German flags flutter gaily beside the flags of the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Poland, Norway and other nations that contributed men to the D-Day invasion.

At Sunday's ceremonies, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will stand shoulder to shoulder with the leaders of the nations that defeated Adolf Hitler's Germany in 1945.

Ten years ago, this was impossible. According to diplomatic lore, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl wanted to be invited to the 50th anniversary ceremonies but was politely refused. Too soon, he was told.

A few veterans groups in the U.S. and Britain grumbled that it was still too soon, but their objections were muted. Most veterans now seem to have warmed to the idea.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2027&ncid=2027&e=4&u=/chitribts/20040606/ts_chicagotrib/germanstostandwithalliesfor1sttimeatddayrites

[patdem]

1. OMG...'flags flutter gaily'...HORRORS!!!!

Not that there's anything wrong with that!!

[struggle4progress]

5. Quick! We need a constitutional amendment!

[It was not a pretzel]

2. An extraordinary tale of forgiveness

I watched a fantastic story this afternoon, and it will be on US TV at 7PM ET. The story moved me to tears.

"On June 6, 1944, the Allies stormed the beaches at Normandy, gaining a tenuous foothold on the shores of France. On a stretch of shoreline the Americans had code-named Omaha Beach, the Allied forces were subjected to one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War. For seven hours German private Heinrich Severloh fired at the oncoming invaders, and was credited with killing more troops than any other German soldier. The horrifying estimate is anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 men in a single day. Like a madman, he fired his machine gun killing soldiers that, for him, had no names or faces. Except for one. American David E. Silva survived the massacre. Miraculously the two men became friends and met again years later at Omaha Beach."

http://www.historytelevision.ca/dday04/programming/sunday.asp

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

3. Long Overdue

Sometimes being a first generation German-American (on my mothers side) has it's little dilemmas. I've never been able to watch WWII movies without being torn about the tragedies on both sides. My fathers family fought on the American side and some of my mothers side fought with the Germans.My grandmothers first husband died in Normandy, not D-day but a bit later. When I was younger, I watched as my grandmother was in tears on the 45th anniversary of D-day. She lost a husband. Most of the German general Army were not Nazis.

I remember being called a Nazi as a child because my mother was from Germany. The funny thing is, my family was actually from Czechoslovakia, not Germany. They had German heritage. A fact that didn't escape the Russians when they took over Czechoslovakia. Because of the German heritage they were thrown onto a train and "relocated" to Germany. Much like the Jews were, they were allowed just what they could pack in one bag and given just a few hours to get things together. They were packed like cattle onto a train and dumped into a war-demolished country they knew nothing about. Because, my grandmother was of German heritage and her fiance' was a Czech they were separated, even though she was pregnant with my mother. Her fiance' was caught trying to cross the border to bring baby clothes and money for my grandmother and was believed to be killed for it. Imagine their surprise when after the fall of communism in the Czech Republic, he was found to be alive and had an entire family.

Anyway, I've heard the atrocious war stories from both sides (my grandmother still goes white when she hears sirens) and think that it's long overdue that the Germans join with the others in celebrating the beginning of the end of this horrible war.

[ze_dscherman]

4. Much covered by German media

The D-Day Memorial was a big thing in German media. Weeks before it started with documentaries (some very moving to see), testimonials of veterans (from all sides), political/historical commentaries, and around D-Day all those Hollywood war flicks (but not Saving Private Ryan) were shown again.

There was brief protest by some conservatives complaining that Chancellor Schröder would not visit a German war cemetary in France(which would have offended the French, and he also visited a mixed cemetary), and lot's of news coverage of the D-Day celebrations. The general message was: thankfullness for the normalization of relations with neighbours, especially the friendship with france, some pride for that, but not forgetting which nation had caused that war.

On edit: Clarified title