his year, the world has frequently been reminded of Germany’s past. The 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz proved that, even after half a century, civilized nations have not forgotten—nor fully forgiven—the atrocities of history.
Five years after reunification, Germany has taken a leading role in the economic and political affairs of Europe and the world. But can this reunified and strengthened Germany free itself from the past?
The most important yardstick of how Germany is regarded as a nation which has earned its place again among civilized countries will be Germany’s treatment of minorities and “unwanteds.” Germany will not regain the trust of the world community by making self-serving statements about tolerance and human rights abroad. Only Germany’s sensitive treatment of such fundamental rights within its own borders will prove that it learned the lessons of history.
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| A 3-year-old thrown out of his kindergarten because his parents are members of the Scientology religion. |
The steady rise in the number of neo-fascist incidents of violence is cause for grave concern. Between 1990 and 1992 alone, attacks on religious and ethnic minorities in Germany rose from 375 to 2,285. By the end of 1994, such attacks, which have included beatings, burnings and even murders, were making international headlines—and attracting the attention of human rights groups.
In its April 1995 report, Germany for Germans: Xenophobia and Racist Violence in Germany, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki noted that xenophobic violence in Germany was more than 400 percent higher in 1994 than in 1991. These assaults included not only anti-Semitic violence, but a growing number of right-wing crimes against other minorities, including the handicapped.
At the same time, Germans also reflected an increased attitude of xenophobia. A public opinion poll conducted in 1994 found 22 percent of Germans would “prefer not” to have Jews living in their neighborhood. Forty-seven percent felt the same way about Arabs, 39 percent about Poles and 36 percent about Turks.
One of the few Germans to speak out against the subtle reversion to fascism was former President Richard von Weizsäcker. Regrettably, Weizsäcker often expressed his strongest opinions in forums outside his country, and not where they were most needed—in Germany.
In May 1994, Weizsäcker told The New York Times that when he spoke about the Holocaust nine years before, “I got many letters then asking me what right I had to say that many Jews had died. Today, I am still getting the same kind of questions, but now they sign their names and give their addresses. Nine years ago, they were anonymous.”
Few in Germany admit that National Socialism could again become an intimate part of the fabric of German society. Yet the thinking which permeated the nation in the 1930s, and ultimately set the stage for the rise of fascism, is again dangerously present.
The world cannot afford to let Germany continue down the same path, when the cost is once again measured in destroyed human lives.
