Growing up I was in awe of America. They, along with the Soviets and British, helped liberate us from radical notions of racial supremacy and other discredited ideas.
Under our own hand (we shamefully admit) 6 million Jews and 5 million others were systematically slaughtered. The German people not only accepted Hitler but were ecstatic about the Nazis. They were fools, they were brainwashed.
I loved America because their own racial hardships meant we could learn from them. We learned to celebrate African American culture like it was our own. And when Africans came to Germany as immigrants, we knew their soul was our too, so we loved them. We learned from America democracy and liberalism, so when Muslims came we loved them too. And when foreign companies set up shop we got jobs.
We went from a fascist nightmare to a growing country with a buzzing and modern culture. Our ruined cities were rebuilt in a way that became the envy of the world: modern, functional, sleek. Our culture grew to be the powerhouse it is BECAUSE we accepted all people to make their home here. We learned this from America.
Now I look at America and I wonder: What happened? How did the land that taught us Germans to love and accept become hateful. When they asked us to tear down that Berlin Wall we listened that fateful day in '89. Now, they want to put up a wall of their own. Now we, the former racists (that wretched era of our past!) and homophobes (homosexuals were persecuted under the NSDAP regime as never before), became the lovers and the dreamers. America? Oh, well that country is going down the drain. They are becoming hateful and they are electing a demagogue. They are fearful of that which is different. See how they hate Muslims, blacks, gays? Well, we'll take them. And when America is left culturally barren they will ask us "WHY DID YOU NOT WARN US?"
And we will reply: "1933-1945. That was your warning."
A German speaks of America, because he is afraid they are making a mistake.
