A Study Of Reflection On The Nazi Past In West Germany

In1945the World War Ⅱ ended. Germany was occupied by the ally, followed by East Germany and West Germany respectively emerged. Germany was divided into two parts. Though incomplete and abnormal, West German rose from a heap of ruins and rubble, and turned into a key economic and political power in Europe. Over the1945-1989years, reflection and bearing historic responsibility for Nazi crimes were always an important element in this nation, and it has undergone a long and repeated process. Nowadays, to recognize and reflect on that period of history has been a common view on the issue of coming to terms with the Nazi past in Germany. So combining with related historical materials and literature, this paper tries to reveal and witness the complex reflection process, through exploring the awareness of the Nazi past in different historical stages of West Germany, such as the Adenauer era,’68’ generation, public debates in the1980s.Chapter One discusses the democratization policy toward Germany by the United States, Britain and France during the occupation, and public response in western partition It points out that, in the context of defeat, physically and mentally fatigued Germans are preliminary and superficial reflections on Nazi Past.Chapter Two analyses the historical reflection and collective memory in the Adenauer era. Adenauer created the distinctive German reflective model, that’s a middle ground between denial and contrition. The German model became a useful trump card in West German diplomacy. With regard to Nazi Past, however, ordinary Germans’ memory was selective remember and oblivion, trying to shy away from Auschwitz and concern their own victimization.Chapter Three briefly reviews West German student movement in the1960s, and points out that under the influence of youth rebel, West Germany begin to confront the Nazi past in the public. Consequently, the politics of memory of West Germany shifted and a sense of self-critical reflection gradually formed. Meanwhile, the broadcast of the Holocaust urged Germans to further reflect and self-examine. It was a different reflection pattern from Adenauer model, but won the respect of the world for West Germany.Chapter Four narrates public debates about Nazi Past in the1980s. It became a high-point in the progress of critical self-examination of West Germany. These ten years of debates or argument had reinforced the conclusions of Nazi past and continued the open awareness of critical reflection and taking responsibility for Nazi crimes since Brandt.Conclusion explores the interactive and dynamic relation between return to civil society and reflection on the Nazi past of West Germany. It indicates that only using a German rigorous and rational attitude toward national catastrophe, West Germany will be back to civil society of democracy and freedom.