Peter Abetz says Nazi war criminal Great Uncle Otto did some 'positive things'

otto abetz

Otto Abetz shakes hands with Vichy leader Marshal Philippe Petain in 1941. Photo: Roger Viollet

West Australian MP Peter Abetz, brother of Senator Eric Abetz, says his reaction was "mixed" when he first learned his great uncle was a convicted Nazi war criminal.

Otto Abetz was Hitler's ambassador to occupied France and convicted in 1949 of crimes that included deporting French Jews to the death camps.

Speaking on SBS's Insight program (transcript here), Peter Abetz, who was elected to the WA Legislative Assembly in 2008, twice insisted his great uncle had also done "positive things".

"I think it was one of mixed reaction in that he did some really positive things but he also did participate in, you know, the deportation of the Jews which is really, there's no excuse for that whatsoever and yet he also did some very positive things," Abetz said after host Jenny Brockie asked how he felt when he discovered the family's Nazi past.

"I was told that he - when the Americans were advancing on Paris - because he was so passionate about French culture, he actually negotiated with the Americans to, and the Wehrmacht, that the Germans would vacate Paris and not booby trap anything if the Americans gave them I think three or four days to withdraw and the French were incredibly grateful for that because that way Paris wasn't actually destroyed."

Read the full story at smh.com.au

8 comments

Interesting, thank you PlanB. So many convoluted stories in the pasts of many of us.

My questions: How long are we the descendants as individuals accountable for 'The Sins of Our Fathers'? Or should we be at all?

Should we try to justify/defend these histories or consign them to the past and move on ... to be judged on our own merits or lack of them?

I agree we can not be held responsible for the sins of other family members  BUT we often inherent the personalities/traits of our families

Do you think that is true of Australians whose parents and grandparents were extreme racists..

Yes Brocky,  I do in some cases -- we do tend to inherit our parent's genes -- GOOD or BAD and it also depends on what the Kids were taught and brought up with.

I agree with your comment PlanB about inheriting ancestors genes but I can't agree that we also inherit our ancestors ideologies. My height, hair colour, eye colour and looks are because of genes, my grandfathers bigotry has not been passed down.

I'm with you Old Man on this one. I may have a passing physical resemblance to my ancestors (on both sides of the family) but I am no more responsible for thier actions, political ideology or belief systems than you are!

Do you not agree that   'Children live what they learn'    I sure do

But adults have a mind of their own PlanB. You cannot keep blaming parents for all their offspring's behaviours. Children grow up and make their own decisions!

KSS -- that why we have so many bad behaved kids these days because so many of their parents do not teach them anything and the kids just copy what they see and hear -- and it is a scientific fact that people can have the same mental and OR physical problems as their ancestors

I firmly believe that if a child grows up without any boundaries there are problems further down the road."

From the livestrong web site.

"Parents greatly affect their children’s behavior. Children are like sponges--they model everything a parent does and incorporate what they see into their own lives. It is important that parents set the right examples for their children. Negative examples can be detrimental to a child’s development and can lead to bad behavior.

Social Skills Count

Antisocial children learn their behavior from their parents’ examples, according to research done by the University of Chicago published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. Social skills can be interpreted as everything from the basic polite “please” and “thank you” to speaking in front of crowds. Children model their parents and learn from them.

A Stressed-Out Legacy

A parent’s reaction to stress affects the way a child reacts to stress, states the website More4Kids. If a parent reacts negatively, a child will learn to react negatively as well. In addition, negative reactions to stress, such as yelling and lashing out, can scare a child. Children can learn to shut themselves down and may even think that they are the cause of the stress. If stress is handled positively, it helps children see that their parents' love for them never changes, even when they are stressed out.

Keep Discipline Positive

The way a parent disciplines greatly affects their children's behavior, as explained on FamilyDoctor.org. When a parent elects to use physical punishment, such as spanking, it does not teach the child how to change his behavior. Children can also react aggressively to physical punishment. When parents chooses alternate forms of punishment, such as time-outs, they are helping modify the child’s bad behavior in a calm manner.

Fighting Frenzy

If arguing among parents is done fairly and with maturity, a child can actually benefit from seeing how conflicts are resolved. Verbal and physical fights are extremely hard on kids, warns the Child-Discipline-with-Love website. Children may blame themselves for their parents’ arguments and may be traumatizing for years to come. Children may develop low self-esteems and may even behave violently toward other children. Dysfunctional families breed dysfunctional children. Children often repeat this behavior in their future relationships.

Child Abuse Destroys

Child abuse causes a range of antisocial and destructive behaviors, according to the website HealthyPlace.com. This is because abused children try to cope and to understand why they are being abused. Parents who abuse their children may cause their children to be aggressive and violent, experience learning problems and even become involved in drugs or alcohol. Parents who abuse provide the opposite of what a child needs to grow up healthy. Instead, they destroy the inside and outside world of a child."

Exactly Radish -- I have seen it happen over and over again -- and I know myself I am so much like my Mother

You only have to look at the Royal family for rotten ancestors.

Thankfully the genes appear not to have been handed down that I can see.

Otto Abetz looks like Eric Abetz. Such a strong physical resemblance.

 

 

In reality children only get their genes from their mother and father..not from their ancestors..although some of those ancestral traits.. may be present in their parents.

Research suggests most of the genes and traits we show will be more similar to our fathers than to our mothers.  Although X and Y carry the same amount of chromosomes.. there are more things that tend to stand out visually.

It’s been found the genes that we inherit from our mother don’t tend to show as much as those we inherit from our fathers. Mothers.. it appears can pass on a vast number of addictions to their children and fathers on the other hand... pass on their psychological disorders..

Children who move away from their parents can reset for the want of a better word their "personality" traits...however it has been found.. if and when they return to the environment they shared with their parents...they revert to that behaviour...



That explains a lot about SEnator Abetz's political leanings. I find him to be rather arrogant in his manner and interviews on TV. Now I know where he gets it from. Lets hope he never gets to lead the Liberals.

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There is no factual evidence that Onkel Otto Abetz saved Paris. For a history of the Liberation of Paris, read http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-the-liberation-of-paris.htm. A lie of the Abetz's that the lazy tv-viewer is happy to swallow.There is only evidence of Onkel Otto's dark past, sending hundreds of Frenchmen to their death. Some of Onkel Otto,s genes could perhaps still influence his nephews political persuasion?

I' sure that Hitler was nice to his dogs and Eva too!. They were all nice pepole if you were in their bunch and you were'nt a member of the target group.

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