In the Historikerstreit, the first long struggle took place in 1986 among intellectuals over Hitler’s long shadow. You raised the question of the uniqueness of the Holocaust. Instead, we may ask for the singularity of the confrontation of the Germans with Hitler and nazi uniforms. Because, it seems compared to historical awareness and historically certain attitudes in other countries, that Hitler in Germany takes a very special kind of shadow.
Almost 20 years ago, that Martin Broszat represented the thesis in his plea for a “Historization of the Third Reich”, the Hitler era have causes a kind of “Blocking” for “normal” historical consciousness in Germany. Why should Germany have a so special position in contrast to other countries, to say the least, with highly unattractive events in their recent past? ww2 uniforms
In response an indication of the number of victims may not be sufficient here. Stalin was responsible as Hitler for more deaths. But neither Russia nor outside Stalin’s shadow penetrates so in the present, as it does those Hitler within Germany nazi uniforms.
To avoid misunderstandings, we want to clarify: State to uniqueness to, you must make comparisons; moral responsibility can be measured but not in body. And a series of crimes not excused the other. So is the use of Stalin’s crimes in the apologetic sense, to indicate that the Soviets were “even worse”, completely out of place. Stalin’s crimes reduce Hitler’s crimes – or Germany inherited responsibility – not to one iota.
With the surrender of the Empire and the unique case of the conquest of large amounts of administrative acts, the stage for the Nuremberg trials was prepared to present the evidence of one of the most heinous crimes in human history all over the world.
Pictures of the liberation of mountains Belsens by the British and other scenes full of unimaginable horror indelibly penetrated into the consciousness of those, who got to see them. What a people was able to do derlei?
The image of Germany as a highly cultured nation has been getting behind the mystery of the rapid crash into modern barbarism. And that Hitler in within a modern democracy drop could, the question is: can happen like again?
Why the modern State in Europe also made the murder of the Jews to a vital Grundgesetz, challenges a constant search for answers. And that carrying out Hitler’s required the collaboration and complicity of intellectuals, doctors and lawyers, as well as generals, soldiers and men and women from all walks of life extermination intention against the Jews, increased for us all – not only for the Germans nazi uniforms- the need to consider how we would behave similar to extreme circumstances. “Brother Hitler”, as is a famous phrase by Thomas Mann, can be still be up to date such questions.
But why is Stalin’s shadow so much paler? The monstrosity of his crime is almost unimaginable. The horror of his regime had dimensions that hardly allow comparisons. But except in specialist circles, Stalin attracted remarkably little interest.
It is to ask a void, meaningless affair, who was worse – Hitler or Stalin. It is an infamy, to measure human suffering and death. But indirectly and without want nazi uniforms we seem exactly to do that, since cultural influences – and innate prejudices–very broad to determine how we see the misery of other people.