Language:
German
Year of publication:
1992
Titel der Quelle:
Geschichte und Gesellschaft; Zeitschrift für historische Sozialwissenschaft
Angaben zur Quelle:
18,1 (1992) 22-50
Keywords:
Christianity and antisemitism History 1945-
;
Antisemitism History 1945-
;
Holocaust (Christian theology)
;
Jews History 1945-
Abstract:
Describes the attitude of the German Protestant Churches in the first five years after the Holocaust as a continuation of their pre-Nazi anti-Judaism. Like most Germans, the churchmen (with a few exceptions, such as Martin Niemöller) avoided acknowledgment of the enormity of Nazi crimes and of their share in the responsibility. Declarations of guilt issued under the prodding of international bodies were couched in vague terms and did not mention Jews. Anti-Jewish expressions and equation of German suffering with that of the Jews appear frequently in correspondence. A first "Word on the Jewish Question" (1948) mentions guilt and condemns antisemitism, but describes the Jews' fate as the judgment of God and encourages their salvation in Christianity. Argues that philosemitism also cultivated an unreal stereotypical image of the Jew under which antisemitic prejudice persisted; non-antisemites were rare.
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