Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Grandpa and the Nazis
As a descendant of Germans who emigrated to Western Canada, Kate McMillan is no stranger to the idea of enemy sympathizers during armed conflict. She links to a post at CJunk which relates the plight of German Canadians who were against Nazi Germany and the retribution they faced during the two Great Wars by members of their own ethnic communities. Indeed, this ostricization was real, even if it didn't follow towards violent action by these newly accepted Canadians at the time.
My own family history is evidence of this. I have never heard that the Hucks were overt Nazi sympathizers; though I never knew my paternal grandfather, by all accounts, he was a decent man who didn't allow German to be spoken in his household as he felt that in Canada, people spoke English. Hardly an adherant to Aryan ideals, to be sure.
However, I have it on good authority that my maternal grandfather, Andrew Schan, the son of Catholic Black Sea German immigrants who struggled to eke out a living for his wife and a dozen hellfire rapscalions in west central Saskatchewan, felt differently. He was a poor farmer, attempting to scratch out a meagre income out of a rocky patch of land near Kerrobert, land which later yielded my uncle a small mint when he sold off gravel to the builders of the Interprovincial Pipe Line. He never rose to high status within the town, though many of his progeny were well-known throughout the area for various acts of mirth. Grandpa died when I was but a tot but I do know he was nothing short of a mean son of a bitch.
He was also a Nazi sympathizer.
I can't reach into the grave and ask Grandpa his reasons for cheering on Hitler et al back when the outcome was not certain but I might guess that it had something to do with the restoration of German pride, even to a people who left the Fatherland during the reign of Catherine the Great.
An interesting insight to his mindset was related to me recently through a third-party account. It seems that my Schan family is related to the Famous Fighting Schans of Port Alberni, BC, where seven brothers and one sister all served in the Canadian Armed Forces during the war and are now naturally considered heroes of the Dominion.
Some time after the war, Grandpa visited my aunt on the Island and used the opportunity to visit his long-lost cousins. He played cards with a few of them until the game got heated to the point of argument. Grandpa, as he was prone to do, began pounding his fists on the table. He swore in German, and then let out something which I am sure he carried with him since 1939: "First of all, it's pronouced "shawn", not "shan"; you're Catholic, not Lutheran; and the only reason they told you you were Russian is so you would fight the Germans in the war!"
Thus spoke Grandpa.
To his credit, he was neither rich nor influential and thus was of little threat to the Canadian people or their way of life. Yet, his ties to the long-distant home country still held his complete loyalty to the Crown at bay.
To be honest, I don't blame him his sympathies, at least not entirely. Roots run deep, especially in ethnic communities living far from the conflict. However, that still does not entirely excuse him his support for the Nazi regime either. To support a horrific regime simply because it lies in your blood while ignoring the awful truth is nothing short of shameful.
In the same light, those Muslims today who do not actively support terrorist actions made in the name of Islam, yet still look to sympathize with their cause, must be made aware that their complicity is not compatible with the values associated with being a Canadian. This does not mean that they cannot hold their religion or culture dear to their hearts, just as I feel no shame in my own German heritage. It does mean, however, that they must denounce terrorist actions not in spite of their heritage, but because of it.
It's sad to say that my grandfather wasn't able to do the same.
UPDATE: My mom just called me (gulp!) and told me some more information on her father, that my language used here might be "a little strong". Grandpa sympathized with the Nazis more because of past atrocities committed against Black Sea Germans by the Russians. Fair enough. I never claimed he supported the Nazis because of an inherent evil found within his nature. He was tough and mean but did not necessarly condone - at least explicitly - the Final Solution and eventual world domination by Hitler's minions.
To be honest, the choice between the Nazis and Communists back then is still a contentious issue to this day, and one can be excused for going against either side. It's much too easy to say one was vastly worse than the other
Still, the government of Canada was neither Communist nor Fascist but decided that the Nazis were the bigger threat at the time. As such, the Germans were considered enemy combatants and German Canadians were forced to choose their loyalties.
Unlike the CJunk case, my Grandpa wasn't active in subverting the Canadian cause. However, despite strong feelings against the Russians, he was still a Canadian and should have respected that the decision to fight the Nazis instead of the Russians was made with Canadian values in mind.
Shouldn't have he?
(Thanks for calling, Mom.)
My own family history is evidence of this. I have never heard that the Hucks were overt Nazi sympathizers; though I never knew my paternal grandfather, by all accounts, he was a decent man who didn't allow German to be spoken in his household as he felt that in Canada, people spoke English. Hardly an adherant to Aryan ideals, to be sure.
However, I have it on good authority that my maternal grandfather, Andrew Schan, the son of Catholic Black Sea German immigrants who struggled to eke out a living for his wife and a dozen hellfire rapscalions in west central Saskatchewan, felt differently. He was a poor farmer, attempting to scratch out a meagre income out of a rocky patch of land near Kerrobert, land which later yielded my uncle a small mint when he sold off gravel to the builders of the Interprovincial Pipe Line. He never rose to high status within the town, though many of his progeny were well-known throughout the area for various acts of mirth. Grandpa died when I was but a tot but I do know he was nothing short of a mean son of a bitch.
He was also a Nazi sympathizer.
I can't reach into the grave and ask Grandpa his reasons for cheering on Hitler et al back when the outcome was not certain but I might guess that it had something to do with the restoration of German pride, even to a people who left the Fatherland during the reign of Catherine the Great.
An interesting insight to his mindset was related to me recently through a third-party account. It seems that my Schan family is related to the Famous Fighting Schans of Port Alberni, BC, where seven brothers and one sister all served in the Canadian Armed Forces during the war and are now naturally considered heroes of the Dominion.
Some time after the war, Grandpa visited my aunt on the Island and used the opportunity to visit his long-lost cousins. He played cards with a few of them until the game got heated to the point of argument. Grandpa, as he was prone to do, began pounding his fists on the table. He swore in German, and then let out something which I am sure he carried with him since 1939: "First of all, it's pronouced "shawn", not "shan"; you're Catholic, not Lutheran; and the only reason they told you you were Russian is so you would fight the Germans in the war!"
Thus spoke Grandpa.
To his credit, he was neither rich nor influential and thus was of little threat to the Canadian people or their way of life. Yet, his ties to the long-distant home country still held his complete loyalty to the Crown at bay.
To be honest, I don't blame him his sympathies, at least not entirely. Roots run deep, especially in ethnic communities living far from the conflict. However, that still does not entirely excuse him his support for the Nazi regime either. To support a horrific regime simply because it lies in your blood while ignoring the awful truth is nothing short of shameful.
In the same light, those Muslims today who do not actively support terrorist actions made in the name of Islam, yet still look to sympathize with their cause, must be made aware that their complicity is not compatible with the values associated with being a Canadian. This does not mean that they cannot hold their religion or culture dear to their hearts, just as I feel no shame in my own German heritage. It does mean, however, that they must denounce terrorist actions not in spite of their heritage, but because of it.
It's sad to say that my grandfather wasn't able to do the same.
UPDATE: My mom just called me (gulp!) and told me some more information on her father, that my language used here might be "a little strong". Grandpa sympathized with the Nazis more because of past atrocities committed against Black Sea Germans by the Russians. Fair enough. I never claimed he supported the Nazis because of an inherent evil found within his nature. He was tough and mean but did not necessarly condone - at least explicitly - the Final Solution and eventual world domination by Hitler's minions.
To be honest, the choice between the Nazis and Communists back then is still a contentious issue to this day, and one can be excused for going against either side. It's much too easy to say one was vastly worse than the other
Still, the government of Canada was neither Communist nor Fascist but decided that the Nazis were the bigger threat at the time. As such, the Germans were considered enemy combatants and German Canadians were forced to choose their loyalties.
Unlike the CJunk case, my Grandpa wasn't active in subverting the Canadian cause. However, despite strong feelings against the Russians, he was still a Canadian and should have respected that the decision to fight the Nazis instead of the Russians was made with Canadian values in mind.
Shouldn't have he?
(Thanks for calling, Mom.)
Link posted by Rob Huck : 11:15 PM
