Debates on the Collective Guilt in PostWar West Germany
In: Observatorija kul'tury: Observatory of culture, Heft 1, S. 99-103
ISSN: 2588-0047
Analyses the attitudes towards the Nazi past that existed in West German society from 1945 through the 1950s. The author considers the social and political situation in the Federal Republic of Germany, the concept of "zero hour", and collective guilt thesis that were tackled in the publications of sociopolitical character. The author concludes that in Germany in the postwar period, a specific "victim's mentality" prevailed that rejected the idea of collective guilt and responsibility for the Nazi crimes.