Verschweigen – Vertuschen – Verdrängen

The author is a member oft the generation born in Germany shortly before or during WWII. How did I experience the ways of dealing with our horrible past of the time of National Socialism during childhood and adolescence, during my studies, as a professor at the university, within the sciences and politics and society as a whole? Was the past discussed freely, was there scientific reflection? Quite the opposite: the past was mostly supressed, eliminated, forgotten. Proof for that are striking examples from within the circle of family and friends, school and university, from a life as a criminologist as well as from other groups like physicians and representatives oft the churches, as well as encounters in foreign countries.
New generations should look for early symptoms that signal threats to social cohesion, human rights and democracy and react accordingly. This is a task for all who feel responsible to protect living in a democracy. After all there are indications of divisions within societies, growing anti-semitism and xenophobia in many places. This is true here and – as also shown – in many countries that are in a process of change between a dictatorship and a democracy or even in presumed safe, partly even model democracies such as the USA.
The authentic reports of personal experiences cannot take the place of abstract historical research, however they enrich the results and contribute to an emotional involvement. And they demonstrate that there are no uniform attitudes as suggested by terms like „a nation of perpetrators“. Attitudes are shown ranging between the extremes of strict allegiance and open resistance. They make one wonder how one would have behaved in such situations.