and stalin killed about 17 million people.

-----Original Message-----
From: Kathy Salkin
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 10/10/2002 3:06 PM
Subject: Re: Question

Not against all things German, just against those directly related to
the
extermination of the Jews. Which was nearly everything manufactured in
Germany
during the Nazi regime, unfortunately, and even some product
manufactured
outside of Germany.

But you're right, it was far better to rebuild Germany from the ashes
and not
allow the pre-war economic conditions to reoccur to make way for another
dictator.  If you will recall, the Armistice ending WWI left Germany so
badly
economically crippled, it paved the way for the superinflation that
devalued
the mark so steeply, thus creating a deep resentment on the part of the
Germans to allow Hitler and the Nazis to come to power.  And so the
Marshall
Plan was a kinder, better plan than the one hammered out in Versailles
in
1918.

Yet we also need to remember that over 6 million Jews were in the camps,
and
entire villages and towns were wiped out.  This is something we can
never
forget.  Auschwitz is still there, a grim memorial of something that
must
never happen again, even in the name of nationalism.  This is why many
Jews
cannot even stand to buy products associated with the Nazis.  It's a
grim
reminder of a past we cannot forget.

Kat

On Thu, 10 Oct 2002 14:45:12 -0400 "Cleveland, Kyle E."
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> What purpose would it have served not to buy
> the car, though, Kat?
> Certainly didn't help Hitler, and it helped
> rebuild the German economy to
> the point where there would be no impoverished
> Germans willing to listen to
> an Austrian paper-hanger say, "blame the Jews
> for your troubles."
>
> The combination of Germanic genius and the
> Marshall Plan is what
> re-established stability in post-war West
> Europe.  Without massive exports
> of Volkswagens, who's to say that another
> fascist wouldn't have put a
> humiliated Germany back in the same place?
> After WWI, the Allies humiliated
> and bound Germany so much that the people were
> living in incredible poverty.
>
> I think I said something on the list about
> dissecting the aftermath of
> Hurricane Andrew in South Florida.  Because
> then-governor Lawton Chiles
> refused to ask for Federal assistance, some
> people in Homestead were
> suffering from severe dehydration and hunger.
> The very fabric of society
> was unravelling in a matter of a couple days.
> People were willing to shoot
> other people just to get potable water.
>
> Now, magnify that scenario by 60 million people
> and ten years--you can see
> how people would want to blame "someone".  In
> essence, we left Germany to
> rot after the war, and purposely ham-strung its
> economy.  Hitler and company
> blamed the Jews, but the finger should have
> been pointed directly at the
> Allies.  After WWII, Truman and Churchill had
> learned their lesson.
>
> Now the Germans have the luxury of electing an
> idiot like Schroeder (tongue
> planted firmly in-cheek).
>
> -Kyle
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kathy Salkin
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 2:12 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Question
>
>
> I'd no idea until today that Hitler'd had any
> role in the development of the
> Volkswagen Beetle.  Not sure I'd have bought my
> car if I'd known at the
> time.
>
> Kat
>
> On Thu, 10 Oct 2002 12:57:08 -0400 Meir Weiss
> wrote:
>
> > Volkes as in folks/ nation
> >
> > Wagon/  car
> >
> > My father may he r.i.peace
> >
> > Was a child  holocaust survivor (orphan)
> >
> > For his whole life he refused to buy german
> > products
> >
> > ESP volkeswagon-bmw (bavaria
> >
> > Mercedes benz
> >
> > All those
> >
> > Just fyi  :)
>