Literally the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

[kılıç_mehmet]

It is true that the British operated internment camps during the Boer War of 1899, but we didn't invent the concept. It seems our contribution in that area was to coin the name "concentration camp". Maybe that's what the person in the OP was alluding to?

I certainly don't think so. I don't think that internment camps are a concept that can be attributed to anyone.
It's silly to think that way.
But I think, from my viewpoint, the Versailles treaty was something that they should not have forced upon Germany.

[Rev. Rye]

But I think, from my viewpoint, the Versailles treaty was something that they should not have forced upon Germany.

Well, I've looked into it, and it seems like if you're going to blame someone for the harshness of the Treaty of Versailles, blame Clemenceau. He wanted to restore power to France, and his people and country were devastated by the war.

Basically, the power dynamics in Paris 1919 were:
**David Lloyd George (British): Wanted harsh treatment for political power, but wanted it strong enough to resist communism. However, couldn’t announce this due to pressure.
**Woodrow Wilson (America): Wanted peace and to get Europe the heck out of America’s hair. (Isolationist principles at home.)
**Clemenceau (France): Wanted Germany brought to its knees, plain and simple.

[Cyberman]

It is true that the British operated internment camps during the Boer War of 1899, but we didn't invent the concept. It seems our contribution in that area was to coin the name "concentration camp". Maybe that's what the person in the OP was alluding to?

I certainly don't think so. I don't think that internment camps are a concept that can be attributed to anyone.
It's silly to think that way.
But I think, from my viewpoint, the Versailles treaty was something that they should not have forced upon Germany.

Well, basically what I meant is that the phrase "concentration camp" generally tends to invoke the image of the Nazi death camps, without which the Holocaust, at least on such a scale, would not have been feasible. I thought that perhaps this was the motivation behind the idea of the British being responsible for the genocide. I apologise if you think this is silly.

[Rev. Rye]

Well, basically what I meant is that the phrase "concentration camp" generally tends to invoke the image of the Nazi death camps, without which the Holocaust, at least on such a scale, would not have been feasible. I thought that perhaps this was the motivation behind the idea of the British being responsible for the genocide. I apologise if you think this is silly.

Yeah, well, any sort of rationale for a claim as ridiculous as this is bound to be silly.

[Cyberman]

True enough, I suppose. Perhaps the claim has no rationale and is irredeemably as dumb as it was presented. I'm generally a reasonable bloke and I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, until they show they don't deserve it. I think the record for the forum version of this is about half of one post.

[Violet]

She has no proof. At all. Big surprise there. I mean, history classes in public schools are pretty abysmal in the U.S, but nowhere near that bad. I have no idea why she thinks that the British are responsible for the holocaust.

Do you honestly believe that people pay attention in high school?

You don't need to answer that.

[Zen Badger]

It is true that the British operated internment camps during the Boer War of 1899, but we didn't invent the concept. It seems our contribution in that area was to coin the name "concentration camp". Maybe that's what the person in the OP was alluding to?

I certainly don't think so. I don't think that internment camps are a concept that can be attributed to anyone.
It's silly to think that way.
But I think, from my viewpoint, the Versailles treaty was something that they should not have forced upon Germany.

Well, basically what I meant is that the phrase "concentration camp" generally tends to invoke the image of the Nazi death camps, without which the Holocaust, at least on such a scale, would not have been feasible. I thought that perhaps this was the motivation behind the idea of the British being responsible for the genocide. I apologise if you think this is silly.

Except the concentration camps were not the same as the death camps

[leo-rcc]

Well, today, I heard one of my friends claim that the British were responsible for the holocaust. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like.

The British and the US Americans had known about concentration camps before troops occupying Germany and Poland (even before the battle of Britain), but ignored all the warnings and communications. The British also were not completely above and beyond bombing civilian targets before the Germans started doing that in retaliation. After the war was over, the British forces were also responsible for sending the Lienz Cossacks back to the USSR where they were massacred (The US did the same in small scale in New Jersey if I recall correctly).

To say that British are responsible for the holocaust is laughable, they were not. The British weren't beyond reproach either. War is a nasty business and British had no problem in getting dirty either.

The same is true for most if not all allied forces and occupied countries where organizations on both sides were no sweethearts either. To think evil things only happened on the side of the axis forces is looking through a very tinted lens.

---

But I think, from my viewpoint, the Versailles treaty was something that they should not have forced upon Germany.

I agree. I understand why it was done, but it was a bad move on the part of the WW1 allies.

[Zen Badger]

Well, today, I heard one of my friends claim that the British were responsible for the holocaust. Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like.

The British and the US Americans had known about concentration camps before troops occupying Germany and Poland (even before the battle of Britain), but ignored all the warnings and communications. The British also were not completely above and beyond bombing civilian targets before the Germans started doing that in retaliation. After the war was over, the British forces were also responsible for sending the Lienz Cossacks back to the USSR where they were massacred (The US did the same in small scale in New Jersey if I recall correctly).

To say that British are responsible for the holocaust is laughable, they were not. The British weren't beyond reproach either. War is a nasty business and British had no problem in getting dirty either.

The same is true for most if not all allied forces and occupied countries where organizations on both sides were no sweethearts either. To think evil things only happened on the side of the axis forces is looking through a very tinted lens.

---

But I think, from my viewpoint, the Versailles treaty was something that they should not have forced upon Germany.

I agree. I understand why it was done, but it was a bad move on the part of the WW1 allies.

I remember seeing a cartoon done at the time(1919). It showed the victors celebrating after the signing of the Versailles treaty while in the foreground there was a weeping child with "1940" written across its back.
And Clemencou is saying "What's that noise?"
Remarkably prescient when you think about it.

[downbeatplumb]

The British had 'concentration camps' to keep people together so people could be watched and controlled.

The Germans had death camps were people were be killed immediately.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treblinka_e...ation_camp

The Germans killed millions in the east, mostly civilians.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/mas..._east.html

Bad things happen in war and that is nothing new, but the Germans implemented an industrial level of mass murder unprecedented in human history.

And apparently some people think this is not particularly bad!