In my German 360 course this week someone gave a fantastic presentation of German Stereotypes. According to people interviewed in the presentation, Germans are hardworking, stubborn, beer swilling, David Hasslehoff admiring, car loving people who had something to do with Adolf Hitler. Many said that their family heritage was German, but no one actually knew what that meant to them. The whole presentation was rather comical. If I ever become a German teacher I will have to address these stereotypes. I was surprised to discover that these stereotypes go beyond the superficial, the extend into the historical.
Most people when asked how World War II started will say it was because the Nazis were mass murdering Jews. This common belief is not true. The discovery of the “Massenvernichtung der Juden” was verified near the end of the war. Britain and France did not enter the war to prevent the elimination of the Jews. These countries entered the war because they recognized that the invasion of Poland by Germany meant that they could be next. Even then, fewer people actually know what event lead to the war. For the United States this event was the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. By this point, however, the war had already been raging for two years.
The event that actually led to the largest military action in human history is relatively benign. In 1939, on a small Polish radio station, a call to arms rang out for fellow Poles to take up arms against the Germans. The call to arms ended in gunshots. But this whole event was a covert operation orchestrated by undercover German Schutzstaffel officers. It was reported as an act of aggression against Germany and the annexation of Poland was promptly underway. The whole war began on false pretenses.
Damninteresting.com has a great write-up of the event.