What is your experience with racism?

[robb_k]

Ollie, I know from my many visits with you, that you are a person who accepts each person as an individual, and judges him based on his actions, rather than his ethnic or cultural background. From my experience of living in The Netherlands, having family members murdered by the Nazis and most others living through the concentration camp horrors, and knowing that most of the Dutch population has parents or grandparents who suffered through the "Winter of Starvation" in 1944-45 [[when The German Army removed most of the food in that country), I know there is a tremendous amount of hatred for "all things German" among The Dutch People. I know many Dutch people who dislike all Germans, even today, despite the fact that most of today's German people had nothing to do with The Nazi atrocities.

Most of my family members [[Jews) won't even buy German products, or travel through Germany, despite the fact that West Germany was Israel's best trade partner [[and unified Germany still is very friendly to Israel), and that the current Germans are "innocent" of Nazi crimes. I, Myself have a German business partner, who is also my best friend, and have many, many other German friends [[even some who were adults during Hitler's regime).

I am curious to know if you, yourself, as a German living in The Netherlands, have experienced any racism, or uncomfortable situations related to those issues. I, myself have witnessed it, and heard a lot of snide comments when the speakers thought no Germans could hear.