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German Pride
If you're a German-American Catholic, here's how to have some fun with your friends: Strike up a conversation with them noting that the new pope is, in fact, German. "Now it's our time," say. And then shift into a thick, German accent: "Een fact, eet is now all goink to plannnnn." And then, if you want, you can fade off into a Boris Karloff-type of laugh.
Yes, there is a German pope but, no, there is nowhere near the level of enthusiasm from ethnic Germans as the Polish showed when Pope John Paul II was selected in 1978. Ethnic pride this time is, well, muted to say the least. For obvious and understandable reasons, it will probably take another 100 years, another two or three generations, for feelings of World War II guilt to subside and ethnic pride to re-emerge among Germans. If it ever re-emerges. As it is now, the average German was born almost 20 years after the end of World War II but sour feelings seem to remain. (Pope Benedict himself was only 14 when the war ended, but that didn't stop some predictable Nazi smearing from the usual suspects.) Oh sure, there have been a few scattered, somewhat obligatory news stories on "German Pride," including this one from the Philadelphia Daily News which went about as far out on a limb as it could with this sentence: "German Catholics in the city were particularly pleased." Pleased, perhaps. Cheering in the square, well, no. (Can you even imagine if an Irish pope was elected?) By Ed Moltzen · 25 April 2005
Comments
It's not just WWII that diminished a strong sense of German-American ethnic identity. There was also WWI, when nearly all German-language newspapers in the U.S. ceased publication, many German fraternal organizations dissolved, and some individuals and communities changed their German names. Furthermore, most German-Americans are descendants of immigrants who arrived between 1840 and 1870. Over the years, the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-granchildren married other Americans who were not of German descent. Nowadays, most Americans with German family-names have several other nationalities in the family tree, and identity with those other nationalities may trump any sense of German identity. Posted by: Michael Meckler at April 27, 2005 10:25 AMnot all german-americans are muted, or subdued, i will always be proud of my heritage no matter what and nothing anyone says will ever change that, and that is what separates real germans from the posers. DEUTSCH STOLZ Posted by: travis hoffart at May 19, 2005 10:28 PMI understand that I have some other ntionalities in my blood, but the one I am most proud of is my German ancestory. Germany has always been a leader of technology, economic strength, automotives, and medical research in Europe. As far as I can tell, this column is wrong on the lines of the German public feeling guilty about the nations past. I talk to a friend in Hamburg twice a month, and she always says how well the economy is doing compared to other nations, and when Ratzinger was selected as pope she told me how people were wearing shirts that translated into: "Lets Go Ratze!" and "We Are Pope!". The Nazi past was obviously a bad period in the nations history, but it will never change, so people should learn from their mistakes and live a better life. It would be like me feeling guilty for being a white man in America, because blacks were slaves over 100 years ago. Well, I don't feel guilty, I don't feel bad, and I never will feel that way about my Southern or German Heritage. I had read that over 70% of the people in the United States have German ancestory, so you better watch what you say, you just might be German. Posted by: Nikolas Ewaldt at June 26, 2005 01:27 AM |
