As a german I don't feel the responsibility for the actions of former generations, but I feel responsibility for not forgetting. Because forgetting is the first step to repeating history.

As a German who was born 37 years after WWII, I feel responsible for standing up against anti-semitism, be it in Germany or anywhere else in the world. Last year I visited Yad Vashem and at the end of the visit I was in tears. I felt ashamed. At the same time, I felt incredibly blessed to be allowed to visit Israel. It was the most extraordinary holiday I have ever experienced.

As a German, born in 1989, I feel no personal guilt whatsoever about the Holocaust other than your standard: "Yeah, that's a bad thing that happened in the past, committed by someone who is not me. Wish it didn't happen, but I'm just gonna move on with my day now." Do I feel like it was a dark part of our country's history? Absolutely. Do I feel like it was an absolutely terrible and awful thing? Unfathomably terrible. If Germany hadn't issued an official apology to the Jewish people, would I try to get something like that going? Absolutely, I would. Do my children need to pay a Holocaust tax? No, and even making that suggestion is absolutely disgusting. I'm very pleased to see that most Israelis filmed in this video agree with that sentiment.

"The sins of the fathers will not be visited upon the sons." From the Ancient Hebrew Scriptures.

I'm German and 14 years old and I don't understand why I should be responsible for something that happened over 70 years ago, long before I existed (not even as an ovum). I mean you don't make the Italians of today responsible for the Romans who killed Christians 2000 years ago either, do you?

Now go to America and ask if the White Population is still responsible for slavery. That would be entertaining as fuck

As german born 1967 I like to see this video. I feel not responsible, but I think we have to remember what happened.

For me, as a German, this video was really interesting. We always are confronted with the holocaust, which I don't think to be a bad thing. The Germans as a people have a certain responsibility to never let anything like this happen again. That is an important task and in my opinion legitimises a recurrent confrontation with the topic. Still, I cannot say that I myself am responsible for what happened back then. I'm only 19 years old and even my parents were born about 10 years after the war.

“Do you think that the Germans of today were responsible for the Holocaust” seems to get a immediate “No”. When he changes the question slightly to “do you think the Germans of today should be sorry for the Holocaust”, he’s asking a very different question.

In Germany we say: "We (the newer generations) aren’t responsible for the Holocaust but we are responsible for not letting this happen again and to remember it"

I'm a German and I am 13 so I am not responsible for the things that happened in the past but it's so horrible what happened...

A very dear friend of mine, of blessed memory, was born in Berlin and went through the holocaust. She was in Auschwitz and then on the death march. She saw the worst of the worst. She told me "not all Germans were Nazis and not all Nazis were German." A very wise woman.

My step-grandmother’s whole family was killed/disappeared when the Germans invaded Poland. She was 14 & sent to work as slave labor in Germany. She survived rape on the train to Germany. Then she was raped in the work camp by the Polish men. She had a baby that disappeared while she was out working in the field. After the war she spent years in displaced persons camp. He reparations? About $38 a month from Germany.

"Such a Jewish answer" I would classify as racist. Canada, Australia do compensate natives. I don't think it is only Jews.

The old man in the end, who recieves compensation has a very differentiated view. Two thirds of the jews in the russian empire (which includes poland) were forced to flee and up to a million were murdered. That was right before the first world war. His family was maybe close to extinction twice in a relativly short time. And its true that althought Nazi-Germany was evil, other countries werent necessarily better at the time. Also many french calloborated and 50% of the Waffen-SS were non germans (mostly recruited from eastern and south eastern europe- the countries he actually names). I believe he just wishes that they acknowledge that, as especially the modern polish goverment denies everything. I am glad he recieves at least a compensation and hope he could restart his family.

As a young German I want to thank you very much for creating this video. Sadly I don't know jewish people and so I don't know how they think about the past. I really appreciated listening to the people opinion about this topic. Keep on the work ;) Greetings!

I am from Israel and I have no ill feelings toward Germany or Germans. I lived in France for many years and visited Germany many times, it is a beautiful country.

The old man's view was so interesting...i never thought of it that way, he's right ,germany was the only country that apologised and gave compensation to the survivors whereas the rest of the countries who took part in it did nothing.very valid point...talking about the "present"generation ,i agree on that the other allies of germany are much more responsible than Germany.

as a german, do i fell sorry? YES! m'i responsible for the Crime we did? No. i'm 29 Years old, but the guy around min 7 freak me a bit out.. its all about money.. again! just to let you know Germany payed Israel in 1952: 3.000.000.000DM and in the same year 450.000.000DM to Jewish_Claims_Conference .. in 1964 we payed 873.000.000DM till 2010 we payed: 69.000.000.000€ ... in 2012 and 2013 its was 727.000.000€ and 251.000.000€ PLUS 3.000.000.000€ ... Krupp, Siemens and all other Companies with slaves in WW2 pay today a benefit (in germany its Rente)... You can get this Numbers from Wikipedia! The Old guy at the end lived the holocaust and didn't blame a german for that. NO he have the eggs to tell the truth! i would like to thank him! ppl who was IN the holocaust don't blame us, but stupid humans all over the earth do it... all i can say is i have full respect for this old man! semper fidelis!

I was born 1984 in Germany and this year I was travelling to Israel for the first time in my life. A former coworker who is from Israel told me so much about the country and gave me a different perspective from what you usually pick up concerning Israel over the news. I spent 10 days and it was a wonderful trip. The food is just amazing and the people are so nice, lively and relaxed. I just enjoyed the general vibe on the streets. I was hitchhiking twice and whenever I told I was from Germany everyone was just super curious from which city I came and I just had wonderful and interesting conversations.

Even my parents were born after the war, of course I (age 41) don't feel the slightest shade of responsibility. And to be honest, I am completely fed up with creeping german politicians to say sorry over and over again. The same holds for Isrealis or other Jews in the world pointing their fingers at us, 70 years later. I am just sick of it. Don't get me wrong, I feel honest pity for those families who have lost beloved people during that period of cruelty, but it's not my turn to apologize. Even my grandparents were left-wing. The 3rd Reich happened 3 to 4 Generations ago. Germany is no longer what it was then, and you know what? I am happy to be german without being a Nazi. Strange, huh...?

Also I may not be German ( I am spanish) but I lived in Germany until I was 10 years old. Germany will always have love in my heart and hearing the reactions from these people gives me hope. Germany is always apologizing and knows their past. It is good to see that the israelis understand that the youth of today are not to blame and many think it was horrible what was done.

Thanks Israelis for being so nice and don´t blame the new generations after the war! My respect for u.

This old gent at 9:53 seems to be still deeply hurt and in pain while asked. But gives not all resposibility to germany or to the germans...

The past was very difficult, but today Germans and Israelis, Jews and Christs are friends! We are even allied now! I am very proud of that, i love Germany and i love Israel, and i think we`ll have a wonderful future with both our countrys if we keep up the great friendship!

My grandfather wasn't in the War... He killed no one. Am I responsible for anything?

I'm German and i hesitated to watch this video because i was afraid of the answers. I know i'm not responsible for the past but i've always felt guilty. Thank you for this video!

"60 million... ER, I MEAN 6 MILLION!"

As much as I see, the Israeli have a rather sensible and rational opinion about the question.

You can not blame today's germans for what they parents or grandparents done.

Sometimes I can't help but ponder why this people were so hated wherever they went.

Für all die Deutschen hier: Meine deutsche jüdische Oma, die in 1923 geboren wurde und immer noch lebt, hält niemanden von euch mehr für irgendwie verantwortlich für damals, ich habe ihr die Frage gerade gestellt. Das hat nicht mehr mit euch oder mit mir bzw. andere Israeli dieser Generation zu tun. Ich kriege immer noch verwirrte Umarmungen von Leuten in Deutschland, wenn sie erfahren, dass ich jüdischer Herkunft bin, obwohl es glücklicherweise eher die Ausnahme ist und für die meisten ist es relativ egal oder zumindest nicht so wichtig. Geschichte ist gut zu lernen um daraus Schlüsse zu ziehen, aber sie ist definitiv nicht da um Schuld- oder Opferkomplexe zu pflegen.

do you feel responsibility for Christ killing

I was borne in Germany in 1995, I won't apologize for anything in the past, I don't have any connection to the past and I will never be responsible what happens in the past, I know it was really a bad time in the Past but Im here sitting writing this down in the Future! I ain't no nazi I love all kinds of people and I want my children life in the future without being hold in the past.

i really like your channel. thanks for that and peace from germany/berlin.

"I'm still alive so that's my compensation." Old men are wise.

The old man at the end will make me revisit WW2 history. Interesting, thanks for the upload

The group at the end🙌🏻 as a German I still think we could do more and our country is the one to blame but most other government participated in it aswell just as ours did. People sadly didn’t give a damn about Jews back then and so the people didn’t act up while their neighbors got deported. I often think about how many lives could have been saved, how much more diverse and prettier europe could be if some of the Jewish culture survived in Europe. It’s a tragedy and even in 200 years the people of Europe shall never forget what occurred. That a group of people tried to vanish Jews, Roma and Slavic outside of central and Eastern Europe. Amen

My Grandfather suffered terribly at a prisoner of war camp in Germany in WWII, he was late for guard duty and missed his supper. Thankyou thankyou, I`m here all week.

More French died fighting for the Germans, than against them! Good night

Thank you for the video and thanks to all the people who took part. Your answers touched me deeply. I am a german, born in 63. My grandparents were in their 40s and 50s when the Shoa happened. They did not agree with the regime, but they did not actively resist, but one occasion when they could help a jewish couple trying to escape, by hiding them in their home for one night. My late father was born in 24 and did not dare to defect the military draft at the time. My mother was born in 33 , when Hitler got in power, so she was actually a small child. Growing up, the Holocaust had always been an issue in my family, and at school they did a great job to teach us about the Holocaust, fascism and what leads to it. Unfortunately it seems to be rising again in many countries in Europe, as in the US. Facsism always finds "culprits", of different religions, ethnicities and nations. My father was deeply traumatized, he felt guilty to not have resisted as an extremely young man. He was also traumatized by beeing a prisoner of war in the russian Gulag camps, that he merely survived, physicaly handicapped. So I was in very close touch with the guilt of the responsible generation. As a child I felt my fathers guilt and pain, and I did what a child does: sympathize assume some of the guilt to help my beloved father. A "childish" irrational reaction. Watching that video moved me to tears, and that way I recognized that I have carried on this feeling of guilt from my childhood.

As a German, I really dislike the way this interview was conducted. The question you're asking directly implies that Germans are apologizing for the Holocaust. I can assure you, we are not. Because that would be ridiculous. What we are doing is we acknowledge and condemn the atrocities commited by prior generations. We make ourselves aware of the awful acts commited in the name of our country and use that knowledge to ensure nothing like it ever happens again. The only Germans who are apologizing for the Holocaust are our government leaders. Because they volunteer to represent the country, and are thously responsible for adressing what Germany used to be and for fixing the damage caused by their predecessors. The false claim that modern-day Germans are forced to apologize for crimes they did not commit is a tactic commonly used by right wing extremists to demonize and discredit education on the Holocaust. I will assume that the interviewer did not pursue this intention and just wasn't aware of this. I just wanted to mention that the question distorts reality and makes Germany's effort look much less reasonable than the really are.

Man, I did not think much of this interview series you are doing at first, but the knowledge I am getting from these people's personal accounts and the elderly telling of events is blowing my mind. The old man mentioning that most of the supposedly anti-nazi actually treated Jews similarly went a long way towards showing how nazi-fascism is such a terrifying disease regardless of where it arises. Great job mate.

The germans don't need to apologize every year or two. One formal apology is enough. The best thing they can do is uphold a free society and defend human rights. And i think they have succeeded in that.

Here is a thought, most of the young Israelis in the video personally did not have to suffer the way their grandparents or great grandparents did. If you are NOT a holocaust survivor, you should not judge Germans of today. I am an Indian. We were ruled by British for centuries. What no one talks about is the brutality and persecution the Indians living in the British Raj had to suffer. But if you ask me, whether the British should apologize for the atrocities committed in India, my answer would be NO!! Because I personally didn't suffer anything, and it's the water under the bridge as far as I am concerned.

As a German I can confirm a definitive NO! No one should ever even assume guilt by association.

Love and best regards from Germany 🇩🇪 ❤

This is really insightful. Thank you for putting this together. I'm American and I have Jewish and German friends, I never ask about this subject to either of them, cause I always felt this was too dark of a subject and I didn't want to offend anyone, but I always wanted to know how they felt about it. Well done. Thanks!

As a (relatively) young German born in 1970 I see it the same way. The Germans born during the years of the war, or even those of an age unable to participate during the war crimes (like my father who was born in 1932, who was 7 at the start of the war and was 13 at the end of the war) are not responsible for the Holocaust. Those that hold to Nazi or Neo-Nazi views are despiccable individuals on par with criminals in my mind. This does not mean that Germany as a nation should ever forget about the Holocaust. Nor should the German population. Nor should it ever be allowed to happen again. Never forget, never again. I feel sorry for what happened, and I can empathize deeply with survivors and the descendants of the survivors. And yet I feel a huge guilt despite the fact neither I nor my parents were directly responsible for anything of that time. If somebody demands an apology from a German, it should not hurt you as a German of any age to publicly state that you are ashamed of that part of history, but you should also differentiate that you personally are not responsible for it. But how can you apply an amount of money to a life lost? It is a very difficult concept, and in my opinion devalues life by placing a monetary value on a single life, or 10 or hundreds or even millions. We have to find a way to come to terms with history and current events. I bow to the old man who, as a survivor of the Holocaust, has the greatness to differentiate.

Now, can americans apologise for dresden?

Thank you so much for this nice words! I´m glad friendship is possible today :)

but germany likes israel

2:28 that guy was so confident XD

As a german born in 1992, i do not see or feel any responsibility for the holocaust. I do however believe to have a responsibility to keep the memory "alive" and act to prevent anything like this to ever happen again.

this is amongst one of the most interesting ask questions IMO

Asking people who weren’t harmed by people who didn’t harm if those should apologize. What kind of question is that?

I was in Israel a couple of weeks ago and I loved it...I was there with my school and every time we said Hello and we're from Germany they greeted us back and the people were surprised and really happy. I love them!

We all have enough of our own thoughts, words and actions to atone for, without being shamed for anyone else's.

Why Israelis are doing the same to Palestinians ????

Thanks so much. I really appreciate hearing that.

So, is an american of european descent still responsible for the killing of south and north american natives ? NO Is a mongolian still responsible for the killing of native europeans in the mongolstorm under Genghis Khan ? NO Is a Turk still responsible for the siege of vienna ? NO Is an italian still responsible for the siege of Masada or Alesia ? NO Stupid questions, stupid answers.

We need to remember what happened. And keep reminding. Making sure this never ever happens again. But we have to stop to apologize and try to be proud again. Thanks for this upload!

Thank you very much for sharing this. Especially, the discussion with Tzvika in the car is really interesting to me.

Poland did not exsist since 1939. Watch uncut speech of Survivor Edward Mosberg from 2018.

As an Austrian I sometimes feel like we ripped out pieces from our heart and brain. Remember Vienna was the largest jewish community on the planet and our society did benefit a lot! Anyways it's important sometimes go back in time and try to feel the pain. Empathy is integral on our way towards lasting piece! Greetings!

Responsibility means money 🤗

There's a big difference between asking if they're still responsible and asking if they should still be sorry

Very good videos, Corey. As a Spaniard, with a great interest for all semitic cultures, I would like to watch a chapter about the Sephardies and their language, Ladino.

Thank you very much for the nice and interesting video. Nice greetings from Bavaria.

German here. I don't feel guilt towards jews, because I never harmed anyone of them. Nor did my father. Nor did my grandfathers. Both my grandfathers were drawn into a war they did not want, and they did what they had to do to survive because otherwise they would have been shot by their own people. The father of my mother didn't survive the war. I met two Jews in my entire life. One, an elderly man, accused me of being an antisemite because when he called me on a saturday night because his TV was not working (I was a service technician), I told him to wait until monday morning. The other one was my age. A nice guy, was in Germany to study, we had a few beers and a good time. I'm glad Jews got a place of their own now. Glad...and concerned. Israel is to me like a child that has experienced traumatizing lot of violence during it's upbringing, and now that it is adult, it tends to violence itself. I don't blame them. Life seems to be a neverending circle of suffering, almost impossible to break out.

A former minister from Israel once said that the jews can`t forgive the germans but they can try to forget.

"as a german as a german as a german as a german" too obsessed and persistent for people who have nothing to be ashamed of

As a German I can confirm that we were really often reminded by the holocaust. In school, I visited 2 different concentration camps with my class (I think that's something common in german education system). My class also had to clean up "Stolpersteine" (I don't know the English word for this) in our city. These are memorial stones for holocaust victims which are on the ground in some city's. When we talked about the second world war in history class, most of the content was about the holocaust. Don't get me wrong, we should not forget what happened back then but I feel like they wanted me to feel guilty about things that happened long before I was born.

Man, I love your work... To create such a good youtube channel like that, it's just the best idea ever. I really believe that you do much more thant any other politic so please, don"t stop... Huge respect from France!

So the only two who said yes were also concerned about why their pockets haven't been lined as compensation......

If that what israelis think, why israel ambasador keep bringing up holocaust in UN?

Of course, the most pressing question is: should Germany apologise for beating Brazil 7.1 in the World Cup?

It was a long time ago, we must always keep the memory alive but the world has moved on. Germany paid the price both metaphorically and economically.

4:16 is that Arjen Robben?

I didn't really understand what the old guy at the end was trying to say about France.

As German born in Poland I still feel to apologize. If you would ask me that question, I would propably answer: We have to. Not just in order to apologize, but more importantly to remember and learn from past to take it into the future

Great videos 👍🏼 with lots of cool people

Is that Arjen Robben at 4:20? ;-)

POLAND LOST 6 MILLION CITIZENS IN II WORLD WAR (among them 3 millions Jewish, not all of them orthodox). Poland lost almost half of the territory for Soviet Union ! THOUSANDS of POLISH PEOPLE were rescuing their Jewish neighbours and friends although they could lost their life together with hole family for helping them (only in Poland was such a high penalty). DO THEY ASK GERMANS FOR MONEY for bringing almost hole of the country to ruin or Russians to give back what have they taken?

The last man had a different perspective on the holocaust. I'd never heard that argument before, but it makes perfect sense. Germany took responsibility, but many countries are responsible. Even the French, as he said. If you blame Germany as a nation, then these nations are also responsible, as it was their own citizens and territory that carried out the genocide.

Thanks! :)

These videos are so awesome. To everyone moaning about how stupid of a question it is, i would say yeah obviously. Really interesting bits of Corey's videos are those moments where you realize just how similar people can be apart from what we are only left to assume. So im just gonna leave it at that and show these to my mom because she's pretty religious and I sincerely believe these videos will allow me to communicate with her better and show her that despite the fact that im not really a believer she shouldnt worry about me being an intolerant person.

They are not Nobody is guilty for something he has not done.

I must admit most Israelis giving their opinions on this are quite fair in their analysis , wonder how though AIPAC members or ADL thinks about this

Thank you for this! As a german I think it is very important to talk about what happend and our relationship to each other. The generation of mine - we didn't want it, we didn't do it - and most of us are deep shocked about the past (and will ever be shocked!) - about the cruel behavior of our forefahthers, our relatives. I think it is important to differ between "guilt" and "responsibility" - personally I can't bear the guilt of my grans, my family, my nation - but I can take responsibility for the future, for a peaceful and respectful way to live together and work on this world. The shoa is not just a trauma of Israel - it is also the central trauma of Germany that confronts us with the darkest sides of the humen soul. This trauma brings us into the responsibility to reflect much more than some other nations do, what our (the german) role and behavior in the world should be. So I say "shalom!" to all of you out there - let us stand together to create a peaceful world.

11:41 quotable quote: "Everyone is liberal and believes in freedom until they smell the Jews"

What a dumb question in the title

I love this video. I was born in 1991 and you wouldn't believe how much of a problem I still have with telling someone "Oh, I'm from Germany." It's immediately the elephant in the room. I am ashamed, still ashamed of what happened. Even if my family wasn't involved, doesn't even matter. The horrors of this war are still in our minds. My grandmother lost all of her brothers in the war. The third WW2 bomb was found this year in my neighbourhood. I know people don't hold me and my generation responsible, but we still feel ashamed for them. At least I do.

Thank you for your video, it was really interesting. This is a hard topic for me as a 24 years old german. I feel guilty for things I never did and I actually know that I shouldn't feel like that. My great-granddad (father's side) was a soldier in russia and my grandfather was a little boy at that time. I don't know my mother's side ancestors but I hope they weren't involved in that big black chapter of history. My greatuncle was hiding two jews in a secret room in his flat during that time (my grandmother still have his award signed by former Bundeskanzler Adenauer). So I think and hope that my ancestors weren't personally involved in that act... but I still feel guilty. I don't even know if I would dare to travel to Israel.

As a german born in 1925, I also don't feel sorry ehh responsible for the actions.

As a german I think we have the responsiblity to remember what happend and make sure stupid ideas wont spread in our country

4:23 Arjen Robben XD

I'm of German decent I love 💕 German heritage but I love 💕 Israel and support Israel

Irish famine 100 years before. Over a million people systemically starved to death by the British. It's not in their history books and moreover it's considered acceptable to make "potato" jokes to any Irish people which is in direct reference to what was effectively a halocaust.

@11:43 how did this man make his way to France / Ondres in 1946 after the Holocaust and his family being decimated in Poland?