# Things ruined in Germany by the Nazis **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395 "2014-07-05T05:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/81 "2014-07-06T13:30:33Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That seems odd. Isn’t ß just used for double-s within words? I wouldn’t think it would evoke an abbreviation like SS. I didn’t mean to imply that there was an evocative connection, only the SS coincidence. Here is a summary of the new rule: Hitler himself couldn’t have done it better. > **[Using ß for Double S Words in German](https://www.thoughtco.com/spelling-reform-double-s-words-german-4069735)** > > Here are the German language spelling rules and reforms that apply to double s (ss) spellings. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/82 "2014-07-06T14:15:59Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Similarly, I recall (perhaps not with 100% accuracy) a _West Wing_ bit where Toby Ziegler (a Jew) is telling an anecdote about a conversation he’d had with some Germans who thought he was very dryly humourous. > > “They said ‘Why don’t we have people like you in Germany?’ I said ‘Because you killed them all.’” My favorite: Emo Philips on Germans My sister married a German. He complained he couldn’t get a good bagel back home. I said, “Well, whose fault is that?” ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/83 "2014-07-06T15:24:59Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > In the UK, flying the Union Flag has long been a symbol of the right wing extremist organisations. In recent years, it seems to me to have been retaken by the centre to some extent. Maybe as a result of the scottish referendum, I don’t know. > > The whole 88 thing was complete news to me, as it seems it was to all non-Americans. Over here 88 is most likely to be found as a Chinese good luck number - I gather that licence plates, both here and in Hong Kong, with the number 88 in them, can change hands for ridiculous sums. > > This guy [expatlingo.com](http://expatlingo.com/2012/06/20/vanity-plates-of-the-wealthy-in-hong-kong-or-ill-take-18-for-2-million/) says that _“The highest priced plate I ran across was simply “18″ which sold during a special Lunar New Year auction for a breathtaking HKD 16,500,000 (US $2.1 million)”_ > > The cost of this plate would be out of reach of all but the multi billionaires [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GGRr5jOq0Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GGRr5jOq0Y). However, in the UK the old (1980s I think) far right group Combat 18 took that name due to the 18 = Adolf Hitler reference. ETA: Turns out they are from the 1990s and are still active. > **[Combat 18](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_18)** > > Combat 18 (C18 or 318) is a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation that was founded in 1992. It originated in the United Kingdom with ties to movements in Canada and the United States. Since then, it has spread to other countries, including Germany. Combat 18 members have been suspected of being involved in and directly responsible for the deaths of numerous immigrants, non-whites, dissidents, and the German politician Walter Lübcke as well as internecine killings of Combat 18 members. > On 21 June 20... ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/84 "2014-07-06T15:31:46Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > My favorite: > > Emo Philips on Germans > > My sister married a German. He complained he couldn’t get a good bagel back home. I said, “Well, whose fault is that?” [Monty Python visits Dachau](http://youtu.be/5VH4c0-p-CY) ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/85 "2014-07-06T16:01:28Z")
Occasionally I hear someone casually referring to an ultimate goal as “the final solution” Last year I was in a meeting with my boss and he was speaking of the mid-term design and final design of our system and he said to everyone “And for _the final solution_ we will be doing XYZ” I brought it up later on and he did a double take, suddenly facing the baggage that those three words carry. > [@Doughbag](#): > > Interesting, I only knew 88 as “egal ist 88” and CB-Funk meaning as “Kisses and Love” > > However, I stand corrected, the weird thing is, that is seems to be “[eingedeutscht](http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Words)” also see [Wiki](http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechtsextreme_Symbole_und_Zeichen) B & H Blood & Honour, SWP, 14 words (the 14 words are english words). As a ham radio operator in my teen years this is what I always thought of when I heard 88. It was part of the list of number codes that hams use between each other; by far the most common would be 73, the traditional sign-off signal, “Best regards” / “Take it easy” / “Later on dude” Now, B&H means only one thing to me: the [best place](http://www.bhphotovideo.com) to buy photo gear. Never knew that it could have political meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/86 "2014-07-06T16:18:30Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > You mean everybody think’s I’m a neo-nazi sympathizer? Until otherwise demonstrated, I would assume someone with 88 in their username to be a neo-nazi sympathizer. You say you’re not, so fine. I’d think the same of anyone who has a username like Hairy Harold and signed posts HH, and I’d have similar assumptions for anyone who was sneaking 14 into their sig or name. Avoiding this sort of username codeword is why I went with ‘Dimension’ instead of ‘Reich’. \* \*Just kidding ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/87 "2014-07-06T19:16:35Z")
I just figure most people with 88 in their user names were born in 1988. Silly me. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/88 "2014-07-06T19:33:03Z")
The dialects that were spoken by Germans living in Silesia, Pomerania and East Prussia until 1945 have (almost) completely vanished. I remember hearing an elderly refugee in our street speaking Prussian dialect when I was a child. That’s something never to be heard again. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/89 "2014-07-06T19:46:16Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That seems odd. Isn’t ß just used for double-s within words? I wouldn’t think it would evoke an abbreviation like SS. Not quite. The ß is used as a “sharp s” after long vowels and diphthongs, after short vowels we now use “ss”. For instance, “ein bißchen” (a bit) became “ein bisschen”, but “beißen” (to bite) stayed like that. We have ß at the end of a word, as well - the conjunction “daß” became “dass”, but the color “Weiß” is still alive and well. And, by the way: no one, and I mean no one, would think anything of seeing two s characters together in a word, however, the abbreviation SS or SA or whatever on its own is going to raise some eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/90 "2014-07-06T20:01:17Z")
The Nazis ruined the Nazi Party … But look at what the Nazis gave us in return: _And now it’s… Springtime for Hitler and Germany Deutschland is happy and gay! We’re marching to a faster pace Look out, here comes the master race! Springtime for Hitler and Germany Rhineland’s a fine land once more! Springtime for Hitler and Germany Watch out, Europe We’re going on tour! Springtime for Hitler and Germany…_ That’s right … Mel Brooks gags !!! ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/91 "2014-07-06T21:34:56Z")
Not something IN Germany,and only as an indirect result, but they pretty well ruined any chances over the next century or so for peace and prosperity in the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/92 "2014-07-06T21:48:07Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Not something IN Germany,and only as an indirect result, but they pretty well ruined any chances over the next century or so for peace and prosperity in the Middle East. Care to elaborate on what you mean by that? ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/93 "2014-07-06T22:59:47Z")
> [@JEngelman](#): > > Hitler expressed his hatred for Jews in Mein Kampf, but he never made an effort to justify it. Are you serious? One of the little bits of _Mein Kampf_ that I remember (probably because it was near the beginning of the book, i.e. I never came close to finishing it) went something like this\*: > [@AH in MK](#): > > If one looks into anything immoral, vile, filthy, etc. in Germany today, then, like cutting into an abscess and finding a maggot inside, one finds a Jew. There is always a Jew at the centre. If something is perverted or rotten, there will be a Jew inside, directing it. I ask again: are you serious? \*Yes, I am paraphrasing. For sure. But the ‘theme’ and thrust of the words and phrases I used in the “quote” above are absolutely the same as in the original. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/94 "2014-07-07T00:57:50Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Care to elaborate on what you mean by that? Sure, OK. It is my opinion that the State of Israel never would have been formed when and where it is, had it not been for the genocide against the Jews in the prior decade. So the Holocaust started a sequence of events that led to the formation of the State of Israel. The presence of which has distracted the Arab population of the Middle East, leading many of them to take retributive measures against the Israelis, to the detriment of their own well-being, peace and prosperity. Which influences the foreign policy and global economics of many Middle Eastern nations to this day, in a generally negative way. Not a difficult sequence of causes and effects to comprehend. Nor to predict… ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/95 "2014-07-07T01:02:09Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Sure, OK. > > It is my opinion that the State of Israel never would have been formed when and where it is, had it not been for the genocide against the Jews in the prior decade. So the Holocaust started a sequence of events that led to the formation of the State of Israel. The presence of which has distracted the Arab population of the Middle East, leading many of them to take retributive measures against the Israelis, to the detriment of their own well-being, peace and prosperity. Which influences the foreign policy and global economics of many Middle Eastern nations to this day, in a generally negative way. > > Not a difficult sequence of causes and effects to comprehend. Nor to predict… That’s probably a discussion for another thread, but I’d hardly lay all the disfunctional in the ME at the feet of the formation of Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/96 "2014-07-07T01:16:14Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I think plain, harmless normal German patriotism got ruined. Japan is in an almost identical situation - if someone is Japanese and patriotic, people do this leap of logic and connect it to WWII aggression. This is a good thing and the tragedy here is the failure of the rest of the world to learn this lesson. No nationalism is harmless. All patriotism is poison. All people of every country should be ashamed to show national pride and claim to be the best. I would go further. I would reject all venues in which countries compete against countries for championships, like the Olympics or World Cup or the Eurovision Song Contest. We should have no songs of national pride or obeisance to flags. A flag should be nothing more than a symbol of government action. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/97 "2014-07-07T01:55:30Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Sure, OK. > > It is my opinion that the State of Israel never would have been formed when and where it is, had it not been for the genocide against the Jews in the prior decade. So the Holocaust started a sequence of events that led to the formation of the State of Israel. The presence of which has distracted the Arab population of the Middle East, leading many of them to take retributive measures against the Israelis, to the detriment of their own well-being, peace and prosperity. Which influences the foreign policy and global economics of many Middle Eastern nations to this day, in a generally negative way. > > Not a difficult sequence of causes and effects to comprehend. Nor to predict… > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > That’s probably a discussion for another thread, but I’d hardly lay all the disfunctional in the ME at the feet of the formation of Israel. **Moderator Note** I think this could easily lead to a major hijack, so let’s stick to the “in Germany” part of the OP as much as possible. > [@Acsenray](#): > > This is a good thing and the tragedy here is the failure of the rest of the world to learn this lesson. No nationalism is harmless. All patriotism is poison. > > All people of every country should be ashamed to show national pride and claim to be the best. > > I would go further. I would reject all venues in which countries compete against countries for championships, like the Olympics or World Cup or the Eurovision Song Contest. > > We should have no songs of national pride or obeisance to flags. A flag should be nothing more than a symbol of government action. And this is getting far from GQ territory as well. Let’s stick to the OP rather than opining about nationalism. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/98 "2014-07-07T02:06:25Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Hell, I’m not even German and I’m the same on that one. Guys with 88, 18 or 14 ([not directly Nazi related](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Words)) in their usernames always make me very suspicious. There are plenty of ways it could be innocent of course, but… yeah. So what’s the 88 connotation? You wanna share? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/99 "2014-07-07T02:13:24Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > So what’s the 88 connotation? You wanna share? See post #35. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395/100 "2014-07-07T02:46:41Z")
Germans today are more than a bit embarrassed by any military history they may have had. I had a German explaining the Battle of Wilhelmsthal at the local museum and the general feeling he conveyed was one of Germany being in the wrong for fighting it, or in the 7 years war at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-ruined-in-germany-by-the-nazis/692395.md?page=6)