What Would Be Your Reaction To A T-Shirt Which Said "Arbeit Macht Frei"

Question:Yesterday I ran into a teenager with a black t-shirt which proclaimed in gray letters, "Arbeit Macht Frei," (in a curve) and then had a Death's Head insignia under the words.

I tried to ignore it, as I found it disturbing, but I finally asked him if he knew what it meant. He said he thought it was Dutch or something, and that he bought the t-shirt on a school trip to San Francisco last fall. He said they didn't have the Bob Marley (Oh! The irony!) shirt he originally wanted in his size, so he got that one instead because he thought the skull was cool. He didn't think it was so cool when I told him about that being used on the gates of some of the death camps and the meaning of the Death's Head insignia. He said he had no idea--he goes to a private high school and wears a uniform, and the one person who might have explained it to him, the German teacher, has never seen it.

How would you react to such a t-shirt? Would you talk to the wearer?
Would you think he was pro-Nazi?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Yesterday I ran into a teenager with a black t-shirt which proclaimed in gray letters, "Arbeit Macht Frei," (in a curve) and then had a Death's Head insignia under the words.

I tried to ignore it, as I found it disturbing, but I finally asked him if he knew what it meant. He said he thought it was Dutch or something, and that he bought the t-shirt on a school trip to San Francisco last fall. He said they didn't have the Bob Marley (Oh! The irony!) shirt he originally wanted in his size, so he got that one instead because he thought the skull was cool. He didn't think it was so cool when I told him about that being used on the gates of some of the death camps and the meaning of the Death's Head insignia. He said he had no idea--he goes to a private high school and wears a uniform, and the one person who might have explained it to him, the German teacher, has never seen it.

How would you react to such a t-shirt? Would you talk to the wearer?
Would you think he was pro-Nazi?

You are better educated than most. I teach college history, and I would estimate that most of my students (before taking my class) would not know the significance of this shirt or that it says "work makes (you) free" auf Deutsch.

I applaud your move to confront him about this. Hopefully you improved his education. I think I would do the same thing, but I would be nice about it. I would assume the person simply did not know what he was wearing. Many people have little knowledge of history and little interest in learning - - especially here in the United States.

Greetings! First, I have to commend your spirit and bravery to go up and talk with that teenager. He could very easily have been a neo Nazi and attempt to pummel you when you told him about it's meaning.

Many teenagers enjoy dark goth. It doesn't surprise me that the teenager had no idea what it meant, but I guarantee you the T-shirt manufacturer did.

It goes right along the lines of Charles Manson T-shirts or other shirts that celebrate notorious criminals. The teenagers who buy that apparel have little idea what it truly represents or if they do, they wear it because they want to feel "bad".

Perhaps a better question is where was the parent? If the parent welcomed the teen's apparel, then they are even a greater part of the problem.

How I would react? Unless the vibes I got from him were extremely gentle, I would think of him as a neo-Nazi and stay as far away as I could.

You really did take a risk to him and I think you may have given him an education he may not soon forget (assuming that he was truly remorseful).

Big, big props to you. Take care.

This would be a lot more interesting if the young man actually knew the meaning of what he was wearing.My reaction would be:cool shirt,where did you get it,and do they come in my size.And yes I speak enough German and know enough history to realize what the message was on the shirt.Although it might be obnoxious to you,this kid or anyone else has the right to wear a t-shirt like this one.It's called free expression,better known as freedom of speech.I see things all the time that offend me but I don't try to bully or intimidate anyone into taking his shirt off.I think you were out of line on this one.

Like you I might inquire of this kid if he knew what it means. Its important to understand what things mean if you are going to put or wear it on your body. The Totenkopf symbol has a long rich history prior to WW2 and there are different versions of the skull. Such as the skull with out a jaw was used as Panzer insignia and the skull with a jaw was used for the SS Insigina. If this kids t-shirt was of the 3rd waffen ss division Totenkopf I guess it would not have bothered me. But since it was glorifying the Camps instead of the military division thats no good.

Mine would be anger as I know what the words and symbols stood for. I applaud you on how you handled the situation.

Yeah - I see a lot of "what the heck is that" Shirts and BallCaps...

With my personality - I would approach and ask "What does this mean?"

The one thing I'm good at is being "forward" and I'm the person in the Grocery or Drug store who's standing in line and start-up a conversation with a complete stranger LOL

Mostly I ask people what the insignia on their cap; or crest on their T-Shirt; means.

I'm just a curious person ( and annoying )
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Wouldnt bother me one way or the other, sounds like a lot better t-shirt than some I see..as long as they had the correct deaths head on it ( historic liberty really burns me up) ..I see a lot more offensive shirts (to me anyway) all the time, But freedom of speech and all that, I just ignore the idiots in society.theres nothing wrong or offensive in anyway with the deaths head insignia,its an old symbol and most of the SS served honorably and bravely,the action of a extremely few prison camp guards shouldnt tarnish the whole group.

My personal reaction to the t-shirt would be one of sadness and disgust. But, and this is the important bit, if we really do want to live in a free society then we must allow, not only the wearing of t-shirts like this one, but also allow their manufacture and/or import.

Censorship in any form reduces all our freedoms. If you don't like what you're seeing then look away and/or walk away. I see many things I don't like or approve of, some of them on Yahoo Answers too. That's life, we all have different values and standards. One size does not fit all.

Having said that, I admire and approve of you speaking to the wearer and telling him what you know about it and how it made you feel. I also admire and applaud the wearers shock and disgust at finding out what he'd bought. But that doesn't change his fundamental right to wear it in a free country.

Maybe he was naive and now he has learned a valuable lesson. Even Walmart sold items that were offensive, and they removed them after they found out their meaning. Today's youth live in sort of a make believe world. Sometimes they have no idea what a certain symbol really represents, and they won't until they learn more life facts and witness more evidence about that symbol and the torment and atrocities that are connected to it.