German Americans

“ But America, resting on her old traditions, paid no attention. We heard with sympathy for a time the classic two-faced German-American’s wail, “Germany is my mother, America my wife! How can I fight my mother?” The truth is that all too many German-Americans never cared for America at all in any tender or reverent way. Resting under their Kaiser’s Delbrueck injunction never to forget the fatherland, they never were anything but German. They used America; they never loved her. ”

“ Today, robust German-American communities can be found throughout the United States.
The strength of character and personal honor so important in the German cultural tradition have also found their way into the core values of American society. More U.S. citizens can claim German heritage than that of any other national group. And every successive generation of German Americans seems to produce new heroes and heroines who earn the admiration of a grateful world. ”

“ While parts of the Midwest, Pennsylvania, and Texas still proudly bear the stamp of the large German populations of the last century, it is their widespread assimilation and far-reaching activities that have earned German Americans a distinguished reputation in all regions of the United States and in all walks of life. ”

“ All of us can take pride in the accomplishments of German Americans-as soldiers and statesmen, scientists and musicians, artisans and educators. It is fitting that we set aside this special day to remember and celebrate how much German Americans have done to preserve our ideals, enrich our culture, and strengthen our democracy. ”

“ Like most Germans, he regarded the Germanic elements in our population as almost a part of Germany.
“Are you sure that the mass of German-Americans would be loyal to the United States in case of war?” he asked. “Aren’t their feelings for the Fatherland really dominant?”
“You evidently regard those German-Americans as a distinct part of the population,” I replied, “living apart from the rest of the people and having very little to do with American life as a whole. You could not make a greater mistake. ”

“ German Americans have had an important and lasting impact not only on the growth of our Nation, but also on the formation of many of our deepest values. As skilled and industrious farmers, German Americans have shared their love for the land and a strong sense of family and community. ”

“ These German-Americans, co-operating with some of the Americans in Berlin, kept informing the Foreign Office, the army and navy as well as influential Reichstag members that the real power behind the government over here was not the press and public opinion but the nine million Americans who were directly or indirectly related to Germany. ”

“ Behind the many well-known individuals who have played a prominent part in our history are millions of German immigrants whose names are not widely recognized, yet who profoundly shaped the America we know today. Industrious German Americans helped settle our cities and frontiers; defend democracy during times of conflict ”

“ But Germany will not listen to England, nor France, nor America. There is only one voice that can reach Germany—it is the voice of the German-Americans in this country. They are six million strong. They are among the most honored and esteemed folk in American life. Their achievements are beyond all praise. The Germans have built Milwaukee and have done much for St. Louis. The Germans have been great forces in Cincinnati and Chicago and New York. What wealth among their bankers! What prosperity among German manufacturers! ”

“ Germans were among the first to settle in this great land of promise, and their talent, faith, and strong values helped establish this country as a place of freedom and opportunity. Today, millions of German Americans are adding to the success and prosperity of our Nation as leaders in government, sports, business, science, the arts, and many other fields. ”

“ The German mothertongue is a treasure for every thoughtful person who possesses it, the value of which is to him much more than a mere matter of sentiment. We Germans like to hear honesty spoken of as one of the prominent traits of the German national character; and I, for my part, am particularly pleased when the better elements of the American people rely upon the support of German-Americans when questions about honest government and honest money [3] arise. ”

“ Today, the United States and Germany enjoy a close relationship through our shared history and common interests. As our Nation's largest ancestry group, German Americans are rightfully proud of how their deep cultural, historical, and familial ties have helped strengthen this robust transatlantic relationship. A strong partnership between the United States and Germany is vital to ensuring that we live in a peaceful world filled with vibrant economic opportunities for all. ”

“ In addition to their many professional achievements, German Americans have influenced American culture. From Christmas trees to kindergartens, the United States has adopted many German traditions and institutions. By celebrating and sharing their customs and traditions, German Americans help to preserve their rich heritage and enhance the cultural diversity of our Nation. ”

“ The German citizens of America may feet proud of the fact, that in some of the greatest emergencies of our history they stood firmly united as the best of Americans. At the time when the Republic was in danger, and the drum-call summoned to battle, the German element, as one man, was true to the Republic. And later, when the cause of honest money and of the public faith was at stake, the Germans stood solidly under the banner of sound doctrines, of the national honor, and honest government. ”

“ This admiration and friendship has not blinded us to certain defects in the German character, any more than has your friendship for Americans closed your eyes to our defects. The bad manners of Germans are proverbial, not only among Americans, but all over the world; so much so that certain German writers, admitting that Germans as a nation are ill-mannered, have sought to find in this fact an explanation for the world-wide antagonism toward Germany's policy in the war. ”

“ Americans believe that the German people are a great people, capable of great and good things. They honour and admire the Germany which finds her best expression in the literature, music, and science which has justly made you famous. But they distrust and abhor the German Government which has made the name of Germany infamous. ”

“ As one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States, German Americans have greatly influenced our country in the fields of business, government, law, science, athletics, the arts, and many others. ”

“ DISLOYAL CITIZENS “The subtle and active minority” to which the President made such a sensational reference is a group of Americans—German-Americans swayed by sentiment for Germany and Americans influenced by gold—who have been following the dictation of Teutonic agents in America. They have received orders and sought to carry them out. They have been puppets that worked and argued in the interest of the Central Powers when certain men pulled the strings. ”

“ BUT—shall Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Austrians, Norwegians, Dutch, Belgians, Frenchmen, Greeks, Englishmen, Irishmen, Scotsmen, Canadians, Australians and Americans—for we too may ultimately feel the spike of the German boot—shall all these peoples, numbering some 300,000,000 of the most civilized, most enlightened on earth suffer constantly and face unnatural death every generation so that some small part of Germany's populace may continue to exist? ”

“ Too many Germans, to-day, feel that they are mere dust before the almost countless royalties of the German Empire. And these royalties are too prone to feel that the kingdoms, dukedoms and principalities of Germany and their inhabitants are their private property. The Princes of Nassau and Anspach and Hesse, at the time of our Revolution, sold their unfortunate subjects to the British Government to be exported to fight the Americans. Our American soil covers the bones of many a poor German peasant who gave up his life in a war from which he gained nothing. ”

“ It seems to thoughtful Americans who know Germany and Germans best, that the highest duty of intelligent German professors like yourself is not to attempt the hopeless task of converting the rest of the world to an approval of the methods of the German Government, but rather to use your whole influence to establish a German Government which shall have a decent respect for the opinions of the rest of the world, and shall restore Germany to the place it used to have among civilised nations. ”

“ The columns of our papers are freely open to every authoritative champion of the German cause, no matter what the editorial policy of the papers may be. Never was fuller and freer opportunity for defence accorded to anyone than has been given to the friends of Germany to present in print to the American public every possible justification for Germany's acts. Only the grossest ignorance of the actual facts could ever lead anyone to make the charge in good faith that the truth about Germany has been concealed from Americans. ”

“ In the course of 300 years of German emigration to this great land, German Americans have attained prominence in all areas of our national life. Like Baron von Steuben in Revolutionary times and General Eisenhower in World War II, many Americans of German descent have served in our military with honor and distinction. ”

“ They are now in the keeping of that minority, not, perhaps, very great as yet, but growing steadily, of men in Germany itself from whose eyes the scales have begun to fall. They are in the keeping of all the nations who appreciate and cherish and are determined to maintain those great and high things which the civilized world has attained through the toil, sacrifice and suffering of its best in the course of many centuries. And, above all, they are in the keeping of the ten or fifteen millions of Americans of German descent. ”

“ The manifestos of the German professors, issued to Americans, did much to alienate American sympathy from Germany; for the bitterness and unreasoning fury of the documents, combined with the entire absence of evidence to support the many reckless statements made in them, did much to convince Americans that the German position was not capable of honest, logical, dispassionate, manly defence. There has never at any time been any such outbreak of fury and bitterness among the English or French people. ”

“ In point of fact, among the German-Americans there are manufacturers, merchants, and bankers of colossal fortunes, who control the lives of hundreds of thousands of workmen or employees living in dependence upon them. The German-Americans also own many newspapers and associations. They have therefore been able to exert a considerable influence on the policy of the United States, and even to secure the election to Congress of members devoted to their interests. ”

“ Government, newspapers and politicians all united in opposing America.
I believe that to-day all the bitterness of the hate formerly concentrated on Great Britain has now been concentrated on the United States. The German-Americans are hated worse than the native Americans. They have deeply disappointed the Germans: first, because although German-Americans contributed enormously towards German war charities the fact of this contribution was not known to the recipients in Germany. Money sent to the German Red Cross from America was acknowledged by the Red Cross ”

“ As the total population of the United States is 100 millions, it is easy to see what may be the power of 10 to 15 million German-Americans systematically organized for a definite purpose, when these are opposed to 90 million Americans who, never suspecting the Pangerman peril, have taken no kind of special precaution against their fellow citizens of German origin. ”

“ The German mind is a hearty, mediocre mind, that can multiply and exploit the inventions and discoveries of the other races. The Germans contributed practically nothing to the invention of the locomotive, the steamboat, the Marconigram, the automobile, the airplane, the phonograph, the sewing machine, the reaper, the electric light. Even as to the weapons with which she fights, Americans invented for Germany her revolver, her machine gun, her turreted ship, and her submarine. ”