[Jim P.]

Give it rest. These gentlemen make very valid points, and I have to say I've mentally wrestled with this argument many times on my own. My own political beliefs tend to run to the side of being very liberal, and I've have spent way to much energy being very po'ed about over the last 8 years seeing my own country having to deal with the very disastrous policies pushed by very right wing, no nothing politicians and their media allies, and the 'with us or against us' bs that went with it. Notice how that's disappeared in a month.

In the end, on the one hand, I'm still fascinated by the Lw and other parts of the German armed forces in WWII, but never forget they were part of what was ultimately a very repressive, murderous regime. And I'm from the U.S. While we were certainly there, so to speak, guys like Franek, who's from Poland, and Chris, who I suspect is from England, have a very different perspective than me because their countries were occupied and/or a target of the bombs. I can say I understand, but in reality there is no way I can relate to what happened in either country.
On the otherhand, I believe that trying to erase the Nazi regime from history, which seems to be the case over the last 30-40 years, also erases the lessons that should be learned and remembered by us all. And to be honest, I think that history education, or lack thereof, is a big reason why my own country was headed down the road it was on the last 8+ years. Nobody wants to say the word, but if you look up the the definition of fascist, and see where this country was headed - if one is truly honest with themselves, then its as plain as day.
Where's that next beer -