Stephen Fry - The power of words in Nazi Germany

It was very confusing growing up in the 50s and 60s. We kids would buy comics full of war stories where German soldiers were all eating sausages all day and shouting "Achtung" and "Schweinehund" but our soldiers always shot them all and won. At school I decided to learn German and after 2 years the school offered us a pupil exchange where we went to Germany for two weeks and a German pupil came to stay with us for two weeks. When I met my exchange partner's father, it was obvious that he had a serious injury in one arm and as I went to shake hands he gave me the other hand and said "I was shot down by the RAF during the war". I was totally shocked, couldn't speak and thought I was going to faint or throw up or run away. He smiled and said something like "Isn't it wonderful that we can be friends today?". I actually ended up moving to Germany and have been here for many years. It really upsets me when people who have never had more experience of people from another country than going on a package holiday or reading a comic say things which are totally wrong. I think Stephen Fry - as usual - does an excellent job of explaining things here.

Crazy how relevant this remains right this moment.

Love Fry to bits, a highly intelligent and funny man!

he's right but give the man a normal chair ffs, just watching him moving around on that little barstool makes me nervous

Oh I could listen to this man for hours. Particularly if he's talking about such an important issue in such an intelligent way.

He's an academic, a film writer, film and television producer, actor, author, lecturer and most importantly, was at the forefront of British comedy in the 80's and early 90's. His double act "Fry and Laurie" consisted of himself and Hugh Laurie - who is now famous for playing House on the eponymous American show. He's considered something of a national institution in the UK, as well as being one of the funniest and smartest people alive.

Stephen is an international treasure. He would've made a great university professor but I'm glad he chose to entertain, inform and inspire us instead. Truly a great great man.

It seems to me that the use of dehumanizing language starts when we classify groups of people as “other”. We start to use phrases like “All [insert hated group] are [insert undesirable trade], rather than dealing with people as distinct individuals.

We are fortunate to be living in Stephen Fry's time. He is a magnificent thinker with great heart.

3:19 "The moment we begin to use special language for special people ... that's when ... ordinary people are able to kill."

I love that videos of Stephen Fry lecturing are one of the few places on YouTube where the comments section isn't an unmitigated cesspool of racism and homophobia, nor fawning leftist ideologues. Even though he's speaking on controversial subjects, seems his particular style attracts folks who want to think about these things with a little more nuance. He's really, truly, a gift to the world and I'm glad we have him.

I have recently watched a bunch of Mr. Fry's lectures and interviews on YouTube. He has now become one of my new heroes. thank you sir (and thank you to your family and to Cambridge ) for being who you continue to be :-)

Yes, that's what I thought, too. I very much appreciated him reminding people in the beginning that Germans are human. A lot of people like to believe that there was something inherent in the German people, an evil gene perhaps when the sad fact is: Every society, nation or people is capable of these atrocities given the circumstances and a trigger.

A good lesson. My dad taught me that all humanity was the same. He served in the British Army 1939 to 1945 and in the jungles of Burma. Many of my (now) American fellow citizens managed to dehumanize the Japanese in WW2. My dad related how a young Japanese soldier jumped out of the jungle and into the back of a British staff car where he held a grenade to the chest of a British Officer. It killed the officer and blew the boy's hand off. The British soldiers put a rope around the boys neck and dragged him (untreated) behind the car for 3 days until he died. My dad told me this to demonstrate that the most appalling savagery exists in all races and nationalities... He told me that coloured people are "Just like us, but with a sun tan that's all".. Living just a few miles out of Milwaukee, which is the most segregated city in the US, I find that info useful...

"Man is the only animal that blushes-or has need to." (Mark Twain)

More of this program please. Thanks for posting.

What a brilliant mind! There is an urgent need for more people like him, analyzing the roots of human cruelty in the past ...and the present.

Every generation says 'not again' but we fail to learn history. Because we fail to learn history we miss the warning signs and are doomed to repeat it again. How many times do you hear the zealots of a political party dismiss their counterparts with catchy insults? First you dismiss the political arguement then you dismiss the person. This IS the plan... Remember we already said NOT AGAIN. Lets hope we meant it.

"Once you label me you negate me" Kierkegaard

"The death of one person is a tragedy. The death of millions is statistic".