Poppy etiquette for Germans

[Fanta4]

Nc but long time member.

I am German. I have lived in the UK pretty much all my adult life (my choice, not circumstance). Every year I have an internal debate about whether I should/ should not wear a poppy. Mindful also that I work in a formal, customer facing environment and don’t have a noticeably German accent.

Pros:
_Good cause I support
_On a personal level, very grateful for the sacrifice, particularly WW2, which my parents vividly and horribly remember
_Feel fully part of British society, my children are British etc

Cons
_Feels strangely disrespectful to wear a poppy when my quite recent ancestors caused so much death and destruction
_I’ve had an elderly neighbour at the door selling poppies who would only sell to my husband, so feelings obvs strong in that generation and I don’t want to offend

So over to you, wise Mnetters. AIBU to wear a poppy?

Wear your poppy - they are showing respect to and acknowledgement of the dead, whoever they may be, who gave their lives not because they wanted to but because politicians and governments made them take up arms and be soldiers. WW2 happened because Hitler had to be stopped - and many Germans hated what he did but were powerless.

do you live in NI OP?

mrsHathaway when my grandad met DH for the first time he told him he had no problem with him being German but " it was a bloody good job he wasn't a jap" ( apologies for racist term but quoting)
He never forgave the Japanese for his treatment as a POW in Burma and having heard what he went through I can see why

It is never a bad thing to do the "When in Rome" thing.

But you must only do what you are comfortable with.

All nations have suffered in war and are united in grief over the senseless loss of life. My mother lost her entire family in the bombing.
A few years ago in a visit to Nuremburg cathedral there was a set up of two screens with a simultaneous filming of the Allied bombing of Nuremburg and German bombing of Coventry. It was heart rending and I had tears running down my cheeks.
Rembrance is for all and anyway the poppy was adopted because of the thousands slain in the field of Europe in WWI -- German as well as Allied men

Oops, thread is still going. I'm obviously not the only one finding this interesting/ difficult.

mammyoftwo no, I live in England.

To the poster who wondered whether my neighbour had issues with my gender rather than nationality, it was definitely the latter.

I'm wearing a (very very small) poppy!

Fanta you know that both Germany and England will be wearing poppies in their match today? 😊

Fanta wear your poppy with pride. You sound like a decent, respectful and thoughtful person. The poppy symbolises not only the remembrance of the dead, but also the lessons learned (by all of us) by what happened not so long ago and theres no reason at all why you shouldn't wear it. I love Europe and still can't believe Brexit is happening but thats for another thread

EvilDoctorBallerinaRoastDuck yes, isn't that lovely?

I am wearing a poppy as I type. There is one thing that worries me a bit about the fund raising around poppies, which is why service men and women who have suffered, up to and including the ultimate sacrifice of their life, require support from a charity, albeit a well loved, well supported charity.

Why doesn't the MOD make sufficient provision for its wounded, its pensioners and their dependents?

Yes, and I think that if the German team can, you definitely can. 😊

When in Rome do as the Romans do. Wear your poppy with pride if your colleagues do. It is not disrespectful - many lives were lost on both sides - and are still being lost in warfare. The British Legion help servicemen and women who've been in recent wars, as well as WWI and WWII.

In many a large or small war cemetery there are graves for the fallen of all nationalities - death has no respect for which side they fought for.

I just wanted to highlight this because in Germany they don’t remember the fallen.

In Germany they remember the fallen and the victims of tyranny 2 Sundays before the 1st advent.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkstrauertag

My late mother was German, living in Western sector of Berlin, father with British army, stationed there post 45, the rest is history, as they say. My mother never stopped being grateful to brits for letting her live in their country and not condemning her at every opportunity. She knew other German women who had married squaddies and passed themselves off as Dutch to avoid the emnity they imagined their nationality would excite. But very few people alive today had anything to do with WW2, most of us weren’t even born. It’s time the Germans realised, nobody really cares. They’re rehabilitated, and their endless self-recrimination is just inappropriate. So buy a poppy if you want to show respect. No-one will think any the worse of you.

JawsdfR4 ... apologies for delay in reply, was travelling ...

You said:

Xmaspost by the same token and seeing that you like op's admission of her country's past guilt do you acknowledge the death and destruction the British army caused in Iraq?

-------

Of course! But it's not just Iraq. Through history our armies have invaded, pillaged, raped over a huge part of the world. It's part of our history. It's not taught like that in schools of course. And of course the British army have found the good fight from time to time too. Most notably against Nazi Germany. Who knows what could have happened if the Germans did conquer all western Europe.

user0816 as said above, Volkstrauertag in Germany is not really a widely celebrated rembrance day. It might get a mention in Church. Growing up in Germany there was not a single event ever where we would have commemorated fallen German soldiers or Civilian victims of war. The focus was solely (rightly) on remembering the murdered.

Anyway, watching the football, which is good going for me because I’m not really into football (or beer). Maybe that’s why I emigrated?!

Rembrance? Rememberance.

Althoug emigrating to the UK when not bothered by football or beer is a pretty stupid thing to do...

Speaking of football, Jurgen Klopp wears a poppy and nobody slates him for it.

Well of course he wears a poppy. James McClean is the only Premiership person who doesn't and look at the tidal wave of crap he gets for it, every single year.

May the best team win Fanta [shaking hands emoji]

I loved the wreathes laid by the joint services. All I could think about was how impossible that would have seemed a century ago.

Very true Time.

Same here. Gave me goose bumps.

We should never forget the sacrifices made in all wars, especially WW2 as our world would not exist if the allies had not won. As the poem goes "For Our Tomorrow, They Give Their Today" which is such a moving thought, and gives us the right to wear a poppy, or not, that is our freedom.