I Really Respect Germany For This Reaction 

Hey Germans This is my 5th Video, thank you for watching click this link to add German videos to playlist on RU-vid so that i can react to whatever German videos you would love to see me react to. ru-vid.com/group/PLXhs9SvQ0metWyVtXwK7sQ8mTsgYAa1Bf&jct=_giRaSTESqry1O3zaDeVAwJdp6skxA

4:00 As a german. Many of us approach it in a "we are not accountable for the past", but "we are responsible to not repeat it" kinda way.

The original idea of the stumbling stones was: if people wanna read the name on it, they have to bow down and pay respect. There's an extremely powerful song: "Stolpersteine" from german hiphop artist Trettman.

The thing is, you usually don't step on the Stolpersteine. You develop a sense for them, some kind of inner alarm. They quite literally make you "stumble" out of your daily straight way.

For me as a german today its a sign of respect and something to be proud of, that we are able to carry our history openly, the good and the bad. Many countires try to hide the worst parts of their history, only few really show all of it and nearly non do it so open. I guess this video is one step of getting why a lot of germany are proud of "not beeing proud". Its not that we disslike our country and its not that we still feel guild. We simply prefere to be proud about things we do our self or things that the people of germany have done as a whole but not for the flag or the country itself.

I'm German, and I like the stumbling stones. I don't always stop to read them, but I take care not to step on them. But even when walked on, them being on the ground make them and the history and victims they stand for a part of daily life which plaques on the walls would not imho.

Imagine,the only controversy in the US about remembering slavery was how to do it best.

As a German, let's not forget about the Marshall plan, which was tantamount to help lift Germany up and rebuild. Without that, we probably wouldn't be where we are today, or we wouldn't have recovered nearly as fast. So instead of letting us, as the ones who started and then lost the war, lie in ruins, the other countries reached out and helped. It is mindboggling, and humbling, and I am grateful for that!

I think (I might be wrong) that the artist's intention behind having the plates set into the ground was to make people actually STOP and get down to read them. If they are placed on a wall, people will mostly just walk by quickly and not pay as much attention as they should. So, it's a good idea to have them on the ground, I guess.

My father lives in a house that was built in the year napoleon was born. History is real here.

Usually, these stones aren't meant to be stood in front of either, but to kneel or bend down to read them, which is a sign of respect. So i think Munich just dont get it

To go back to the beginning: I, born in 1967, am in no way responsible for the horrors of WW2, but I do have a responsibility to remember them and to prevent them from ever happening. That's why so much about the Nazi regime is shown on TV in Germany, that's why the following generation is taught so much about this time in school.

Yes the stolpersteine are powerful and I really try so often I can NOT to step on this stones, this is my part of respect them. Near to my home town I read this stones and they was 3 of them in front of a house. I read there lived victims in these house and I give me goosebumps, when I was thinking about it. We can't change the past, but we need to live with that.

We have a brewery that started in 1040, a bookstore a bookstore that opened in 1596 is not common but it is not the oldest business in Germany by far, that honour goes to a Winery that was founded in 862 (no i did not forget a digit) 😁😁

13:00 Germans are bloody honest. Also to themselves.

Germany has learned from its past!! Own it, repair it, heal and move on!!!! America still has to do that!!!!

that`s what i respect him (NALF) for: he always try to llok deep inside the topics he`s talking about, and with that he also proves that not all "Americans" are stupid and ignorant. and,btw, we also have lots of idiots here!

My 9th grade history teacher was an amazing teacher. Once or twice a month he would take us on a walk around the city and point out to us the history of the area. One such walk was dedicated to the Stolpersteine, where he would make us stop around each one and recount the story of the people engraved in them. Their childhoods, their families, their jobs, and the way they died. He made history feel personal, instead of these series of events that happened long ago. His lessons where the most memorable out of all the history lessons I got over the years.

The oldest business in Germany is the winery "Weingut Staffelter Hof" in Kröv at the river Mosel. It exists since 862, and no, I did not forget a 1 in the year, it is for real 1,161 years old. Maybe you will find even older ones in Greece, Italy, Spain or France, dating back to the roman empire, but I am not aware of those.

About the position of the Stolpersteine, I think, if you want to llok at them, you have to bow your head, so this is kind of also a way to show your respect.

The stumbling stones are striking because of the material alone, you can't miss them when you walk along them. I would never step on one. When I see a stumbling stone for the first time, I also read the text. I appreciate the stumbling stones as a constant reminder of specific individuals who have suffered so much. For one moment they are singled out from the almost incomprehensibly high number of murdered people. And they didn't live anywhere, but in the neighborhood where I live now. Their descendants could have been my neighbors if they hadn't been so horribly murdered. This thought always makes me sad.

I pass some of these stolpersteine on my daily way to work. I never step on them, but i know their names.

Greetings from a german guy and thank you very much for this beautiful video. Love and peace 🌻💛

Hi, my Name is James Freeland and I'm the son of a American soldier that stationed here in Berlin. My mom grew up in the West part of Berlin after WW2 ( Born 1944) and she was a Fan of Americans, because sie got her first candy from the US. It was milk Power with sugar. Sie was young when John F. Kennedy came to Berlin and they lived a few Blocks away from the Rathaus. I lived for about 6 years in the States and moved back to Berlin when the Wall fell. I thought it could be interesting to you. Cool, that you're trying to educate people about Germany. 😊

the problem with the wallplaques is, that the house owner has to give his/her ok to it.. so if they say, no you dont put that up here, your memorial will not be put up AT ALL .. and having it on the wall means only peolpe of a certain age/height can read them too,.. so kids will never be able to read them and this education should start early

The bookseller Osiander goes back to a bookshop and publishing house founded in 1596 in Tübingen, seat of one of the oldest universities in Germany. However, the company was sold several times, moved location within its hometown several times, and got renamed several times over the years. The name Osiander only got attached about 200 years ago. Today it is a chain with about 70 locations. The physical shop you saw in the background has been there less than 15 years.

Lookin down makes you bow..

very cool reaction of a very cool video! Greetings from Vienna (capital of Austria, that little country next to germany ;-) )

Greetings and best wishes from Germany, Westfalia, City of Recklinghausen 🙏🍀 🖖

Alot of Europe were in this master race mind set not just Germans. In Denmark we forced "undesireble people" to be desexed. Hitler just took it a step further. About 12000 danes joined Hitler.

Stumbling stones are great. They center the remembrance on a single person at a time rather than a thousand or more. Therefore you can really honor that person. It lowers the entry to the remembrance because they are a memorial in the everyday life of people.

My daughter's boyfriend adopted one of these stumble stones. He takes care of the stone and cleans it from time to time.

It' s not just germans. It's people who act reasonable

Thanks for the reaction, Giobozz! I liked it a lot! 👍You definitely don't talk too much. Especially not when it's such an important topic! Regarding the controversy about the stumbling stones placed on the Streets: I really like the idea that if you want to read what is written on the stones, you have to bow. A very nice, apropriate gesture towards the victims, I think. Greetings from Germany!

I like the Stolpersteine when I was a kid that is something shiny and something I was able to see and notice. So this starts the conversation early

Thank you for this reaction video. I enjoyed watching it. You posted this video on May 4th. Did you also know that this is the day we in the Netherlands commemorate the victims of WW2? Every year on May 5th, which is tomorrow, we celebrate our freedom and the liberation of the Netherlands.

When ever I see a "Stolperstein", I take my time and say a prayer for all the victims of WW2. There are to many people who dies on the WW2 on all site's.

When I deal with the topic of WWII and the Holocaust, I try not only to see what the Nazis did. I grew up thinking how evil and bad we were without realizing that there were those who tried to oppose it. I think the most famous example is probably Oskar Schindler, but there were others. My personal heroine is probably Sophie Scholl. A girl who was in the Hitler Youth or in this case in the BDM (Association of German girls). Still didn't let himself blinded and noticed that something wasn't right. Sophia Magdalena "Sophie" Scholl was a German resistance fighter against National Socialism. She was sentenced to death together with her brother Hans Scholl by National Socialist judges because of her involvement in the resistance group Weisse Rose (White Rose) and executed on the same day. (* May 9, 1921 in Forchtenberg; † February 22, 1943 in Munich) There were also members of the regular army who helped prisoners to escape and there was even a doctor in the SS who hide Jews before they were deported. I don't remember the name right now. That helped me and I regularly take part in the Jewish memorial demonstrations. Thanks for your kind words and for the reaction.

thank you for your video from germany

I Never Walk past a stumbling stone. I ALWAYS stop to read it, it’s one of the few things I can do now to pay my respect except educating myself, fighting against right wing extremism, visiting museums and concentration camps

"Stolpersteine" are almost perfect for those who have to look at their smartphone while walking. Everything on the ground is perceived. Slabs on the wall would be pointless.

As i german i saw old bookshops before but 1596 is really special. Never saw anything that old.

It's always a pleasure to see how interested you are, in foreign cultures and history. More people should be like you, because it can be easy to judge someone or something before you even know or cared what is really going on. You watch, learn and understand and learn. So please stay as curious and open minded as you are!

"Right?"😂 You're fantastic!! Thank you!😊

1:46 I don't know when what *used* to be the oldest company in my city here in Norway was funded. But ownership was transfered from the king to the arch bishop in 1277. It has had many owners since then before being finally closed in 1988. They produced bricks from the local clay.

What a crazy Concept to learn from history and teach it how it was...

i got dyslexic myself, and i understand your point why you dont like reading, but the more you read the better it gets, the less you read the wrong word. and to like it or not the main point is to find books you enjoy to read. i myself am over 400 books now ^^

we have a Brewery in germnany that is in family hand cince 1266

I love the idea about these stumbling stones. These brass plates are also intentionally placed slightly elevated so that you "stumble" over them. One thus proverbially stumbles over one's past and thus does not forget it.

We have many Stolpersteine in my street. A lot of people living there or just passing through (myself included), try to not step on them. It´s not bad if it happens, but, I was amazed at this additional effect on people. It´s a way of paying respect in your everyday life. I´ll never get used to the fact that my past neighbours were treated and murdered so cruelly.

For me as german, slavery happened here too. Wasnt black, but white people were "owned" by the upper classes and were balling around, sent into war, starving and used. Please, i dont want to downplay the slavery in USA, but every country at some point in history had this system. Romans or Russia, Colonialism with French, Dutch or British colonies, and also Germany wanted to be part of it. Slavery was, and in some countries still is a thing. Never forget what happened, remeber the things what happened and why. But dont live in the past and let guilt overwhelm yourself. We live in the best time right now and the future counts. Best regards 🙂

Thank you so much for the video and your reaction. I share your opinion about the Stolpersteine. As I'm from Germany, I come across these every day. It is shocking to see victims nearly everywhere. But my country is so much more than WW1 and WW2. Thanks and love from Germany

You have a very pleasant way of speaking btw

The Stolpersteine always give me chills when I stand next to them and imagine how people where taken out of their homes, out on the street and send to their fate. They are like a final footprint of the people who walked the streets just like us. I think they are great, you can’t just unser them.

Feels good to see that it is acknowledged even outside of germany, thank you for that. I woud sign the approach "we aren't responsible for the past, but we are responsible to make sure it doesn't repeat". It is important to know what happened and why to make sure we don't repeat the same mistake. Obviously it was a horrible crime that should remember us what nationalism can lead to. I also would agree that those stumbling stones catch more attention, but I also guess it's not p to me to decide that.

Very nice. Greetings from Lüneburg. Lower Saxony.

~6:00 i think this is also a big factor why we germans love to watch videos about other people reacting about germany. We want to know if we doing good from another perspective. and sure its always nice when someone says sth good about ur people :D or point stuff out we forget we have

It's nice to gloat about your own country. I am a German and went through our education system. I actually liked it quite a lot, because I had awesome teachers who didn't just do a job. Most of them really loved what they were doing and that showed. When I was a kid, I experienced this as just school, not as "German education" or a special way how history is being taught. As such, I learned about all the Horrors my country dished out the same we I learned math, Napoleon, arts or anything else. I actually expected that this is the same everywhere on the planet. In history you learn about what happened in the past. Makes you feel shitty if you're German, but that's the price to pay if you do genocide, and considering what the other side went through, it's not so much of a price to pay. That's why I was utterly shocked to learn about how some people in the USA say it would make people hate their country to admit to the reality of slavery. To imagine there are history books stating that slaves have been taken good care of, if only to protect investments. I wrote "some people", but it's actually nearly half the population who does not find that unfathomable. The result of having the Holocaust around for years while you're a kid was not enjoyable. But more than that, it was surreal. After all, it's just a few generations separating us Germans from those Germans and as a kid you really don't get to see a lot of uniforms and concentration camps making up your identity. And still, it's the same nation, the generation of your grandparents who actually did all that. You have no choice but to ask how and why. What happens to a lot of people receiving that education is that while asking for the hows and whys you understand that this cosy layer of civilization, law and order (in the positive sense), righteousness is paper thin and it doesn't need all that much to remove it and get to the ugly reality of humanity. In the USA there is this concept of exceptionalism. The idea that "we are the good guys" and that this cannot possibly happen here. When Germans think of exceptions, they think of the Holocaust. When Americans do that, they think of the shiny city on the hill and call other places shit holes. Things are changing in Germany. We don't think of ourselves as Hitlers heirs anymore. Not even my generation. We are back at the table of civilized nations and we're struggling with the image of being cowards saving on defense spending, not so much as the militaristic monsters. What is left of this post war experience is a feeling of uneasiness and insecurity about ourselves. But this is valuable, because it's accurate. I wish other cultures would teach history the way it's taught in Germany.

I guess you remember me. I was one of those, that have criticised the reaction to the song you mentioned in this video. I wasn't sure if i was too harsh under the other video. And after you took it down (thank you for that!) i hoped, that you will continue to react to difficult topics. I guess some reactors would have avoided this topic at all after such a response. I am glad this is not the case here.

The great argument of the artist for placing the "Stolpersteine" on the ground is also the body posture you automatically take by looking at them. It's a lowered head, like a small bow in respect. What is basically the opposite perspective to see the critics on this project. End for me personally: I never stepped on one of them on pupose.

You can walk past a plaque on a wall every day and never notice it. It's different with the Stolpersteine.

what a great guy you are. by chance i found this video.

Carl Sagan :“You have to know the past to understand the present"

It´s great to could see, an american is able to feel a part of our soule.

And in the US they started to delete the second NUK (on Nagasaki) in the newer history books so it seems like it never happened. What a shame to handle own bad history parts like that. And if teachers get ask by parents why they don´t teach that anymore the teachers answers: "We just teach what´s in the book". 👎💀

we Germans like to do our work by our own, we like that and feel strong by it. About Stolpersteine: they are integrated in days life, not a commemorative memorial. This people lived together with us, we remember every step.

What I was not aware of until now is that from the founding of Germany to the end of WW II is shorter then from the WW II til today.

To read those Stolpersteine you have to bow your head. I think it’s appropriate.

As a German, I learned about all of this in school, and I am glad we did. Learn from the past, and honour the memory of the victims. That's why it feels insane for me that some people in the US want statues of slave traders and confederate generals around. To a German, that would be like if we had statues of Hitler and Nazi generals still around. There were a lot of those statues, they got all taken down after the Nazis lost the war.

In Munich we also have memorials in some squares in the form of white painted suitcases that are fixed to the ground. On small brass plaques you can read the names of people who lived there once, where they were taken and their dates of birth and death. Reading them transports you back in time for a moment and can be very emotional.

there is a reason for the stumbeling stones beeing on the ground ... if you walk over them you should stumble and be remindet something on the wall can be ignored

You also can see it that to read the Stolpersteine you have to bow down, paying respect to the victims.

I, as a German, think these stolpersteine are good, because in order to be able to read them correctly you have to "bend your knee"....

I live in Cologne, Germany. Around 2,400 stumbling blocks have been laid throughout the city. And I would never step on it. Instinctively you stop and avoid these stones. You don't "stumble" but your movement is briefly stopped.

Hello from the Ruhrgebiet in Deutschland. The Stolpersteine are importend, that the crime and the victims of the NS-Regime aren't forgotten, and it's a WARNING for common people, what can happen, if you don't look for, who has to live and who has to die. The most Deutsche are peaceful and well in their minds.....but not all, and that's, why the remembering has to keep alive. Have great time!👋

I'm still waiting for channels like this to address issues like the "Rheinwiesenlager" etc. There is much more to history that we are taught in school.

i like our stolpersteine because it means we stumble when we encounter them and be humbled. also alot of ppl walk with their head tilted down looking at the ground rather than at building walls

This bookstore litiarli opend 30 jears After the invention of the printing Press. There were propably not much books arround.

yoy say deutschland very nice

I am a german and I am a big Fan of stumbling Stones. When i lived in Berlin there was many of them around my flat and you can't Imagine how much easier it is to make a Connection to those victims of 3rd Reich with These. The people used to live in the Same area Like me, even in the Same houses Like my friends and maybe even in the same flat. So a Picture or Video of deportations or concentration Camps becomes an induvidual Story about this one Person. I know the Name, mostly what happened to them and why. They become real human beings

i found it to be really cool of you that you asked him if you could react...very honorable btw even as a german it is sometimes hard to beilive how old the "country" is (the german people not the modern BRD).... you have to think twice about that julius caesar basicly fought the people that later would become germans...its just insane to think about it

In case you are interested: At 4:53 It says "On the night of November 9th to 10th 1938 this is where nazis burnt furniture and books from the jewish prayer room in *adress*" Nazis burnt so many books by jewish authors and also those who didn´t approve of the regime.

While I admit that we (the germans) have a somewhat alright culture of remembering (never perfect, mind you), there is one reocurring thing that americans either fail to mention or maybe don't really know about: the fact that Germany is such an economic powerhouse in europe comes from the marshall plan and all the money and the help mainly the US stuffed into the country to help it get back on its feet. (It wasn't entirely altruistic, Germany was the cushion between the USSR and the west. So the west needed it to be somewhat strong). My point is: germans aren't super human and no different than anyone else. We had a lot of help getting back up (even though it was us who caused all the pain and death and destruction). And that somehow never gets mentioned. And I think that plays into us being able to remember and accept our responsibility. Having a comfortable life makes it easier to accept guilt. Imagine we'd still be bombed out and left behind, we wouldn't have the capacity or the nerve to remember, because every day survival would be more important. (best example for this: germans after WWI...)

👋👍 from Nürnberg 😊

I remember you. Hi from Baumholder

Probably somone else allready said this in the comment... but just as info.. StepStones are intentionally installed on the ground so for you to be able to read them you have to bow down and with that automatically pay respect to the victims..

Stumbling stones were rare when I was a child and some of us would play a search game for them. So whenever we travelled somewhere we would go and search in the "new" city for those. Some groups would have a list to note who had found how many stumbling stones. Today they seem to be everywhere, it's kind of cool. And it is a little bit scary just how many people hid in some of the houses.

About history: Swedish cartoon, tour guide in old town, “So, this building was erected in 1365…”. American tourist: jaw drop. Chinese tourist raises hand. “AC or BC?”

NALF's channel is great and yours is great too.👍

Many country's were in the Arian mindset back then. The UK for example. Relatives of the royal family were very buddy buddy with Hitler. You need also to understand that "killing of jews" wasn't an invention of the nazis. That simply is giving them to much credit and said not to apologize anything at all. Jews were slaughtered since the middle ages all over Europe from time to time. As a minority they were an easy target. By law they weren't allowed to learn a trade. So most of them were money lenders back then. And you can imagine how much that helped their popularity. The simple and ugly truth is the jews were a very easy target. Someone everybody could agree to hate. And a lot of people in conquered countries secretly or openly agreed with. Let's face it, there are awfull and good people in every country.

A very valuable video. Thank you.

i understand why somone don`t like this stumble stones. when they first came out, it was a big deal, but to be honest, nobody gives a sh... about the stones these days. people walk right over them, i saw a dog, pissing on such a stone, and the owner couldn`t care less, so yeah, i get the controversy. but, every now and then, you see some kids, wondering what his weird looking stones are or tourists that stop by these stones and read what it is all about. if only one of them is thinking about the history behind stumble stones, it was worth it.

I'm german and it's really nice to see how you guys over the big pond appreciate this and I hope that the US will eventually also catch up on stuff like this. We all see so much Violence in the US and especially against black people and other poc! I think it is time that the US adapts something close to this, but I think this'd sadly only spark your conservative and racist movement of this time.. Imagine Stolpersteine for alle the killed native american and african forced slaves. Imagine every big company displaying how many africans they murdered in the past, to get to this point where they're today. It would set a big sign and would probably senstize future generations of americans with racism and stuff!

Probably they sold the first Lutherbibel in this book store.

The stumbling blocks mentioned here have meanwhile found acceptance almost all over Europe. However, only a few consider this to be inappropriate, including the aforementioned leader of a Jewish community. Many other communities have, however, dealt with the intention of the artist. The stumbling blocks should surprise the visitor, he should stumble over it. And as he bends down to read the information on this stone, he also bows to the murdered victims named on this stumbling block.

hi and german greetings one should also never be forgotten, that without the us stock market crash of 1929, the nazis would never have become so big and dangerous

My Village Here in Germany is 850 Years old 🤷

The trauma of the horrors of the past has influenced a whole nation and it still does. Patriotism is very often associated to Nazism and it wasn‘t until the Soccer Championship of 2006 that you could see German flags everywhere.

We cannot change the past, but we must know the past to make sure that it won't happen in the future again. That I find very weird in USA where some people mark CRT like it is worse than the actual reason why it is important to learn about it.