I just won an award on Facebook from the podcaster “History of the Germans” who recently broadcast his 200th episode. I am only on episode 180.

Growing up in post WW2 NYC, my babysitter was the TV. It would be more than 20 years before Sesame Street was invented to give children something more wholesome than WW2 propaganda movies that ran in daytime TV. The terrifying war movies indoctrinated me to fear Germans. My European travel had been limited to Catholic France and Catholic Italy and the art I saw was mostly Crucifixions, Madonnas and Martyrs. I had been trained to believe that Heresy was a mortal sin and Martin Luther the Heretic was burning in Hell for Eternity. I was stunned when I saw, in a brief stop-over in Frankfurt a couple of years ago, a painting of Martin Luther that lionized him as if he were Washington Crossing the Delaware.

When I got back from Belgium in late Seeptember 2025 I posted this to the Facebook page for the podcast and the (!) podcaster wrote back to me!

Facebook Post to History of the Germans Podcast Page

I got a “heart” reply to the comment about German portions and the badge. 😁