Family in History

[David]

 My ancestors were anthropophagi.

[robasheep]

Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent was my great-great uncle.

Gretzky is my cousin.


My friend's great grandfather invented basketball. 

[Beer Keg Peg Leg]

im a descendant of E. A. Poe. kinda makes me worry about my depression and preference to opiates over other drugs. on the bright side, I'm pretty sure thats what won over my lady in the early stages of our relationship.

you are a faggot

[busey]

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my great grandpa invented the street sweeper. also my cousin married the lead singer of the goo goo dolls. he's got crazy game.

[close]

Street sweeper the gun, or the actually vehicle that cleans streets?

Before you answer, just remember we could turn your great grandpa into a vigilante of Paul Kersey proportions.  Either is dope though.

Is she still married to that dude?

the vehicle! still got the original blue prints at my uncles. i don't think it's worth anything though. wish frisco would see this thread he's got some really rad relatives that have everything to do with the invention of the delorean to steven segal movies.

and as far as i know, they're still married. i don't really talk to them. his band sucks so bad that it's awesome.

[sleepypancakes]

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im a descendant of E. A. Poe. kinda makes me worry about my depression and preference to opiates over other drugs. on the bright side, I'm pretty sure thats what won over my lady in the early stages of our relationship.

[close]

you are a faggot

You're a Poe, not a Hemingway god damnit.

[BriefCase]

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im a descendant of E. A. Poe. kinda makes me worry about my depression and preference to opiates over other drugs. on the bright side, I'm pretty sure thats what won over my dude in the early stages of our relationship.

[close]

you are a faggot

now i am

[Bronson]

My great grandfather worked to prepare proper (winter) clothing for the Nazis when they began their offence on Soviet Union in ww2.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

Its odd how many descendents of Nazis there are here. Its a shame really. I hoped they would have been killed off and prevented from reproducing.

[Tale Crab]

I hoped they would have been killed off and prevented from reproducing.

Sounds familiar.

[Money Black]

haha

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

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I hoped they would have been killed off and prevented from reproducing.

[close]

Sounds familiar.

Fuck you, you piece of shit Nazi sympathizer.
Yeah, a genocidal army and an ethnic group are pretty much the same thing, except one is united by the killing of millions of people without reason and the other is united by a common bloodline.
Let's not pretend like Nazis were "born like that."  They made the decision to take part in a genocide. Like any serial killer, the idea that many just lived their lives out after doing such horrible things, doing things like raising kids and seeing them grow up fucking disgusts me. His grandfather should have at a minimum lived his life out in a jail cell, not raising a family. He lost that right when he took part in tearing apart families and then murdering them. That's not some minor historical event, its genocide, and its the reason "I was just following orders" is NOT a valid defense.
They made the conscious decision to take part in a genocide that killed most of my family, and I have no problem saying every single one of them deserved a fate worse than the fate of my family. Most of my family didn't have the chance to have children, or if they did, they were murdered by his grandfather, but his family line goes on, and brags about their murderous scum family. Fuck that, I have no problem saying I would have hoped stupid ignorant fucks who bought into government bullshit and were willing to be so obedient that they murdered 11 million people deserve nothing but misery and the end of their family line.

Call me reactionary if you want to, but I have a TON of family I would have met if it weren't for his grandpa, and that's not a fucking joke to me.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

My great grandfather worked to prepare proper (winter) clothing for the Nazis when they began their offence on Soviet Union in ww2.

Oh, and your great grandfather was a failure fuck up idiot. They froze to death out there and got their asses kicked.

[brycickle]

How do you know that his great grand father didn't make those clothes in a Nazi work camp? Just because someone works and makes a product that someone else uses, it doesn't make them a member of that someone else's evil little club. Not every German was a nazi.

[Tale Crab]

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I hoped they would have been killed off and prevented from reproducing.

[close]

Sounds familiar.

[close]

Fuck you, you piece of shit Nazi sympathizer.
Yeah, a genocidal army and an ethnic group are pretty much the same thing, except one is united by the killing of millions of people without reason and the other is united by a common bloodline.
Let's not pretend like Nazis were "born like that."  They made the decision to take part in a genocide. Like any serial killer, the idea that many just lived their lives out after doing such horrible things, doing things like raising kids and seeing them grow up fucking disgusts me. His grandfather should have at a minimum lived his life out in a jail cell, not raising a family. He lost that right when he took part in tearing apart families and then murdering them. That's not some minor historical event, its genocide, and its the reason "I was just following orders" is NOT a valid defense.
They made the conscious decision to take part in a genocide that killed most of my family, and I have no problem saying every single one of them deserved a fate worse than the fate of my family. Most of my family didn't have the chance to have children, or if they did, they were murdered by his grandfather, but his family line goes on, and brags about their murderous scum family. Fuck that, I have no problem saying I would have hoped stupid ignorant fucks who bought into government bullshit and were willing to be so obedient that they murdered 11 million people deserve nothing but misery and the end of their family line.

Call me reactionary if you want to, but I have a TON of family I would have met if it weren't for his grandpa, and that's not a fucking joke to me.

That's right. All they had to do was say "I don't really feel like killing jews today"...

And because of the sins of their fathers these children shouldn't exist, or at least must be held responsible for the actions they had nothing to do with, right?

[happenstance]

In all fairness, I don't think every single person who was a Nazi wanted to be. In any totalitarian state, all members of society will be integrated into the state in some form, especially in a time of war. You couldn't just not join the military. Most conscientious objectors were sent to concentration camps. Deserters were obviously executed. Would the righteous path be to choose your own death? I suppose, but our innate instinct as humans is self-preservation.

Not every German was a nazi.

Technically speaking, they all were. In Hitler's Germany - as it also was in Mussolini's Italy - all members of society were integrated into the state through different organizations. Either in the military, by trade, as students, etc. I guess the question is what is it to 'be a Nazi'? Does this mean you were in the military? Worked within a state-run (and therefore party-run, as the party was synonymous, if not paramount to the state) organization? Is everyone equally as guilty for their collaboration? These are valid questions that deserve exploration and have had their share of exploration. Sure, the ones who single-handedly carried out the most horrible atrocities should have probably taken the risk of execution through desertion if they took issue with their assignment. Again, they were also human and had families. A question they might have asked themselves would be the fate of their family if they deserted. I think it is a little short sighted to paint every single German man of fighting age as evil. To start labeling the ones who made their clothes as inherently evil is even more over the top.

[brycickle]

No, technically speaking to be a "nazi" you had to join the nazi party. Not everyone in Germany did. Not even every German soldier was a nazi. Technically speaking.

[happenstance]

Damn, do I sound that much like an asshole?

You are right that not all were in the party in the strictest sense. One party states generally reserve actual membership for the more elite. You still were integrated into state and had to pledge your allegiance to the party. Again, what is it to 'be a Nazi'? Surely some within the party were less guilty than some who were not.

Anyway, this is why I stopped talking politics and history on slap a while ago. I say something and then someone points out how my use of language makes me sound like a dick (e.g. your double use of 'technically speaking'). I was the biggest politics and history nerd in school and still am. Being a nerd makes you write like an asshole I suppose. I am going to go back to just silently judging people's opinions now.

[LOU.502]

My grandmother on my dad's side is/was friends with some pretty cool people. Like Francis Bay, the old lady in the Karate Kid and Blue Velvet, and Happy's grandmother in Happy Gilmore. When my dad was growing up, she was dating Pat Frank for a long time until he died. My dad still has a bunch of letters that he wrote my grandmother and signed first editions of his books, which is kinda cool.
My mom was one of the heads of research in developing the HPV vaccine several years ago, and got to be in commercials and a bunch of talk shows and stuff for it, it was kinda weird.
Her dad was one of the original financial backers of HBO and ESPN respectively, way back when.
Fuck, these are kinda lame compared to a lotta you guys. Off topic a bit, but isn't jon fitzgerald distantly related to wyatt earp or something?

[happenstance]

but isn't jon fitzgerald distantly related to wyatt earp or something?

Yes, and Tony Hawk is related to Hudson Hawk and Donny Barley was related to the guy who wrote Monster Mash.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

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but isn't jon fitzgerald distantly related to wyatt earp or something?

[close]

Yes, and Tony Hawk is related to Hudson Hawk and Donny Barley was related to the guy who wrote Monster Mash.

Wasn't Riley's name orginally Hudson, but the show came out at the same time so he started going by Riley instead or something like that?


And its true that the sins of the father shouldn't be put on the son. Still not a fan of Nazis.

In terms of rebelling, its true that it took a lot of courage and had huge consequences, but the fact is, desertion was the morally right thing to do. Sometimes I think back on that in comparison to the idea of dissenting in current times- first it reminds me that government and social forces may overwhelmingly push immoral ideas on people in the name of nationalism, and second, I don't want to be one of the people who supported evil, and know that when our government does something immoral (like invade Iraq or dehumanize undocumented immigrants) that it is the duty of the people to resist, and that in our situation the consequences are so much lighter, making it more inexcusable not to stand up for the right thing. Its actually a pretty common perspective, its why there were so many jews who took part in the freedom summer of '64

[Bronson]

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My great grandfather worked to prepare proper (winter) clothing for the Nazis when they began their offence on Soviet Union in ww2.

[close]

Oh, and your great grandfather was a failure fuck up idiot. They froze to death out there and got their asses kicked.

Yeah, I thought that was pretty funny...not the people dying but the total fucking up of winter clothing.

I never met my great grandfather. He was finnish though, so I dont know how Nazi he could have been. But from what I understand, he did support the Nazis.

I understand your feelings, but I dont really know what I could say to you to make you feel better.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

You realized how many civil rights activists were murdered, eh? Because activism in both times could result in you disappearing.

[happenstance]

^Gip, totally deleted the comment you were responding to because I didn't realize you mentioned that in your other response. For everyone's FYI I said desertion in Nazi Germany and activism in the 60s had different consequences. But to respond to your new comment, yes they did have different consequences! Sure, some fishy things happened to some activists in the 60s but this was reserved for the most powerful voices. In Nazi Germany they were quite diligent in purging dissenters - it was a guarantee.

It is easy say it was the morally right thing to do when you are not in the position to worry about your own life or the lives of your family.

A side note that is a little unrelated, but I think it touches on the coercion that your average foot soldier faces to fight. In WWI the Christmas Truce was an example of soldiers putting aside their differences precisely because the threat of coercion to fight was absent. I only read the synopsis of the Wiki article, and it didn't touch on the fact that the truce happened because the officers left the battlefield. Because of these events, new rules were instated in the British military that officers always had to remain present in battle (not sure if similar changes were made in the German military).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

[Eschaton]

The Russians were just as bad.

[weedpop]

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My great grandfather worked to prepare proper (winter) clothing for the Nazis when they began their offence on Soviet Union in ww2.

[close]

Oh, and your great grandfather was a failure fuck up idiot. They froze to death out there and got their asses kicked.

[close]

I never met my great grandfather. He was finnish though, so I dont know how Nazi he could have been. But from what I understand, he did support the Nazis.

The Finns hated the Russians at the time due to the fact that the soviet union had illegally invaded their country at the beginning of the war. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Winter_War

People in Hungary, former Yugoslavia, Rumania etc. joined the Wehrmacht for similar kinds of reasons ("the enemy of my enemy is my friend"), despite many of them not being ideological Nazis. Just another example of how history isn't always black and white (ahem, talking to you gipper).

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

^Gip, totally deleted the comment you were responding to because I didn't realize you mentioned that in your other response. For everyone's FYI I said desertion in Nazi Germany and activism in the 60s had different consequences. But to respond to your new comment, yes they did have different consequences! Sure, some fishy things happened to some activists in the 60s but this was reserved for the most powerful voices. In Nazi Germany they were quite diligent in purging dissenters - it was a guarantee.

It is easy say it was the morally right thing to do when you are not in the position to worry about your own life or the lives of your family.

A side note that is a little unrelated, but I think it touches on the coercion that your average foot soldier faces to fight. In WWI the Christmas Truce was an example of soldiers putting aside their differences precisely because the threat of coercion to fight was absent. I only read the synopsis of the Wiki article, and it didn't touch on the fact that the truce happened because the officers left the battlefield. Because of these events, new rules were instated in the British military that officers always had to remain present in battle (not sure if similar changes were made in the German military).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

No, it wasn't just a few, and no it wasn't just the ones on top. Were those 4 little girls in the birmingham church top leaders of the civil rights movement? No. Were the buses that never completed the freedom rides because the passengers disappeared and the buses were lit on fire leaders? no. The fact was, if you were in the south acting up, you were risking your life. Everybody down there knew that too. The police would attack you if you were lucky enough to face them before the klan made you vanish, and nobody would ever be convicted of the murders.
Here's the fucked up fact of it, despite the rules and all that shit, most Germans did support the Nazis. The economy was getting better and Germany was gaining back power in the world, so they didn't care what was happening to the minority populations. Fuck, when the economy improved a lot of people bought into the nazi ideology more.
Also, I wouldn't consider a death camp the same thing as the battle field.
edit: Besides, didn't somebody in this thread say that a relative of theirs fed a concentration camp prisoner here?

[happenstance]

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^Gip, totally deleted the comment you were responding to because I didn't realize you mentioned that in your other response. For everyone's FYI I said desertion in Nazi Germany and activism in the 60s had different consequences. But to respond to your new comment, yes they did have different consequences! Sure, some fishy things happened to some activists in the 60s but this was reserved for the most powerful voices. In Nazi Germany they were quite diligent in purging dissenters - it was a guarantee.

It is easy say it was the morally right thing to do when you are not in the position to worry about your own life or the lives of your family.

A side note that is a little unrelated, but I think it touches on the coercion that your average foot soldier faces to fight. In WWI the Christmas Truce was an example of soldiers putting aside their differences precisely because the threat of coercion to fight was absent. I only read the synopsis of the Wiki article, and it didn't touch on the fact that the truce happened because the officers left the battlefield. Because of these events, new rules were instated in the British military that officers always had to remain present in battle (not sure if similar changes were made in the German military).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

[close]

No, it wasn't just a few, and no it wasn't just the ones on top. Were those 4 little girls in the birmingham church top leaders of the civil rights movement? No. Were the buses that never completed the freedom rides because the passengers disappeared and the buses were lit on fire leaders? no. The fact was, if you were in the south acting up, you were risking your life. Everybody down there knew that too. The police would attack you if you were lucky enough to face them before the klan made you vanish, and nobody would ever be convicted of the murders.
Here's the fucked up fact of it, despite the rules and all that shit, most Germans did support the Nazis. The economy was getting better and Germany was gaining back power in the world, so they didn't care what was happening to the minority populations. Fuck, when the economy improved a lot of people bought into the nazi ideology more.
Also, I wouldn't consider a death camp the same thing as the battle field.
edit: Besides, didn't somebody in this thread say that a relative of theirs fed a concentration camp prisoner here?

Alright, fair points. When you said 'disappearing', I was thinking more about ideas that people like Malcom X and MLK were assassinated by the CIA. That is why I said there were 'fishy things' happening because, of course, such ideas can never be proven. Didn't really consider the lower level daily harassment and terrorism... Brain fart. Kind of talking out of my ass here I guess. And also I am aware that a large population of Germans supported Hitler because of his ability to overcome hyper-inflation. It still doesn't mean every German was culpable for major atrocities. Not to mention that his popularity wasn't as solid as it was in the early to late 30s through the end of the war. Anywho, white flag raised. Carry on Gip.

Edit: Also was sort of playing devil's advocate right now and now I feel like I have been soft on Nazi's. My Senate career is so over. No one can run on a soft on Nazi's platform.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

nah, you just gotta spin to so people think you are open to listening to a diversity of opinions before making up your mind

[Locbrew]

My great uncle was Dean of Campbell College here in NC, the law school in Raleigh is named after him. My mom's cousin was the pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox's.

My grandfather was a paratrooper during WWII, jumped out during Normandy, landed, started digging a fox hole and got ran over by a French Tank, he lived. Apparently my great aunt said he was full of shit and that never happened, still believe him. Before he died, my grandmother got a call from a German man claiming to be his son, pretty crazy I could have a German Uncle.

[Beer Keg Peg Leg]

my second cousin is a big famous aussie rules player here in australia, jonathan brown


he's a fucking person.