What should tourists NEVER do in your country?

I lived in Germany for a few years between '97 and '02, in both Hamburg and Heidelberg.

I found that the older generation to be pretty frank about the war. I knew a grandma who was in the Hitler Youth. When I asked her about it, she said, "Of course I was. Everyone was. It was the thing to do." I knew an old soldier who was one of the first in Poland. He just said, "Hitler made us proud of Germany so we fought. We didn't know about the bad stuff until the end."

But, younger people, who'd now be in their 30's to 50's were very defensive about the war. "We weren't part of THAT generation." Or, "I didn't take part in the war." Or, "Why does everyone bring up the war - it wasn't my fault!"

I also noticed a culturally defensive attitude among the younger group. Pyschologically, everyone in the world likes to think that things aren't their own fault: "I'm late for work because there was traffic," instead of, "I woke up late and couldn't get moving. I'm sorry." Everyone does this. But I noticed that the now middle-aged Germans did this non-stop. Every error, no matter how minor was the fault of someone or something else. If the cashier gave the wrong change, it was because of mistake on the computer screen. If you got a Weisswurst instead of Currywurst, it was because you screwed up the order, not the guy. If you got the wrong beer, you should have spoken louder. No one was at fault and willing to say that they made a mistake.

I always wondered that if was tied to the war. Following the war in the US, we had the baby boomers, but Germany just a reconstruction generation, who were constantly attacked and berated about the war. So then, my generation (Gen X in the US), was paired with a generation who grew up under everyone who had to deal with reconstruction and the blame of the war. Did that cause this defensive attitude?

I don't know. Maybe I misread everything, too. I was young and in a different culture, so I could have been reading things that weren't there.

/r/AskReddit Thread Parent