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TURKEY AND GERMANY'S PAST ATROCITIES
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Nov 28 2012
Why did it happen in Germany and not somewhere else? A German professor
asked this question and honestly confessed that he could not find an
answer to it.
All last week I attended the conference "Difficult Heritage of the
Past" in Berlin to see how Germany is squaring with its past. During
the program, a historian posed this question: "Why, in spite of the
fact that anti-Semitism was endemic across Europe at the time, did
the Holocaust happen in Germany alone?"
I tried to remind him of the "authoritarian personality" study of
the Frankfurt school and the "Milgram experiment" in the US, both of
which show that most people, when certain conditions are met, tend to
follow orders and tend to do whatever an authority orders them to do,
without questioning it. He was not satisfied with that answer. Nothing,
according to him, explains the evil of the Holocaust.
There may have been certain conditions which paved the way for the
Holocaust. The feeling of humiliation on the part of German society
after the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler's lure in addressing these
sentiments and calling for "victory" and greatness, German modernity,
the extreme organization of German society and so many other factors
may have contributed to this tragic fraction of Germany's history.
In fact, in the 19th and 20th centuries, which were, in a way,
centuries of genocides, few nation states were immune from this
disease. The US is built upon constant destruction and annihilation
of its native peoples, and France, Great Britain and the Netherlands
among others all did terrible things in their overseas colonies
and elsewhere.
The German and Turkish cases, however, had something different from
the others. While the US was destroying the lands of native peoples,
and the Europeans were carrying out mass murder overseas, they did all
these terrible things to "others." In the German and Turkish case, on
the other hand, all these terrible things were done to neighbors with
whom they had lived side-by-side for centuries. I think this is alone
the most distinctive element of the German and Turkish example. The
French army did unimaginable things in Algeria, for example, but I do
not think this poses a threat to French identity, since it was done
to "others" in another country. But when you kill your neighbors,
it creates a black hole, a gap in your national identity.
I do not think the question posed by the German professor over why the
Holocaust happened in Europe is a meaningful question for others to
ask. But this question may be a good one when it is asked by Germans.
It may provoke Germans to look at their past again and again. In this
sense, I am impressed with the sincerity of this professor in asking
a question quite threatening to himself as a German.
I am not only impressed by this professor's profound questioning
of his own nation but also by the genuine efforts to remember the
victims and commemorate the Holocaust. I have already mentioned in
my last piece the "wall" that was erected by kindergarten students
to commemorate the Jews who once lived in their neighborhood. Street
banners featuring historical events during the Nazi era hang from
electricity poles to remind passersby. I really wish we could see
similar ones in Turkey, about Armenian massacres, pogroms targeting
Jews and Greeks, massacres targeting Alevis and others. When Turkey
starts to remember and commemorate past atrocities, the Topography
of Terror Museum, which is built on a former Nazi headquarters,
the Jewish Museum Berlin and others might be good examples to follow.
I am still thinking back and reflecting on my observations in Berlin
last week. In short, one thing is sure: Turkey has a lot to learn
from Germany in coming to terms with past atrocities.
From: A. Papazian
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Nov 28 2012
Why did it happen in Germany and not somewhere else? A German professor
asked this question and honestly confessed that he could not find an
answer to it.
All last week I attended the conference "Difficult Heritage of the
Past" in Berlin to see how Germany is squaring with its past. During
the program, a historian posed this question: "Why, in spite of the
fact that anti-Semitism was endemic across Europe at the time, did
the Holocaust happen in Germany alone?"
I tried to remind him of the "authoritarian personality" study of
the Frankfurt school and the "Milgram experiment" in the US, both of
which show that most people, when certain conditions are met, tend to
follow orders and tend to do whatever an authority orders them to do,
without questioning it. He was not satisfied with that answer. Nothing,
according to him, explains the evil of the Holocaust.
There may have been certain conditions which paved the way for the
Holocaust. The feeling of humiliation on the part of German society
after the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler's lure in addressing these
sentiments and calling for "victory" and greatness, German modernity,
the extreme organization of German society and so many other factors
may have contributed to this tragic fraction of Germany's history.
In fact, in the 19th and 20th centuries, which were, in a way,
centuries of genocides, few nation states were immune from this
disease. The US is built upon constant destruction and annihilation
of its native peoples, and France, Great Britain and the Netherlands
among others all did terrible things in their overseas colonies
and elsewhere.
The German and Turkish cases, however, had something different from
the others. While the US was destroying the lands of native peoples,
and the Europeans were carrying out mass murder overseas, they did all
these terrible things to "others." In the German and Turkish case, on
the other hand, all these terrible things were done to neighbors with
whom they had lived side-by-side for centuries. I think this is alone
the most distinctive element of the German and Turkish example. The
French army did unimaginable things in Algeria, for example, but I do
not think this poses a threat to French identity, since it was done
to "others" in another country. But when you kill your neighbors,
it creates a black hole, a gap in your national identity.
I do not think the question posed by the German professor over why the
Holocaust happened in Europe is a meaningful question for others to
ask. But this question may be a good one when it is asked by Germans.
It may provoke Germans to look at their past again and again. In this
sense, I am impressed with the sincerity of this professor in asking
a question quite threatening to himself as a German.
I am not only impressed by this professor's profound questioning
of his own nation but also by the genuine efforts to remember the
victims and commemorate the Holocaust. I have already mentioned in
my last piece the "wall" that was erected by kindergarten students
to commemorate the Jews who once lived in their neighborhood. Street
banners featuring historical events during the Nazi era hang from
electricity poles to remind passersby. I really wish we could see
similar ones in Turkey, about Armenian massacres, pogroms targeting
Jews and Greeks, massacres targeting Alevis and others. When Turkey
starts to remember and commemorate past atrocities, the Topography
of Terror Museum, which is built on a former Nazi headquarters,
the Jewish Museum Berlin and others might be good examples to follow.
I am still thinking back and reflecting on my observations in Berlin
last week. In short, one thing is sure: Turkey has a lot to learn
from Germany in coming to terms with past atrocities.
From: A. Papazian