Guten Tag!

[Zeke]

Hier sind Zeke, Wei, und Krieger. Internet cafe ist sehr toll. Wir sind in Deutschland. Deutschland ist sehr kalt. Es regnet immer. Der Autobahn ist nett, 80 mph ist langsam!

Subtitled: Yo! Zeke, Wei, and Krieger here! We're in an internet cafe in Germany, it rocks the house! Smells funny, but beggars can't be choosers. It's awful cold, and it's always raining. The Autobahn rocks, 80mph is the slowest you'll see people going! We'll attempt an update, but time is limited according to our money. Wish yzou guzs were here!

[Jeseth Cloak]

Tell me more about the Autobahn! :D

[ReaperFett]

Ah, Guten Morgen. Sprechen sie Deutch?

:)

[Sanis Prent]

Dein Deutsch ist sehr richtig nicht. (Albeit, mine isn't either ;))

[Telan Desaria]

For the sdake of the non German speaking peoples here, I will ask you in Englisch.


Where is Germany are you? How long will you be in the Fatherland?


If you are in the Saar two weeks from now, perhaps we could all meet up.


Matthias Friederich Wilhelm von Meillen, Baron von Saar

Unterleutnant der Bundesnachrichtenabwehrdienst

[Ansatsu]

Hey guys! Hope yall are havin fun! Enjoy your time, and Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!! And a happy new year!!! Good news!!!! I got my PS2!!!!!!! *skips off to go play his ps2*

[Vega Van-Derveld]

If you get bored in Germany, hop across the channel :mneh

[Marc Tycho]

o_O @ Jenny

[Alana Stormcloud]

Huggles to you guys :) miss you all bunchs. You haven a great time. Fale, Zekey and Wei.... We are bored outa our minds without you guys here mauhhhhhhh bunchs of love... :p

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

*huggles them but mostly Zeke* hope you're having fun, miss ya lots....

[Dae Jinn]

Hope you're having fun, be safe! :)

[Sanis Prent]

Which reminds me, one of my good buddies called me from Hamm, and I've got to return his call tomorrow.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

I like Germany.. even though I haven't been there since I was like, 2. :|

And :wave you guys. ^^ Drop by Bangy-desh if you have a minute. Glad you're having fun! :D

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Originally posted by Marc Tycho
o_O @ Jenny

Hoping across the channel (the English Channel) would take you from France, which is neighbours with Germany :rolleyes, straight over to England.

[Sanis Prent]

Yes, but at last estimate, there is no channel between Germany and England :)

[ReaperFett]

Channel is water inbetween land. There is water inbetween Germany and England :)

[Sanis Prent]

Nobody calls the Atlantic Ocean a channel.

Same goes for the North Sea, or to laymen, the water between England and Germany :mneh

[Zeke]

Yeah! More Internet Cafe! Yeah, my German sucks, but I slacked on it last year. We're in Heidelburg, and we'll be in Germany until Jan 1! Gonna head up to Berlin in a few days if I got my schedule right. Good to hear of Satsa's PS2, and as for those who say they miss us, we miss you too. More than you probably know. Jen, England isn't on the list of places to go, but I sure wish it was! German keyboards are messed up, Y and Z are flipped and you have keys I didn't know existed. Makes posting fun. Also, 3 commands for some keys(key by itself, key with shift, and key with "Alt Gr") is neato. Autobahn is cool.

[Wei Wu Wei]

We had to slow down to 80 kilometers an hour. The speedometer on our rented car stops at 210 kilometers.

There are 1.609 kilometers in a mile. Care to do the math, all you Americans that are not on the metric system?

Food is good. Döners are the greatest! It's not as cold here as I thought it would be. The weather has been pretty wet the past few days, though. It's all so much fun. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I've got a bunch of threads to reply to, but that's ok! I'll have lots of fun catching up. See you guys later!

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Originally posted by Sanis Prent
Yes, but at last estimate, there is no channel between Germany and England :)

I didn't say there was. I said if he hoped over from France, over the channel :)

[Ansatsu]

Keep havin a good time guys!!!!!! Bring me chocolate!!!!

[Diego Van Derveld]

Milka Schwartzwald is my personal favorite :)

Oh, and you're in like the lager capital of the world. Even if you don't like beer, I'll be royally upset if you don't try these, at the very least:

Paulaner Hacker-Pschorr Weisse Dark Hefeweizen
Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier
Kohstriker Schwartzbier
Lowenbrau

[Salem Ave]

Paulaner Hacker-Pschorr Weisse Dark Hefeweizen

That has to be the longest beer name I've ever heard.

[Zeke]

Beer? Sure, we'll give it a shot. Telan, cool as it would be to meet you, I just don't see it happening...parents have this thing planned to the wire.:( We're at a friend of our dad's, and I've got permission to do some posting, at least until something of significance happens...not sure what, considering gifts were just handed out and all. Coolest thing by far is this thing called a Micropet...it's name is Yuk. It does some basic stuff like walk and chatter and even dance. Also a shirt that says "Where the heck is Ausfahrt, Germany?" with an Ausfahrt street sign on it. For those who don't know and may misconstrue it, the word "Ausfahrt" is German for "exit".

[Tomak Ohara]

COWS!!!!!MOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!Keep havin fun!

[Diego Van Derveld]

Its one of my favorites, actually. IMO, the best German beer I've had :)

[Zeke]

Now in Berlin! We saw the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charley, the Brandenburg Gate, and some other stuff. Tomak, there will be no chocolate for you. There was, but I ate it, so I don't have it anymore.:) 4 days until our return to America! Germany's cool and all, but damn, I miss home!

[Alana Stormcloud]

Waves.... Hiya Zekey , Wei, and Fale. Bunchs of Huggles.. Miss you guys a lot, when you commen home dang it? Good to hear your haven fun though:p Stay safe and don't forget to bring Tomak a candy lol muahh:crack


Always Maia

[Sanis Prent]

Checkpoint Charley

In military designations, it is spelled Charlie.

[Zeke]

Thought you'd like the allusion to yourself, Charley.

[Sanis Prent]

Not when my name can also be a term for the Viet Cong :)

[Telan Desaria]

Did you enjoy the Unter den Linden???

The Wilhelmstrasse?

Der Reichkanzlerei???

<<<I refuse to refer to things as "Bundes" is I do not have to. In private discussion, I still refer to myself as serving in the Reichsheer. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[MMU]

easy there Trigger

it's all the same box of crayons

[Vampyre Dalamar]

Zeke, Wei hurry up and get already. We need some action around her lol:crack

Man I would love to do 140 on the autobahn. I think I would scare the heck out of myself though always pushing for that extra kilo per hour. WHOooooooo hhhoooooooooooooooo:smokin

[Telan Desaria]

What is the American obsession with speed?


Jealous that we invented the jet engine first? The diesal-battery powered submarine? Inexpensive, top quality automobiles???





All this aside, I am still ashamed of the Fatherland.


And I advise anyone against visitng her.

As an aristocrat, I am slowly making my way through the channels to stage a boycott as it were of my country.


I recently viewed some little seen documents from the Bundesnationalarkiven. (National Archives) I considered myself an expert on wordl war II, and I am: the military aspects of it. The Holocaust remained only sketchy inferences to me.


Then I was apprised of Buchenwalk and Paragraph 175.


Deutschland ueber Alles nicht!!!!!!!!!!!

[Diego Van Derveld]

I can understand your feelings somewhat, Telan. We're both descendants of nations that have lost wars, and had to live not only with that loss, but the stigma of knowing of the immorality of a few of our copatriates. Only a few Confederates were ever slave owners. Only a few Germans were Nazis. Though I am ashamed of the stigma of slavery, I realize that isn't what the Confederacy stood for. It ran much deeper, into the very quick of culture and every aspect of life. That is why I still keep the battleflag of the rebellion draped at the head of my bed. I will never be a racist, but I'll always be a rebel, at least somewhere in my heart. Though I am undeniably American...it is something only a few can really understand.

Don't be too quick to disown your heritage.

[Telan Desaria]

Read Paragraph 175.

Look into what the offenders were put through.



Until a month ago, I was a rigid Prussian at heart. I would jump at the drop of a pfennig to defend the German honour, and the glory of Imperial Germany; of the majesty and regality once held be every soldier, officer, and peasant in the Reich.

As the Baron von Saar, I have a ceremonial rank of Hauptmann der deutsches Infanterie: this affected in no way my actual service. I wore that uniform to parades and such, ceremonial functions. I wore it to Versaille on Sedan day. I was ready to charge off into the sunset at the head of a German Army.

Then I learned that the Russians never banned that kind of act. They sent political dissidents to the gulag, and executed non communists and former czarist officers.

Social things were never considered in Communist Russia. What does that say of Germany, a nation of honour, dingity, glory, and valour.


Any visions on Germany are flase. Until the Reich steps up and acknowledges that those affected under Paragraph 175 were victims of the Holocaust, I shall disavow my allegiance to Germany.

This is a matter very dear to me, as much of honour as historical.


That is why I have submitted my resignation to the Bundeswehr.


I once had the Imperial German Banner flying over my bed on the ceiling.


It came down three nights ago.

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

*continues waiting*

[Zeke]

I liked Germany! The Trip Stats deserve their own thread, which I now go to make!

[Crystal StarRider]

85+ mph is the average speed on the Jersey parkway, though its set at 65..I just go with the speeders in my 'gravity defying' Honda civic, but never 'lead point' = cop bait.. My truck eats gas so I keep it down when driving that..$1.39 a gallon here..regular gas.

Bitte...gibt mir ein Porsche, BMW Z3, Mercedes, oder einen schönen Audi..BITTE!!! Man my German is rusty--prolly botched that up gramatically..
German sport cars rock!

Telan...Germany is giving Holocaust surviviors money for their past persecution with an apology..At least that's a start. My grandparents came from Essen and the Black Forest.. Immigrated here in Germany's depression..He did well in America..Was a mechanic, owned a gas station and sold it for a million..My grandmother (Oma) had to take her driver's test orally since she knew little English. I have a Wehrmacht Soldat ancester KIA in Poland.

As Marcus had stipulated..not all were Nazi affiliated..Hell most didnt even know about what hapened to the Jews..America is no Mr. Clean..Look what we did to the Indians and to the slaves..

[Sarin Vorrann]

<<Telan


As do I. However, the German apologies and reparations do not extend. That is the point I was trying to make. Anyone interned under Paragraph 175 of the German/Nazi Penal code is not being officially recognized as a vitcim of the Holocaust. There are only four recognized groups of people which Germany says were affected by the Holocaust.

1. Jewish people

2. Gypsies

3. Polish people

4. Russians

There are many more that were forced into the concentration camps that Germany refuses to acknowledge, among them homosexuals, five of which are still alive today. Germany in its wisdom says they were not victims of Hitler's Untermenschnemen. (Sub human campaign)

My relatives as well fought for germany. My grandfather, Hauptmann Baron Harold von Grookett was killed at Stalingrad while serviing in the 4te panzerarmee. My Great Grandfather, Generalleutnant Kurt von Chill was executed as a traitor in connection with the Bomb Plot, 20 juli 1944.

Germany, as my home country and such, however, is not as glorious in my eyes as she once was.

I am giving serious consideration to firmly planting my roots in either America or Great Britian. The former may be a more realistic option, however, as Silancy and Taylor can attest.

[Sanis Prent]

Bomb plot? The von Stauffenberg one?

[Telan Desaria]

Oberst Graf Klaus von Stauffenburg

A man disaffected by the way the Nazis and their puppet Generals were waging the war, von Stauffenburg and several other officers banded together to form what was called the Reichsbund, whose purpose was the elimination of Hitler and the Nazi partei, the installment of a democratic government, and, if possible, the restoration of the German monarchy. Involved in the plot wwas most notably Generalfeldmarschalle Erwin Rommel and von Kluge.

My great grandfather, Generalleutnant von Chill, was the commander of the 122nd Wehrmacht Infanterie division, which had been withdrawn to a training ground outside Berlin from Russia to be transformed into the 232nd Panzer Division.

The part of my relative's paralleled several other unit commanders: once the news of Hitler's death was annoucned, they would march on Berlin and assume control from the nazis and make peace the west to continue the war in the east.

After the bomb was detonated, the commanders refused to believe he was dead and instead stood their formations down until confirmation was given.

None came, because Hitler was still alive.

Several hundred officers were rounded up and one hundred fifty put to death, ranging in rank from Leutnant to Generalmajor (Brigadier General)

My Great Grandfather was one of them

[Crystal StarRider]

They died for honour in their futile attempts to salvage Germany from further devastating ruin, forfeiting their lives in that patriotic action. Horrific deaths they endured with that piano wire. General Patton hated the Russians and admired the Germans, but Im sure you all are aware of this. He felt we were fighting the wrong enemy, and should have teamed up against the Russians.

Telan, I can understand your grievances with that paragraph you mentioned, but for your relative's sakes and for all their war efforts and self sacrafices, perhaps they would have wanted you to remain in Germany and hold true to your love and loyalty for Deutschland.
No government is perfect. I know of a US Ranger whose friend was lit up by machine gun fire right in front of him in training exercises. He was his best friend since high school. He quit the army because they wouldnt admit fault, and now is emotionally scarred. Of course the soldier who mistakenly killed him was given a dishonorable discharge and brought up on charges, but that was as far as it went. The top brass wanted to keep a tight lid on it. They had the audacity to even order the Ranger sergeant to lie in court about the accidental shooting, downplaying it, but he refused and went AWOL. He was given an honorable discharge, but misses the army terribly.

What I'm saying is corruption runs rampant in all countries. It is people like you with a sense of justice whom can make a difference. I'm sure more feel as you do. Germany is a great and powerful nation. The people pulled themselves up in a wounded country in shambles, by working together and never giving up on her, with the determination to make her great again.

[Sarin Vorrann]

<<Telan



It is truly a hard decision. But I have had to ask myself: is the honor of one family simply because it is noble and military more important than that of six hundred thousand.

I have had no answers, and it is a difficult question indeed. One for which I shall think on much. But I can never again don the uniform of a German soldier. Never again.

[Crystal StarRider]

Time heals wounds and answers questions left open. Good luck. :)

[Jamel Croko'yn]

I dont even know what you are talkin' about because hte fact that you lose me at er, and all those really crazy words, what are you talkin' about? huh?

[Telan Desaria]

Oberst: Colonel

Graf: Count

Generalfeldmarschal : General Field Marschal

Generalleutnant: Major General

Generalmajor: Brigadier General

Reichsbund: Club of the Empire (Imperial Club)

Deutschland: Germany

Wehrmacht: German Armed Forces

Infanterie: Infantry

Leutnant: Lieutenant, 2nd Class

Panzer: Armored

Soldat: Soldier

Nazi: National-Socialistiche deutsches Arbteien Partei::: nation Socialist German Workers party.



Am I missing any?

[Destiny Stormrider]

In all honesty, Germany is one of the countries I look up to most. I am Canadian, so USA's our biggest ally, but I still firmly believe that Germany is WAY better than them!

Germany had power: brains (their spy network was VERY well organized...), money... Germany had everything! Too bad Hitler used it for the wrong purposes, but you can't hate a country because of ONE person's mistake... Besides, the past is history, you can only work hard so the future be better; if every honest and good person gave up thinking it's impossible, the world would be full with the wrong people everywhere...

[Sanis Prent]

I wouldn't say their spy network was organized well at all. There was redundancy of task, to encourage competition for the same job, that essentially bred a hostile work environment, with peers more concerned about getting more favor with their Fuhrer than actually getting the job done. Not to mention, MI, OSS and the numerous partisan resitance cells compromised just about every operation outside of the Fatherland. Enigma was broken under the Kriegsmarine's nose, and they never got wind. Not to mention, they had a massive double agent heading the Reich's intelligence department. Thats about as bad as you can get.

[Telan Desaria]

The Abwehr was actually very successful, Sanis. As was the SD.

The lack of successful operation outside the Fatherland was the fault of the Allgemeine SS. And Hitler. Rather than allow the Intelligence services free reign, they terrorized rather than turned and were forced to hunt jews and Russian Communists instead of partisans and resistance cells.

[Sanis Prent]

But surely you can address the points I brought up.

[Telan Desaria]

As far as your double agent theory, you are right and wrong. Admiral Canaris had no intention of ebtraying the Fatherland: his intention was as that of the traditional officer corps: to make peace in the west so the brunt of the German war machine could be loosed against the Red Hoarde.

Their spy network was never completely compromised, actually. At the war's end, there were a dozen agents in ireland and several in London. One was found to be serving in the American military in 1949, a case you do not hear much of.

In Russia, they were never caught.

MI6 and the OSS were indeed excellent organizations, and in their own right, were as good and better than the Abwehr.

Unfortunately, on another point, you are completely correct. There was too much popularity than there was duty. C'est la vie.

[Sanis Prent]

As idealistic as Canaris and the other west-front pacifists were (primarily Wehrmacht and Kriegsmarine to a lesser extent, I believe), didn't they get word of the Tehran agreements, which essentially made such a thing impossible?

[Destiny Stormrider]

How come you know all this? I mean it's kinda detailed info...and all those names! :x

[Telan Desaria]

It was not Tehran which ended german hopes for a civilized peace, it was a document publishe in the United States government in 1943. The document was written by a senator and actually considered in committe.

The dossier stated clearly that following an Allied victory, germany should be reduced to an un industrialized agrarian state with towns no larger than a thousand people. Funny? True.