Language:
German
Year of publication:
1990
Titel der Quelle:
Bios; Zeitschrift für Biographieforschung, Oral History und Lebensverlaufsanalysen
Angaben zur Quelle:
2 (1990) 189-223
Keywords:
Jews History 1800-2000
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Church history 20th century
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Abstract:
A psychological content analysis of an interview with a German Catholic priest, son of a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. Discharged from his chaplaincy in the Wehrmacht in 1943 because of his racial origin, he was interned in a labor camp; the Church did not intervene. His father died in Auschwitz. Points out that he expresses his ambivalence by denying the Jewish side of his family, distancing himself from the fate of the Jewish people, and blaming his sufferings on individuals (e.g. Hitler, a certain bishop) rather than on the German people or the Church. Contends that these attitudes are necessary for his survival; they enable him to avoid guilt feelings and live in peace with his surroundings. Argues that "non-Aryan" Christians suffered psychologically more than Jews who found support in family and community solidarity and whose past experience prepared them to face persecution.
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