Nazi Grandpa

I knew a guy that had a framed picture of his grandpa displayed in his living room. His grandpa was wearing a Nazi uniform. When I asked him about it, his reply was “he was a great guy.” That might be true — I can accept that not all Nazis were actually spawned directly from the bowels of hell. Like it or not, there’s a lot of nuance there. But here’s the thing: then put up a different picture of him. There is no reason and no excuse to have a framed picture of a Nazi in your house. Ever. Sorry. I don’t give a flying fuck if he was “a great guy.” Frame a different picture of him then. Keep the Nazi one, even, I don’t care. But tuck it away in an album. Putting it on display is literally just asking for a fight — or at very least asking for uncomfortable and awkward interactions. Not even just asking. Begging. He’s just itching to tell people that his Nazi relative wasn’t a villain. Again: might be true, but. That’s something that should come up in conversation naturally. It’s not something you shove in people’s faces as soon as they step into your house. And if your reason is that you want to open up a discussion, then be ready to do that. Saying “he was a great guy” is not a discussion. It’s a dismissal at best, a flippant justification of some sort at worst. You might say “oh, it’s his own house, he can do what he wants.” Sure, I guess. But then what’s the reason for it? He keeps that picture there for himself, because he likes to wallow in his family’s shameful past? Because any other reason isn’t a good one. Like...does he have any Jewish friends? I mean apparently not. I wouldn’t think they’d appreciate his cavalier attitude about having a framed picture of a literal Nazi in his fucking living room. Forget that — decent humans of any race wouldn’t be too keen on it. Keep your Nazi to yourself, man.