Ignorance towards WW2

I was just wondering about things you heard from people when they think about World War 2nd. Or simply what people who arent familiar(though I think everyone should be) can come up with when they talk about WW2nd.


Most people can only relate two things to it. Use of the term "The Nazis" which pisses me off big time because alot of the time that is what they refer to for all people in Germany: Soldiers, common folk, everybody. Or Hitler they can really just say " Was that when that guy Hitler killed a bunch of people?" which further pisses me off.

Tell about other things like that that you know of, or just why you think everybody should even lightly study world war 2nd instead of making horribly ignorant statements such as: When I was talking about Stalingrad some fool said "Oh when Hitler took that city?" so really its like saying All Germans and Russians didnt have a face? They where just things that didnt exist? Thats why people should study. To know the horrors and death that happened a little over sixty years ago.

 

What do you want? With educational systems as they are all over, and this wave of PCness that eradicated any feeling of patriotism, WW2 is as relevant and remote as say the 30 Years War or the Roman-Dacian war in 2nd Cent. AD

 

I'm being picky now but this is the first time I see it refered to as World War 2nd or WW2nd.

World War 2 or the Second World War but not the way you've done it.

We can't expect everyone to know everything about WW2.
As long as they have a grasp that something major happened that's good enough for me.

 

Australia, were they in ww2?, and that is from an Australian.

 

To quote myself from another thread:

"The USSR? Is that a ship or something?"

 

Man 1 "When the Germans invaded the country Belguim...."

Man 2 "(BELGUIM, thats not even a country in ww2)"

Right, sure it isnt, oh and the world isnt round and it is carried on the back of a giant turtle

 

Well this is another reason for us to be proud with our contributions on this fine forum. If some people learn from it then it's already a victory. Now if they don't want to know there is no way to force a donkey to drink if it's not thirsty.

 

I have heard a few silly things, nothing i can remember at the moment. I understand your passion for thsi, but I think that instead of getting mad, which I have done, it would be better to take some time to teach them, instead of yelling at them. I'm trying to work on this myself! In the long run education is the key!

 

I am struck by people with this ignorance everyday! It's not just the Second World War, its History in General! Most people can't remember past 9/11!!!

I even get "There was a first Gulf war?" AGHHHH! Idiots! If it was not on Opera last week... good luck!

The Greatest confilct in History is mostly forgoten by the sheep, something as recent as the Falklands war might as well have been writen by Homer.

I'm frustrated so I will stop ranting now.....

 

What WW said in his first post up top was something what I was trying to get across. But I didnt say you needed to be an expert (if I did I didnt mean to).
I just think people should know about things that shaped their generation.

 

I agree with Bigfun when he says Education is the key. Tomorrow my son will visit the Imperial War Museum in London, it's a good start.

 

I think it is the responsibility of parents to educate their children. You can't only rely on schools. Just as we teach our children how to look after themselves and what is right and wrong, we should pass on to them the love of history (in General) so that they are prepared to face the world better Equiped. Ignorance is a trait of our society, not just our education system.

Winston Churchill

"Study History... Study History!"

 

What do you expect with all these politcally correct a-holes controling things? The last history book I saw had a whole ONE page devoted to WW II. Of course topics concerning civil rights were covered with far more pages.

This is why a woman in her 40s where my wife works never heard of Hitler. No kidding. They started "sanitizing" books years ago so now only the warped version of every historical event is included if they are included at all.

It was the reason Ike paraded every GI he could find through the concentration camps and made the German citizens assist in cleaning up and burying the corpses because as he said, "someday, someone will say none of this happened."

He was right but its gone further to simply ignore the whole damned war!

 

It's not so much the ones who don't know much, it's the ones who don't know much and aren't willing to learn.

Though me and my economics teacher (who also does History) had a laugh today when someone thought WW2 ended in 1918 (!!???), then someone else said 1941!

 

Thing I hear most is US joined the war after Pearl Harbor but did nothing untill D-day.
Well, thats from American's only

 

I feel your pain totenkopf, I feel your pain.
My Father and I have only ever had one true bond in our lives; an interest in WWII. We saw SPR together, went to see Stephen Ambrose speak, it's "our thing",and I cherish it. Anyway, at my parents 50th anniversary, my dad and I got on the subject of Bastogne when my brother in law -Know it all that he is (and hes proud of it)- quipped in "HA! Battle of the Bulge!! The Germans should have realized you dont fight the Russians in winter!!". I politely corrected him, to which he further insisted it had been the Russians. I was about to let it go, when my Father said "Shep, if there is one thing you shouldnt mess with steve on, it's WWII history...He-will-BURY-you."

You know, I dont think I ever heard my dad say something so nice about me in all my life! at any rate, I understand what you mean.

 

I had a History teacher who threw me out of her class because I....well, she threw me out of the class for telling her she was full of "it", but I told her she was full of "it" because she insisted that Sherman NEVER burnt Atlanta to the ground.

in my parent teacher conference, My dad asked me why I had said that, and without saying a word to me, turned to my teacher and said "You ARE full of it".

 

I agree, in my english class we were reading Flags of our Fathers and the people were clueless. When some ased what coastal defense guns were this one kid said they were gatling cannons. I could hardly contain myself from saying what they really were.

 

I think -if I may be so bold- that it is up to people like us to help the uninformed to become aware of the events and things that have sculpted our "here and now". For example; I was talking to people at work today about the olympics, and how the people of San Francisco are planning a protest of the torch, by turning their backs to it when it passes thru there next week.
Someone said it was horrible that people would take something like the olympic torch and turn it into some kind of political porpaganda....until I pointed out that Hitler initiated the torch ceremony during the 36 Olympics.

BTW Shockwave soldier, I like that M7 Priest on your profile; I'm actually in the middle of building the Academy 1/35 version right now.

 

I agree, we must inform people about WWII. And thank you, I have been wanting to make an M7 model myself.