joy,
discipline, camaraderie. Give the Fuhrer your vote!
Is
there any way for today's Germany to calmly react to
being
compared to the National Socialist Party - the Nazis?
Die Zeit, Germany
Nazi Baggage Complicates
Germany's New Role as the 'America of Europe'
"Germany
is gradually taking on the role in Europe that the U.S. has long played on the
global level: As the country that uses and occasionally misuses its power, is
to blame for everything, is supposed to save everyone, and which has to endure
insults for how it goes about doing it. … But there was one thing the Americans
could never be accused of: sending six million Jews to their deaths and
plunging half the world into war."
Francesco Schettino, captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia: When a German newspaper described him as 'typically Italian', an Italian newspaper owned by Silvio Berlusconi retorted, to paraphrase, that Italians may have to answer for Schettino, but Germans still haven't made up for the Holocaust. Such is the burden that today's Germans continue to carry.
Il Giornale recently wrote, “A noi Schettino, a voi Auschwitz,
i.e.: “We have Schettino,
you have Auschwitz.” With this, the Italian newspaper responded to a similarly
subtle criticism
from Der SpiegelOnline of the cowardly Captain of the Costa
Concordia, who it described as “typically Italian.” What Il Giornale
meant was: "Germans should shut their mouths. You still have to answer for
the Holocaust!"
Now, one might say that Il
Giornale is a right-wing populist newspaper run by Berlusconi no less, and
therefore not to be taken seriously. We might also reassure ourselves with the
fact that Nazi comparisons are from time to time directed at Germans. Lately,
however, the comparisons have been piling up. During a reading in Portugal, thin-skinned
East German writer Ingo
Schulze was recently asked whether Germans would now achieve through the
euro what they failed to achieve with tanks, namely the domination of Europe.
In Greece we hear the same thoughts expressed on a daily basis - only far more
dramatically.
Elsewhere, the charge is more
elegantly packaged. Take, for instance, when Germany’s current policy of
economic austerity is compared to that of Reich Chancellor Brüning, who had a successor named Adolph Hitler. Germany’s
“Sonderweg"
[special path], is mentioned with great regularity, as when Merkel’s government
refuses to print as much money as others are demanding. And where did the
oft-cited “Sonderweg” end? In Auschwitz, of course. And so we come full
circle.
Germany is the U.S. of Europe - but with a different
history
It doesn’t take much to
figure out why so many Nazi comparisons are being made right now: For the first
time since 1945, Germany is stepping up with all its power, not because it
wants to, but because the European debt crisis has made the fiscally strongest
into the most politically powerful. Germany is now profoundly intervening
in the domestic affairs of others.
The country is
gradually taking on the role in Europe that the U.S. has long played on the
global level: As the country that uses and occasionally misuses its power, is
to blame for everything, is supposed to save everyone, and which has to endure
insults for how it goes about doing it. What evil hasn't been imputed to the
Americans? The CIA was behind every evil, and Americans were constantly being
accused of imperialism.
But there was one thing the
Americans could never be accused of: sending six million Jews to their deaths
and plunging half the world into war. In the case of Germany, ranting against
the leading power that is at once quite understandable, human and often
justified, very often takes on an entirely different pallor, which serves to put
an end to any discussion or serious exchange.
So how should we as Germans
deal with this? Ingo Schulze was self-critical, writing that he was outraged
and offended. That was probably the wrong reaction simply because that is precisely
what his questioner hoped to achieve. Secondly, it’s probably also wrong to
respond with German arrogance, the way CSU/CDU Bundestag leader Volker Kauder did, when
he proclaimed that “Europe would speak German,” … omitting only the word
“again.” Peer
Steinbrück babbled on in a similarly martial tone when he suggested sending
the “cavalry” to Switzerland. Politicians from a country that once sent its
“cavalry” all over Europe (with the exception of Switzerland) should really
refrain from making such comments.
Finally, we shouldn’t allow
ourselves to be intimidated by Nazi comparisons. And the word “Sonderweg”
shouldn’t bring the German government to respond with an even more truculent
“you-asked-for-it” tone. Especially since, as we all know, Auschwitz is regularly
used to gain the moral high ground in political conflicts. Friendly nonchalance
and occasional rejection of criticism - without taking offense, are the most sensible
responses. And whether on questions of finance or military intervention, to continue
the debate on substantive issues.
For quite a while, Germany’s
new role will continue to result in a proliferation of Nazi comparisons. Like
it or not, we will have to bear it and wait until it passes. However, in such
stoicism there is also a serious problem. That has to do with the German historical
paradox, which may be described as follows: The only way Germans can prevent
their past from repeating itself is by never being absolutely sure that it
won’t. That is why Germans, particularly politicians, can never completely set
aside their armor - not against accusations from the outside, and not against fits
of self doubt. A sore spot remains.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
So what do we do now? Should
we simply ask others to cut the Nazi crap or insult us - but in any
conceivable way other than that one? Yes, we could do that. Germans might also
admit that we want to be loved (which isn't bad) much more than the French or British,
who already do such a good job of loving themselves. But Germans cannot deny
who they are out of the sheer need for love - if only because the others would
find that even more contemptible.
Ultimately, a certain
coolness of exterior must be combined with a particularly high degree of historical
sensitivity. Anti-Semitism, neo-Nazi terrorism, historical amnesia, attacks of
arrogance - these are the real dangers and temptations.
