Heirloom problem

[Luchs]

Some time ago my grandfather gifted me a sabre. It belonged to my great-grandfather who was a SS officer and I don't know what to do. I'm really ashamed that I am the descendant of a Nazi war criminal.

Should I destroy it, so that my families entire evil legacy disappears with me?

 

[bea1974]

I would email a bunch of museums and archives, and see if any of them want it.

 

[Rachel74]

Some time ago my grandfather gifted me a sabre. It belonged to my great-grandfather who was a SS officer and I don't know what to do. I'm really ashamed that I am the descendant of a Nazi war criminal.

Should I destroy it, so that my families entire evil legacy disappears with me?

Not all Nazi were criminals. Definitely donate it to a museum. I'm sure you could find out your great grand father's history, not all were in favour of Hitler and the final solution.

 

[omoidarui]

amongst others gays were persecuted in Nazi Germany so 4 that reason if it were me i would not only destroy the heirloom but live stream myself doing it

 

[Luchs]

Not all Nazi were criminals. Definitely donate it to a museum. I'm sure you could find out your great grand father's history, not all were in favour of Hitler and the final solution.

He was in the SS. They were a volunteer force of Nazi soldiers. They were the guards at concentration camps and were responsible for a majority of the war crimes on the front too. :(

amongst others gays were persecuted in Nazi Germany so 4 that reason if it were me i would not only destroy the heirloom but live stream myself doing it

Do you have any idea how I could go about destroying it? It's partly gold-plated and everything else is steel.

 

[Stan]

I think destroying history and sweeping it under a carpet is a bad thing. Humanity has to learn from it's mistakes and successes. The Nazi's should be remembered for what they did, how they did it and how they came to power as to avoid that mistake again. Donate it to a museum. Show the world that a large industrial and civilised country is not immune to performing atrocities and that we should never allow that to happen again. Especially in a world that now has nationalism as it's main narrative.

 

[Rachel74]

He was in the SS. They were a volunteer force of Nazi soldiers. They were the guards at concentration camps and were responsible for a majority of the war crimes on the front too. :(

Do you have any idea how I could go about destroying it? It's partly gold-plated and everything else is steel.

Oskar Schindler was a Nazi and look what he did!
Killing your self as you are a descendant of a member of the SS is going to prove anything. You probably have other family members who share the same family tree so those so called evil genes will live on.
Has @Stan said this is a peace of history. We can't deny what happened and this still needs to be shown so this never happens again.
Every soldier was guilty of war crimes at the front as they all killed people, doesn't matter if you are Japanese, English, American you still killed someone as that was your task to fight as a soldier.
Germans and Austrians are still ashamed of their past and so they should be but the ones living now who are descendants shouldn't be. They committed no crimes. The Russians destroyed nearly everything so your sabre is something a museum would love to show people what happened.
You can not hide away from history.

 

[Lethe]

Killing your self as you are a descendant of a member of the SS is going to prove anything.

Erm, when did the OP ever say that he was killing himself because of that?

 

[Pupuce]

Honestly, I'd keep the thing. That is a historical treasure. And if anyone is stupid enough to blame you for having an ancestor who was a nazi, they are just stupid. Your ancestor aren't you and what they did does not dictate you. Of course if you were to shout Sieg Heil in public, that would be too much to just be a coincidence, but looking at how you speak of it, it is not the case.

 

[Escargot Shorts]

the Oskar Schindler makes a good point.
clearly u must use it for justice

 

[Sweet emotion]

See if a museum wants it? If not just get rid of it. Throw it in a dumpster.

 

[Polka]

Sell it to a collector.

 

[Rachel74]

Erm, when did the OP ever say that he was killing himself because of that?

On a previous thread he said he was going to stab himself to death.

 

[Hexen]

Destroy it? Dude thats kind of retarded.

 

[Corraled]

Swords are comically oversized knives used in slapstick comedy

 

[omoidarui]

Destroy it? Dude thats kind of retarded.

the Troll or be Trolled topic is the other way

 

[passenger27]

It's not like your sabre, but I used to worry about what was going to happen to my heirlooms, antiques, and collectibles after I was gone because I know all anybody will do is just sell my stuff and take the money, not keep anything to remember me by.

Sooo...I just stopped giving a shit. I can't take any of it with me. My sisters can fight over how to divide things up, I won't care at all when I'm gone.

 

[Luchs]

Oskar Schindler was a Nazi and look what he did!
Killing your self as you are a descendant of a member of the SS is going to prove anything. You probably have other family members who share the same family tree so those so called evil genes will live on.
Has @Stan said this is a peace of history. We can't deny what happened and this still needs to be shown so this never happens again.
Every soldier was guilty of war crimes at the front as they all killed people, doesn't matter if you are Japanese, English, American you still killed someone as that was your task to fight as a soldier.
Germans and Austrians are still ashamed of their past and so they should be but the ones living now who are descendants shouldn't be. They committed no crimes. The Russians destroyed nearly everything so your sabre is something a museum would love to show people what happened.
You can not hide away from history.

I am the last descendant of my great-grandfather that is able to procreate, the family name and genes die with me.

 

[LonelyLight]

I'd either donate to a museum or sell to someone who collects such things. Actually look into selling it before the donation thing, might aswel cash on your inheritance, even if it is only a small amount of money

 

[Corraled]

I am the last descendant of my great-grandfather that is able to procreate, the family name and genes die with me.

Dude, family lines are mostly imaginary. You probably have dozens of cousins and second or third cousins that are descended from that same great grandfather so it isnt like his genes wont propagate through different branches of the family. You probably dont know most of these cousins and also, your genes are not something special that are only "in your family" but exist within the population at large.

Whats going to die with you is the family name, if you are indeed the only direct male line descendant, but thats just a social construct men came up with to imagine their blood propagating through the generations while in actual fact the act of sexual reproduction by definition implies a mixing of the bloodlines of different families (not counting sisterfuckers), so families literally propagate by mixing with other families and "bloodlines" are not real at the level of families, though they can be real at the level of populations. Also, your family name wont die with you unless you are the only one in the world with said family name.

Hitler had many cousins and brothers and sisters. None of them carry the name Hitler, some of them reproduced.