Kaiserschmarrn

had a funny relationship with the German language. On the one hand, because of our history in WW II I used to get the heebie-jeebies when I heard German. For example, my first time Switzerland, when I was peacefully riding the train but then heard the automated announcement about the “Anschluss” (the connecting train), I bristled at the word. It creeped me out. Of course I was riding an ordinary train with an ordinary announcement. But Anschluss! To me, to us, it has those ugly historic connections. I hear Anschluss and I hear Nazi annexation. Or, the word schnell. On that same trip, I casually heard someone remark “schnell,” and my skin crawled. On the other hand, German resembles Yiddish. And when I think of […]