It's OK to Root for Germany

[soccergirl63]

Wall Street Journal journalist's Matthew Futterman, "a Jewish-American of a certain age", beautifully written article about his weird feelings rooting for Germany.
Article by Matthew Futterman

Source: Wall Street Journal "It's OK to Root for Germany"A version of this article appeared June 25, 2012, on page B8 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street

Comments

[solidark]

...another who referred to Bayern Munich / Bayern fans as Nazis...

Which is particularly ironic as from all the current Bundesliga teams Bayern München was the last one to be nazi-fied and they fought that development tooth and claw to the very end (which is something I tell all Bayern-haters in my vicinity because sometimes I think all that hatred is a remnant of that time when "good Germans" simply didn't cheer for Bayern München).

[solidark]

Oh, it's not exclusively an Canadian/US/general non-German-thing. Actually, most people in Germany don't know their history either (or choose not to know it). Which is kind of sad (but I do my best to change this *lol*).

[connorblond]

I think they know their history, actually, but choose to ignore it because they don't feel very comfortable with it.

[beauty_forashes]

*cough*...Not arguing, but we can't ignore it because then it might happen again, and that can't happen again - nobody wants that aside from a few idiots who really don't remember, realize how it must have been, or are too pea-brained to really think about it, but that sort exists all over the planet, sadly. Yes, that one remark of his was a bit clumsy, but it wasn't meant to be insulting. We're a mixed nation now, with people from all heritages... und das ist gut so. :)

[connorblond]

This! And thanks for pointing this out! :D

[the_ladyj]

Don't forget to tell them that the people who founded Bayern were not only amazing amd smart people, but also jewish. Shuts them up all the time, and is something to add to the list why I am so proud of my team.

[solidark]

That's exactly what I do! I tell them who Landauer and Kohn were and why this is important. I also love telling them that 1860 München was one of Hitler's favourite clubs (which of course isn't the current team's fault! But it still shuts them up and hopefully makes a few of them THINK why their hatred of Bayern München is so freaking deeply ingrained) =D

Edited: The most rabid Bayern haters from around here (since I live close to Munich) are usually 1860 fans. But you probably know that ;) It's just a clarification for the people who are not from Bavaria.

[the_ladyj]

I so love you for this!

Also, I'm from Munich too, and yes those damn Loewen are the loudest in their hatred. Most everywhere else the past 2-3 season have gained us at least respect and admiration for the way we play and represent Bundesliga on the international level!

[solidark]

Thanks! ♥

It's good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that this part of history should not be forgotten! And most of the haters and bashers are just envious of our great team (if I liked the Löwen, I'd probably be envious too =D)!

[solidark]

No, unfortunately not yet! But thanks for the tip! :)

[lady_teazle]

Honigstein's Guardian piece on Bayern's Jewish origins

[solidark]

Thanks for the link, I hadn't read it before!

[gloeckchen_x3]

I didn't know this, thanks for the info! :)

I "hate" (and this is more tongue-in-cheek than anything, I promise) FC Bayern because they always win, and that gets kind of frustrating. ;)
But I love a lot of the players and cheer them on in international football. :)