It’s easier to lump everything you don’t know much about into one category and declare that category taboo rather than read a history book, understand what the memorial is for and why it’s there, and act accordingly. To paraphrase *Doctor Who*, the very stupid and the very powerful have one thing in common: they won’t alter their views to fit the facts, but try to alter the facts to fit their views. Which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering.
Also, it’s easier to go out with a spray can and mindlessly deface a local monument that it is to actually go out and tackle the actual issue in a way that will make a real difference.
I am very critical of having these war memorials, but come on – someone apparently missed history lessons in the 5th grade.
I also have a why question: why are you asking me to get outraged over a context-less low-resolution photo? The only information given is “Vandalized German WW1 Memorial”. No mention of when and where this happened, and what did the investigations revealed about the incident.
That’s some Facebook-quality posting here.
When you skip history class.
Most people don’t know the difference between ww1 and ww2 i guess
Yeah, why does the same thing get reposted over and over?
Meh. Could’ve done a better job of it. Kidsthesedays, amirite?
That’s sad.
On both sides, people has died and mother have lost their sons.
Second, there wasn’t nazis in the first ww.
btw, why did the germans hate their own cultural heritage this much?, yes hitler has raped german culture but that’s no reason to hate their own heritage.
I hate it when Monuments are vandalized. What cruel and twisted thought has to enter a persons mind that he decides to do something like that. Those soldiers just did what they were told to do, them doing it is thier crime. But vandalizing what is left of the dead doesn’t accomplish anything, so leave them rest and let thier graves be a warning for something that should never happen again.
Edit: Realized what my text sounded like.
Wen juckts alder!! Richtig die Nazis juckt das!! 🤣🤣🤣
Do we know that this is *only* a WWI memorial? There are lots of memorials scattered around, especially in small town/cities which don’t receive many tourists, which have a sort of fine print tacked on which lionizes the Wehrmacht (Nazi ground forces) as heroes fighting a lost cause, not dissimilar to the way the Confederacy is portrayed in some states in the U.S. I’ve seen at least 3 such memorials just in Kreis Kleve, one of which portrays a Wehrmacht soldier as a naked hero slaying a dragon (hmmm, who could the dragon represent?). Plus, many of these monuments were erected by the Nazis, so they quite literally are Nazi monuments. I would guess that if this monument was vandalized, that probably means that this is one such monument, but I would need more information to confirm it.
I mean the Nazis we’re shit but you dont need to do that
In the tweet, it’s labelled “Memorial to fallen German soldiers of the Verdun Battle” but without a location or any more information given. I tried looking for images of German memorials of the Battle of Verdun, and this one does not come up in any photo. I also searched for Schlacht um Verdun plus words such as Vandalismus or Graffiti and nothing comes up in local news (more proficient speakers of German can maybe take a better look). There’s no record of this event happening and it appears to have originated by one of early two sources both of which have a very specific agenda.
If anyone could find any more information on this alleged event, please do share. In fact, if someone can identify the specific memorial, that goes a long way into establishing the events.
And, again, I am terrified by how we can know so little and yet speculate so passionately about something.
15 comments
Because stupid Kids…
That’s even a WW1 memorial
It’s easier to lump everything you don’t know much about into one category and declare that category taboo rather than read a history book, understand what the memorial is for and why it’s there, and act accordingly. To paraphrase *Doctor Who*, the very stupid and the very powerful have one thing in common: they won’t alter their views to fit the facts, but try to alter the facts to fit their views. Which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering.
Also, it’s easier to go out with a spray can and mindlessly deface a local monument that it is to actually go out and tackle the actual issue in a way that will make a real difference.
I am very critical of having these war memorials, but come on – someone apparently missed history lessons in the 5th grade.
I also have a why question: why are you asking me to get outraged over a context-less low-resolution photo? The only information given is “Vandalized German WW1 Memorial”. No mention of when and where this happened, and what did the investigations revealed about the incident.
That’s some Facebook-quality posting here.
When you skip history class.
Most people don’t know the difference between ww1 and ww2 i guess
Yeah, why does the same thing get reposted over and over?
Meh. Could’ve done a better job of it. Kidsthesedays, amirite?
That’s sad.
On both sides, people has died and mother have lost their sons.
Second, there wasn’t nazis in the first ww.
btw, why did the germans hate their own cultural heritage this much?, yes hitler has raped german culture but that’s no reason to hate their own heritage.
I hate it when Monuments are vandalized. What cruel and twisted thought has to enter a persons mind that he decides to do something like that. Those soldiers just did what they were told to do, them doing it is thier crime. But vandalizing what is left of the dead doesn’t accomplish anything, so leave them rest and let thier graves be a warning for something that should never happen again.
Edit: Realized what my text sounded like.
Wen juckts alder!! Richtig die Nazis juckt das!! 🤣🤣🤣
Do we know that this is *only* a WWI memorial? There are lots of memorials scattered around, especially in small town/cities which don’t receive many tourists, which have a sort of fine print tacked on which lionizes the Wehrmacht (Nazi ground forces) as heroes fighting a lost cause, not dissimilar to the way the Confederacy is portrayed in some states in the U.S. I’ve seen at least 3 such memorials just in Kreis Kleve, one of which portrays a Wehrmacht soldier as a naked hero slaying a dragon (hmmm, who could the dragon represent?). Plus, many of these monuments were erected by the Nazis, so they quite literally are Nazi monuments. I would guess that if this monument was vandalized, that probably means that this is one such monument, but I would need more information to confirm it.
I mean the Nazis we’re shit but you dont need to do that
So, for some perspective:
This image first appeared on the Internet, as far as Google can show, either on Reddit, in a variant form, on [Mar 29, 2021](https://np.reddit.com/r/PoliticalCompassMemes/comments/mg24sm/vandalizing_a_memorial_to_fallen_ww1_soldiers_to/) on Twitter in this form on [Mar 30, 2021](https://nitter.net/zaxxxppe/status/1376850739667079177?lang=en) – you can look into the accounts posting the image for some taste as to who the source may be. The Twitter is probably the original source but some timezone/timestamp issue is making the Reddit post appear earlier.
The image as seen here was reposted on Reddit six months ago ([1](https://np.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/mglc43/vandalized_german_ww1_memorial/), [2](https://np.reddit.com/r/DownvotedToOblivion/comments/mgo1up/on_the_antinazi_vandalism_of_a_wwi_monument/)), a few hours after the tweet. It went viral again a month ago in September, and then again these past few days.
In the tweet, it’s labelled “Memorial to fallen German soldiers of the Verdun Battle” but without a location or any more information given. I tried looking for images of German memorials of the Battle of Verdun, and this one does not come up in any photo. I also searched for Schlacht um Verdun plus words such as Vandalismus or Graffiti and nothing comes up in local news (more proficient speakers of German can maybe take a better look). There’s no record of this event happening and it appears to have originated by one of early two sources both of which have a very specific agenda.
If anyone could find any more information on this alleged event, please do share. In fact, if someone can identify the specific memorial, that goes a long way into establishing the events.
And, again, I am terrified by how we can know so little and yet speculate so passionately about something.