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65 years ago

10 comments on 65 years ago

synagogue.jpg65 years ago
: Today is the 65th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Some German sites — Papa Scott, Vowe, ITW — are pointing us to the wonderful virtual recreations of the synagogues so brutally destroyed. They are magnificent, which only makes their destruction more tragic.

See also yesterdays’ NY Times oped on Germany, guilt, responsibility, and forgiveness in light of the scandal about the company that provided a material to the Berlin Holocaust Memorial and also made the gas the murdered millions.

It may be true that the majority of contemporary Germans are legally innocent of crimes committed under the Third Reich, which is why there is such collective frustration about not being able to shake the stigma of genocide. But regardless of redemptive impulses and achievements, everyone in Germany remains morally responsible. This was a crime that took place on German land. The soil and soul of Germany are fated to have long memories, and Degussa, despite its commendable recent deeds, should not be profiting from its newfound virtue.

It is not German guilt that must be eternal, but the acceptance of moral responsibility

10 responses to “65 years ago”

  1. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    On the other hand, I believe that the children shouldn’t be held accountable for the sins of their fathers. If you follow that line of thinking, then we’ve got a lot of explaining to do ourselves, considering our history with this continent’s natives. It was just as much a genocide as what Germany did to the Jews, except our victims still live in ghettos. Should we be held responsible for what our ancestors did and never be forgiven for every scurrilous act committed by this country in its history?

  2. Mike Rentner Avatar
    Mike Rentner

    I agree with Paul. Even the US Constitution stipulates that “corruption of the blood” is not a crime. The people who took part in Kristallnacht, or who supported it, are the ones who are guilty. None others should be held to blame.

  3. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    Paul, Mike: I agree. Children do not carry the guilt of their fathers. But this op-ed puts forward the different idea that there is an ongoing responsibility. That remains a vague concept: responsibility to do what? Do the Egyptians still bear a responsibility to the Israelis for keeping them in bondage a few thousand years ago? No. But do the Egyptians and the Israelis have a responsibilty to learn lessons from the past, even that far back, and work for a better future together? Yes. That remains the moral of any story of tragedy: We must learn not to repeat the tragedy. We must learn to live with mutual respect. Whether that dictates this action from the Berlin memorial, I’m not sure. That’s the issue with responsibility: It needs to be defined in the hearts and souls of each of us.

  4. Hale Adams Avatar
    Hale Adams

    All I can say about the images at the site of the recreated synagogues is: “Wow!”
    The interior of the synagogue at Nuremburg is (or was) jaw-dropping. And the exterior of the synagogue in Munich must have been gorgeous.
    I know that the Germans were seized by this irrational hatred of the Jews. But that they could so hate a people as to exterminate them and to destroy such beautiful testaments to their existence is still incomprehensible to me.
    Not to be “flip”, but I guess it’s just the Second Law of Thermodynamics as applied to human societies– it’s so much easier to thoughtlessly tear down and kill, than it is to thoughfully build up and create new life.

  5. David Ross Avatar
    David Ross

    Hopefully this means we won’t be seeing any more anti-Semitic acts in Western Europe. That’d be nice…

  6. Scott Avatar
    Scott

    One of the ironic things is that Degussa (formerly known as Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt) is one of the German firms that been exemplary in dealing with its Nazi past, opening its files to historians and not attempting to cover up its crimes, which include not only Zyklon B but also the processing of gold stolen from Halocaust victims.
    The unanswered questions here, as I see it, are not so much for Germany and the Germans as for the builders of the memorial, a memorial to the Halocaust in the land of the perpetrators. Should such a memorial be free of German matierial and ideas, a monument to German guilt that is completely non-German? Or should German contributions be welcomed for a memorial not only to suffering and guilt, but also to responsibility and forgiveness.

  7. tom beta 2 Avatar
    tom beta 2

    I agree with Jeff that there is a responsibility to learn from the past. But why do innocent people in Germany bear more of this responsibility than innocent people anywhere else? Rosenbaum clearly states they do, but why?
    After tens of thousands of years of human war and crime, virtually every one of us must carry the genes of murderers, thieves, rapists, and slavers. Every race and virtually every culture has at one time or another condoned mass murder, including the ancient Jews.
    If innocent Germans today are morally responsible for the Holocost, then we are all morally responsible for some heinous act of butchery and enslavement, regardless of our race or birthplace.
    I can certainly understand if Holocost survivors alive today do not want this company to have anything to do with the memorial. And I would honor that.
    But Rosenbaum’s assertion that the German people still bear moral responsibility for the Holocost simply because they were born on that patch of ground instead of this one is itself perilously close to racism: “You are morally responsible because you were born that way.”
    This is wrong. The only “genetic” moral responsibility arising from the many holocosts of human history is the ongoing one that every human has to do his or her best to prevent any more. Although hunting down and punishing the guilty is essential, any assignment of moral responsibility beyond that is just another excuse to hate.

  8. e.r. Avatar
    e.r.

    9 november is the anniversary of the Fall of Berlin Wall. I’m really surprised that in the blogosphere very few people have remembered such a historical day for the progress of liberty and human dignity.

  9. Marcus from Germany Avatar
    Marcus from Germany

    Im not sure if mister gottfried understand the speech. The speech is all about collective guilt, but collective guilt of the jews.
    mister hohmann said that the jews also a “t

  10. search engine Avatar
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