Why our German teacher got easily offended?

yup - my hubby is german but born here in canada and he was called a nazi once (we were born in the 60's) and this is nothing he has never forgotten (it was several years ago in a working situation). something like that is not to be taken lightly - it was a dark time for germany!

I think that's a pretty bad thing to say to anyone, regardless of whether they're German or not. If you were 14 surely you had learnt about the World Wars by then? It is rather poor taste to mock something like that, especially to effectively call another person 'Hitler'. I imagine that she'd already had a lot of contention with being German from other people, and so didn't really appreciate a gesture associating her with one of the most brutal, mass-murderers of the last century.

Hi ronald, Of course I will be offended too and maybe I will deduct your grades! hahahhaha! ANyway, i am sure no one loves to hear that word!

Hi ronaldinu, Probably because of your age at the time I would have understood, and not been terribly offended, but I'm sure I would have explained it as she did. When we are young we don't always understand these things. One matures with age or so we hope. Blessings.

yeah i got your point.well they are easily to get offened if they heared about "Hitler" because Hitler was the worlds enemies but Hitler is not a german.so thats why germans dont like to hear about Hitler since he was the worlds enemy.

it is not only your teacher if it was any german they might have behaved the same. we are in germany and this topic we have spoken to more germans and the answer remains the same they dont take it as a joke and it is really very serious to them and those people had told us to never take this topic up as any german would not like it as it matters them to a lot and had a very bad time. due to hitler they had struggle and also had to tolerate much more and they dont want to here anythig about him.

You were only 14 at the time and what seemed like a joke to you was not really a joke. Germany went through a really dark period in their history. Generally a civilized and cultured country its people fell for a demagogue who appealed to their basest instincts. If you see the old movie clips you will be shocked. Millions of people screamed in delight and adored Hitler when he made an appearance, gave him the the famous salute, held up their babies for him to kiss and supported his evil deeds. A minority did not like what they saw, some ended up in concentration camps, some were murdered, some just kept quiet and hoped that that would pass in time. So,Germans of all stripes are really uncomfortable when you remind them of that period in their history. So you can understand why your teacher did not think it was funny, but she was a wise person and forgave you.

Well that is offensive to the germans. Just like the N word is offensive to blacks. They don't like when you joke about Hitler. The country Germany is ashamed of what happened during World War 2. So you should be more sensitive about people's feelings.

Yes, indeed, I would have been offended. My mother's family was German and were often made fun of when she was in junior high and high school. She never wanted to be associated with anything so horrible as what happened under Hitler. And I cannot blame her.

You were 14, so chances are to you didn't really grasp how bad the situation really was. Kids say dumb stuff sometimes. She's was a teacher and she understood that, that's why she forgave you guys. But I can see why she was offended.

haha, i would not get mad at you if i were she. Hitler is one of my idols.

i feel in other way we can take that the she would have explained the situation as well and hitler is a man who all speak something about him whenever we listen his name. i too admire at hitler and his leadership as well.

German are the industrious nation in the world. I think this teacher had the leakage of knowledge thats why she dont understand what she said so she was offended

That was a dark time for Germany, and while it was meant as a joke, it should have never been said. Most Germans during the Hitler era did not support him. Just because she is German doesn't mean that she supported him. This is a good example of why you learn your history before you make a bold joke such as that.

I'm sure that as you look back and know the history of Hitler you can understand why she was offended. Knowing what Hitler did to so many people I think that any one not just Germans would be offended. The name is associated with such horror and hate that I would also be offended. 'Be kinder than necessary; for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle

I think only Germans would know that as far as Hitler is concerned I once had a German descent boss, he wasn't the best boss but there isn't such a thing wherever I worked anyway One time there was a staff that hated him so much, when he called her on the phone she made a joke that involves Nazi soup I don't know what he said to her but later in the year he was moved to be the boss in another company They said he wanted to move but he said they moved him due to corporate plan He was never a great personality in the beginning before he became boss so some people just can't hide their feelings anymore I guess

Hitler was not funny in any way, shape, or form. Period.