Germany -- and the American Zeitgeist

I'll be blunt: Germany has never been one of my favorite countries.

From a respectful distance, I have marveled at its geniuses in literature, music, art, philosophy and science. But every visit there brought me face to face with its graceless traditions and sullen temperament: The rowdy beer halls and surly waiters became, for me, symbols of the Teutonic character.

And on top of that -- German militarism and the ghastly Nazi legacy.

The last time I was in Germany was over New Year's Eve 1989, in Berlin. The wall had just fallen six weeks earlier, and I was on a television assignment to interview Germans East and West about the prospect of reunification. We were at the Brandenburg Gate at midnight, and fireworks exploded for nearly an hour. Thousands of people were cheering and carousing, with champagne and beer, while hundreds of others crawled back and forth through breaches in the wall, in sheer joy. Since that night, Germany has been a question mark in my mind. It was time to go back.

Three days were not enough to reacquaint myself with Berlin. But even if I'd stayed longer, I would have seen little that looked familiar.

The Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, of course, are immutable. The Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial church still stands in its shattered bombed-out state, a deliberate and grim reminder of the war. But elsewhere, all over the city, there are new and astonishing buildings, and dazzling new embassies. (The new U.S. embassy, under construction, is a sorry exception: a bland block of a structure imperiously close to the Reichstag and the Holocaust Memorial. Why?)

But I'd say that the biggest change is in the people themselves. We are now three generations removed from World War Two. Only people over 65 would have any memory of that. Today there are Euros, not Deutschmarks; there are coffee shops, not biergartens. Nearly everyone speaks at least a few words of English: taxi drivers, shopkeepers, waitresses. They are polite and smiling. They seem to be free of their horrible past, unhaunted by their history.

And yet I, as a stranger, am acutely aware of the damage this nation wreaked upon itself, and the death and destruction it brought to millions of others. I wonder how any nation can completely heal such wounds, or ever fully atone. And more puzzling still: How could it ever have happened?

I think the Holocaust Memorial -- that stunning, numbing field of 2,700 slabs of dark concrete -- may explain the process. It begins with small, low slabs that you can easily climb on or jump over. Gradually, the slabs increase in size, gathering mass and momentum, tilting on the uneven terrain, until you find yourself trapped in a grid of high, insurmountable megaliths.

And that is exactly how evil often begins -- casually, insignificantly. You pay little attention to it, or accept the stealthy progression until it grows to overpower you. Then there is no escape.

This is what happened in Germany from 1933 onwards, as seemingly simple rules aimed at the Jewish population were expanded step by step into discriminatory laws, and then unmitigated persecution, and finally segregation and deportation and death.

Could it happen in other "civilized" countries? I'm afraid so. Like the frog that is dropped in a pot of cold water and is gradually boiled to death, we adjust all too easily to furtive escalation, we excuse all too quickly the underhand maneuver. In America, we are allowing our civil rights to be chipped away, we have fallen for blatant government lies, and we continue to listen to the drivel of our media. It would not take much to find a target now for our anger and frustration: The immigrants, the gays, the people on welfare, the liberals, the Jews.

In the dark, underground Holocaust Museum there is a quotation from Primo Levi, the Italian writer who survived Auschwitz:

"It happened before, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say."

It is a sobering thought, and a warning for our time.

Comments

[rroy]

There seems to be a general agreement that the Palestinian people have gotten the crappy end of the stick for some time now and it's way past time to remedy the situation.Yet our leadership in Washington,thanks in no small way to organizations like AIPAC and it's head pimp Joe Lieberman,etal,has continued to maintain the status quo!

I see a growing awareness of the American people of the grevious imbalance in the Pro Israel Policy of our state department,along with awareness of the fact that a more balanced and fair attitude is long overdue.

What is so sad and frustrating is,it takes so long for our leadership to exhibit the courage to change course.

Another episode of recent history sheds some lite on why our politicians are so cowed by organizations like AIPAC,etal;About twenty years ago,I lived in Chicago,one of our Senators was a Liberal Republican named Chuck Percy.It seemd Mr.Percy incurred the wrath of AIPAC by questioning the logic of the consistant pouring of 3 to 5 billion dollars a year in aid into Israel.Well come election time,and I recall this very distinctly,there was not an important thoroughfare in the Chicago area where you wouldn't find huge and costly bill boards stating "Defeat Chuck Percy,and enemy of Israel"
Well Mr.Percy was driven from office and replaced by a bow tie wearing folksy hick from Springfield Ill,who never failed to lick the boots of his benefactors.

Years later AIPC officials bragged of this achievement on 60
Minutes.

[avergejoe]

When are we going to see a National Palestinian Memorial?
Or a Hollywood Palestinian Holocaust movie?
A PBS miniseries?
A MSM news report?
A US newspaper?
A magazine ad?...

All are long overdue.
Selective memory is not good for the soul...

New York Times Minimizes Palestinian Deaths
The Perversions of Daniel Okrent
By ALISON WEIR

Findings

Our statistical analysis of their coverage, however, showed that there was startling disparity in how deaths were reported, depending on the ethnicity of the victim.

For example, we found that in 2004, at a time when 8 Israeli children and 176 Palestinian children were killed " a ratio of 1 to 22 " Times headlines and lead paragraphs reported on Israeli children"s deaths at a rate almost seven times greater than Palestinian children"s deaths.

Times coverage of deaths of all ages, while less dramatically skewed, showed similar distortion. In the first year of the current Palestinian uprising, which began in fall of 2000, we discovered that the Times reported prominently on 42 percent of Palestinian deaths, and on 119 percent of Israeli deaths (follow-up headline articles, we find, frequently push coverage of Israeli deaths over 100 percent). In other words, the Times reported Israeli deaths at a rate approximately three times greater than Palestinian deaths.

During this period over three times more Palestinians were being killed than Israelis.

Overall, we found that in every single category Times coverage reported Israeli deaths at rates three or more times greater than Palestinian deaths.

Such patterns of distortion gave readers the impression that equal numbers of people on both sides were being killed " or that more Israelis were being killed " when the reality is that Palestinians have always been killed in far greater numbers. In particular, we found that Times stories so often repeated reports of Israeli children"s deaths that in some periods they were reporting on Israeli deaths at a rate of 400 percent.

In contrast, the majority of Palestinian deaths " particularly children"s deaths " were never reported by the Times at all.

[sparkandy]

I felt weird sometimes when I was in Germany. I was in Cologne, which was bombed to pieces. The Germans would say, "Oh, my friend Horst lived there, but the Americans killed him with their bombs." Kind of like they were saying, "Oh, I used to grow pansies, but now I grow violets." They know what they did. The older ones are still living with the guilt, but they have accepted it. It must be hard to bear the guilt of almost destroying the world twice. Still, I loved the Germans. They know how to laugh, they're open and friendly, and brotchen (sorry, no umlaut on this keyboard) is the best bread in the world.

[sparkandy]

I found Germany to be a lovely place, with gracious and friendly people. I also thought the same thing about Paris, London, Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans, New York, Philidelphia, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Costa Rica, Turks and Caicos, Aruba and Toronto. (Except Chicago, which is way better than just lovely with nice people.) Maybe I'm too stupid to research the prejudices I'm supposed to have before I go somewhere. I just go and enjoy the place and people for what they are.

[BurtR]

Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter and many others are doing their utmost every day. All it will take is an econmic stress and there are plenty of targets. Blackwater is already up and running.

[mrcontinental]

No one is attempting to pick on the germans per se they are simply the biggest example of a educated people who were hoodwinked by their government and willingly went along for the ride. And the neo-con agenda has been taken directly from the nazi playbook, if you cannot see the similarities than you cannot possible be an honest and objective person.

We have already killed scores in Afghanistan and Iraq and plan to kill far more in Iran. And if a tactical nuclear strike is used in Iran we will exceed the numbers of jews killed during the holocaust. If you believe that we are the good guys and have purely altruistic intentions you are truly naive.

[WOLFWARRIOR]

What I want to know is - How those who say that the Holocaust across europe was a bad thing - but in the same breath say the Holocaust of the American Native's was a good thing ???

.

[sparkandy]

I'm not Native, but my family has been in Oklahoma since the 1830's. Hardscrabble dirt farmers and such. The crimes committed against Native Americans were probably the worst in the history of the world. Not only did the Eurpeans slaughter them, they stole their land and beliefs, language and culture. And they didn't go steal someone else's country for a homeland. They stayed here and worked with what they had, made good lives for themselves and children, and made all the same sacrifices and contributions as their conquerors. They are a people to be truly admired.

[KoolBreez]

The German issues did not start in 1933 but prior to 1914..At least half the country has had a continuous century of starvation, war, fascism, communism and revived xenophobia.

I have avoided visiting Germany thus far, which is very difficult to do since I am in Europe very often. I have had to pass thru Frankfort a dozen times but that's about it.

This isn't prejudice. Why would I want to deal with the baggage of a century's worth of negative energy for a week's vacation?

[sparkandy]

PS The Germans probably don't want your negativity, either.

[sparkandy]

Take it a little farther back. Like to the Teutoberg Forest, where the German tribes defeated the Romans so soundly. Whatever indictments you make of the Roman Empire, at least it was a stabilizing influence, but since the tribes in the North were never properly conquered, they missed out on that stability. It took them a long time to figure out how to be anything more than tribes,then principalities. Even in the Middle Ages, when the Church of Rome ruled the Western World, the Germans weren't very good at letting someone from outside the tribe tell them how to do things.
In the 19th Century they finally caught on to Statehood and decided to make up for lost time by trying to conquer the world. And they damned near did it in WW Part two.
They have faced their own guilt for the most part and understand that they have the choice of wallowing in it or participating in the world of the 21st Century. It's not easy to face the fact that your country almost destroyed the entire world, but what does it profit to rehash it constantly?
And if the baggage of negative energy is too much for your delicate psyche, how is it that you can ilve in a country built on the blood of the Native Americans, African slaves, and the wage slaves of today's mega corporations?

[JohnJames]

I'm a fourth Jewish by descent and my mother is an authentic Czech (Slavic). My expeience is that there are far more open-minded Germans today than Poles, Russians and many other peoples.

[rroy]

It's one thing to look back into history and review all the acts of Man's Inhumanity To Man,and ask "How could this(the Holocaust)have happened?It may be,and I hope it is never equalled or surpassed,the largest and cruelest exhibition of mass murder and madness in human history.

But once we've purged our emotional system of the shock and revulsion that occured,we must return to the present,and ask what vile acts of man's inhumanity to man have occured since the Holocaust,and saddly find there have been many.

We must also face the shocking reality that,yes,even associates and successors of Holocaust victims,have been participants,in ensueing acts of cruelty.Too often justifying these acts by citing the Holocaust,and religious mythology.

I guess,in the long run,perhaps there are or have been ethnic qualities that have made certain people more capable(for want of a better word)of cruelty,but cruelty itself is not unique to any ethnicity,it is very prevailant in the entire body of the human species

[buckinxile]

Oh, for heaven's sake. I think Ms. Shore wants to hold today's Germans to blame for what happened 60-70 years ago.

"Surly waiters", indeed. Ever been to France? I had a rude taxi driver in Israel, but didn't take that as a sign of the Hebrew character. Rowdy beer halls? Ever seen what goes on in the US over spring break? In 10-12 visits to Germany over the last 15 years, I hardly ever met anyone born after 1960 would couldn't speak English.

I pray that the economic devastation that is striking our working and middle class does not reach the level visited upon the Germans in the 20s, though I note the dollar is now falling below the loonie. Now imagine it reaches par with the lira, then $10,000 to the loonie. People here won't be reading blogs to find out what to do - they'll follow the politician with the best propaganda machine. Cheney-Bush have led the way here, and I expect that Mitt would be capable of taking it to the next level.

The Germans were not uniquely capable of evil - it's in us all.

Our tribal instincts are still with us. You won't need to consider the bloodthirsty Gazan's launching rockets at civilians, or the settlers cutting off access to water, electricity, and work. Just put on your Yankee's hat and ask for directions in South Boston.

Then add economic disaster and demagoguery.

Oh, and just wait until the Persians use the oil weapon, and send gasoline to $5 / gal. We'll be ready to invade in no time.

[EspressoAtNoon]

It continues to happen again and again - Rwanda, Darfur, Palestine, etc..

[saxmaniac]

Excellent post. Right now in America, Muslims, any undocumented immigrant, and gay people are what the Jews were to Nazi Germany. I remember when the media at last -- the spring of 1946, or 2 years after Germany surrendered -- started showing pictures of the camps. My Jewish relatives and friends cried for days. And I remember uncles and cousins saying "it will never happen here." Guess what -- it IS happening. My hope is that today's potential victims know how to use guns, and get proper leadership to fight back. Otherwise, you're correct -- we're the newest Facist state on the planet.

[Kungfublood]

Act like a Nazi weep like a Jew!
It was wrong when done to them but it's alright for you!
If it acts like a Nazi , hurts like a Nazi and kills like a Nazi what is it?
The truth is that All people are capable of suffering,there have been thousands of "Holocausts" throughout history , pain as well as slavery comes in every color and don't we dare to forget that it happens to all of us if we allow it to happen to one of us.

[CarolinaDem]

Missing here is the role of the carefully cultivated but never-acknowledged belief that a huge minority of a certain 'type' is responsible for the ruin of what was once great. Code language and innuendo serve in politics and social life to sustain unquestioned assent to a nontruth which becomes all powerful once it is unleashed in a time of social stress. What the 'conservative movement' has done in co-opting and preserving the massive resistance of whites against the empowering and equality of minorities is just such a machination. It plants layer after layer of explosive under the surface and when it blows no one will be able to say who planted the mine. Jews, Blacks. Everything else is code.

[joebaggadonuts]

Excellent post, CarolinaDem. It is a visualization of the workings of tribalism against the evolution of a cohesive society.

Keep it up!!! Thanks.

[AjCarbo12]

For the people who work 9-5 than come home and watch CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and go to bed, your doing exactly what this government wants. They want us to be misinformed and to watch the irrelevant nonsense they broadcast. While in reality, they are dangering the existence of the human race with money and military force. We have been transformed into a materialistic society that has totally lost track of reality. We think because we have such great material gain that somehow we are better than other countries. When in fact most of the world despises us because we have lost track of what life should be friends, family, decency, tolerance, and love. Until the people of this country become well informed of the corruption and lack of human decency that runs this country I am sorry to say the future does not look that hopeful for future generations.