Germany

Over the past month, I've been amazed to see Germany accept tens of thousands of refugees and to hear Chancellor Merkel promise that the country will take up to 1,000,000 within the year. It's truly mind boggling that families fleeing across the world consider Germany the destination of choice.

Even those voices that criticize Germany's generous policy as indirectly encouraging more people to flee and raising their hopes about entry to Europe, and who forecast bad things ahead for Germany and other European countries that accept refugees on the assumption that they will surely fail to integrate them-- should admit that the resolution to open the country's doors to people in dire need is laudatory.

Germany, the country that started two world wars? The country that invented industrialized mass murder and committed the worst crimes of humanity during the Holocaust? The country that until recently seemed to have utterly failed to attract the high skilled engineers and technicians from abroad that it had sought to bolster its workforce because it was not seen as hospitable?

It’s a surprise to me to witness this new Germany, but not a shock. There has been a gradual but very real shift in Germany's identity over the last generations and even during the last decade. 

How did this happen?

It is the direct result of a long and slow process of self-examination following World War II – the Nazi era and all its crimes. A second generation of Germans famously asked their parents and grandparents what they had done during the war and tried to hold Germany accountable for its sins. Universities took up the calls, so did political parties, the media – books and movies, and a special relationship developed between Germany and Israel.

The lessons of the past – to shun anti-Semitism and all forms of xenophobia and nationalism, to question political violence  – were taught to apply very directly to the present. A slate of monuments, large and small, in central symbolic places and in small alleys in front of people’s home, were built not only to make the point that Germany should never forget its role as perpetrators, but also that it needed to live with that past and translate its lessons in very real ways today. 

And the message was taken up by real people. Groups like Action Reconciliation Service for Peace has sent thousands of post- high school volunteers over decades to work with Jewish organizations, Holocaust survivors and others who suffered under Naziism in Germany, the United States, Israel, Poland and beyond. Many Germans I met during my studies in Berlin and those who visited AJC seeking a more formal dialogue when I worked there, talked very seriously about moral issues and responsibilities. Finally, Germany's leadership tried to set the tone at the top. 

Germany is a far cry from a tolerant ideal. Discrimination still exists and sometimes rears its very ugly head, as in the racist-led populist marches being held in Dresden. But the debate is lively: even in Dresden, the counter marchers turn out in impressive force. Regular debates about school integration, circumcision and multiculturalism come up with strong voices all around, but Germany has not enacted laws against mosque height, as Switzerland has, or the wearing of head scarves. The outcomes of these discussions may be unresolved; they generally do not end with further polarizing decisions. Perhaps one can even argue that it's good to keep some of the tensions above surface and to engage in regular national arguments.

It would of course be naive to think that Germany’s new found hospitality is an ethical issue alone. As Brecht famously wrote in The Three Penny Opera: “first food, then morality.” Germany has a strong economy, an anomaly in a struggling Europe. A generous refugee policy is enabled by the country’s economic position, which allows it to even consider the high cost of absorbing refugees.

There is also the demographic issue that has haunted Germany for over a decade – too few young people, too many pensioners on the horizon. New immigrants, many young, offer an answer for an aging population. And the people fleeing Syria are often well educated. So there is self-interest involved as well.

Finally, while the country’s leadership is in favor, and the hospitality of many citizens is undeniable, there remain right wing elements, some of them extreme. It's scary to see those skinheads and their supporters, whose more civilized clothes hide even more pernicious threats, and who have before and may again strike out violently against refugees. They are relatively few, but they can do substantial damage. 

Even short of violence, there is no chance that a mass immigration of this nature will move forward without problems. After the initial euphoria, we can expect real concerns about the pressure this will put on housing, the economy, schools. There will certainly be some radicals among the refugees themselves. The decision to accept people is a far cry from being able to successfully integrate them. The United States may have some lessons to offer here, though our own present backlash is not encouraging. 

And with all this, the Germany that is accepting refugees, no – welcoming them in the full knowledge that it will have to deal with problems and that this immigration will change the face of the country– is a Germany that is worth noticing and for which I am quite grateful.

And there is one other thing to mention here. I believe that the outcome of this decision is not set and sealed. Will integration be possible or will it fail miserably? Yes, there are historical precedents, but they are not determinants. Decisions that are made now, in small, people-to-people ways and in large, political ones -- will influence the result. So I'd rather cheer than sit on the sidelines and predict the worst. I'd like to think that we can encourage the amazing Germans, young and older, who want to do the right things and that their engagement in this process will bode well for a positive resolution of this courageous action. 

Thoughts from a trip to Berlin

With so much news about virulent criticism of Israel morphing into antisemitism in Europe, I wondered about my plans to visit Berlin this summer. I wasn't scared for my safety, but had some trepidation about the potential for bitter, defensive conversations.

More to the point, I wasn't worried about conversations, but about not being able to have them; that I might find myself at loggerheads with people I otherwise liked, with old friends... being yelled at rather than talking. 

I was grateful to find another reality.

I've tried to explicate some of the specific political perspectives I heard below. With few exceptions, they were fairly sophisticated and nuanced- no one with whom I spoke had notions of uncompromising black and white. 

Of course if I had expected a pro-Israel consensus I would have been gravely disappointed. But fearing the opposite- blindly anti-Israel diatribes, I was relieved by the sanity of the discourse. 

I wanted to document my experience in order to help fill in a vacuum of understanding about the way this discourse is going - at least in Germany - and help mediate some alarming reports about the worst examples of discourse that seem to have been generalized to implicate the entire society.

Most significant to me was that I found virtually everyone with whom I discussed the situation open to listening. 

Why is it important to be open? Because it proves that viewpoints are not ideologically set, that learning, which is a fundamental condition of any real conversation - is possible. And because I felt that there was genuine interest in hearing my perspective, a Jewish one.

Why does it matter if a few people - the small sample of my friends - are open minded? Shortly before I arrived, there had been demonstrations including ugly antisemitic calls that were widely reported and some violent actions of grave concern. 

Two responses.

First, the offensive chants and behaviors also involved very few, and they were roundly condemned and prosecuted. It is important to understand that the perpetrators were generally relative newcomers to Germany who do not see themselves as heirs to its cruel past nor the lessons learned. Certainly, these incidents should serve as wake-up calls -- certain values such as tolerance are not optional, but rather foundational and must be accepted by all, and much more must be done to make this the case. What these incidents do not prove, however, is that Germany's broad post-War efforts to come to terms with its past and to create a better society and a more open one for Jews have failed, and it was this extreme reading that I saw reflected in much of the media coverage.

Second, a country or community - any group - doesn't stand out because of a majority, or even because there is an angry minority-  but because there is a minority that is committed to doing what is right and feels empowered. That's all, in my mind, you can ever expect -- and it's also he very best thing to hope for. Germany has been impressive to me not because of majority sentiment, but because of the individuals I've met who are so truly committed to building a better society and fighting antisemitism and racism and other inequalities in very profound ways. In this case- there is a healthy number, including the people I spoke with, who may be critical, but who are not blindly so and understand the complexity. 

One last note- I was so grateful for the unexpected openness I found - perhaps not in small part because it allowed me to be open too. I don't doubt that some of my concern in advance of the trip was that I might spend a vacation spouting talking points. 

That's not fun for me. I am someone who is eager to "translate" different experiences into greater understanding. And someone who wants desperately to see Israel living in peace with its neighbors and who needs to feel there is a chance precisely through the possibility of reconciling different narratives, pain and aspirations.

Below were some of the viewpoints I heard:

In general there was deep concern about the many Palestinian civilian casualties. One friend said she'd like to hear more nuanced viewpoints on both sides, but in particular on the Israeli side, and instead was presented with opposing black-white narratives in interviews with involved parties.

The demonstrations in Berlin were largely made up of people "of immigration background" as Germans say. Many are now also German citizens, but they carry with them a family history and often are attuned to a media and discourse whose origins are far away from Germany.

I heard strong concern about antisemitic utterances and acts that had taken place in Germany at these events - mirroring the clear condemnations of every major politician- and a worry that extremists might be bred and tolerated locally. It almost seemed a wake up call, though it is hard to predict if anything long term will result, nor is it clear what can be done most effectively beyond a society's strong insistence through education, political rhetoric, and civil courage on tolerance as a primary value, one learned in a most painful and personal way through the country's own history.

There was a deep concern about where this conflict might go and whether it would ever end, what if any long term solution might still be feasible, and a skepticism of the honest intentions of some of the players. 

There was also a clear and critical understanding of the destructive extremism of Hamas, and an understanding that Israel couldn't ignore open fire and tunnels. Perhaps the terrible revelations of ISIS acts that were concurrent with my visit lent additional emotional weight to that perspective.

Remembering

A lot of Facebook posts started by reminding people that today is Yom Hashoah, a day to remember. In those words and the subsequent lists of murders and atrocities, an underlying concern seems to emerge: Holocaust survivors and eyewitnesses are dying, and we feel a heavy obligation to hold onto memory and make it our own.

Unlike Passover, which was so long ago that it has truly become a story open to interpretation, the Holocaust is still relatively recent, the harm done still very tangible, and it feels right to stick closer the hard facts. At the same time, we today are blessed with much fortune and find ourselves in a very different situation. So what are the lessons of such brutal suffering today? The answers are very charged, and their implications highly politicized. The mixture can be heavy handed; it's hard to hit an authentic note.

Popchassid posted photos that tried to alter that narrative http://popchassid.com/photos-holocaust-narrative/ in a way that was respectful and thought provoking.

Here are three manifestations of remembering that I find surprising and for which I'm grateful:

1. At lunch today, a friend told me about  her experience with two teachers in the countryside of Utah who had decided to do a unit with their students about the Shoah. She explained that they had little context and wanted to relate through the lens of a religious Christian rescuer. They also knew little about Judaism; when she visited the class, the students' first question was whether Jews believed in Jesus (as a wise man and reformer but not a god, she responded). But she was astounded by the teachers' curiosity, by how much her invitation to Shabbat dinner meant to them, by their interest in learning more and teaching their own children. That interest by others who are not Jewish and have no personal or collective history tied up in the Holocaust is amazing.

2. I'm hopeful about changes in Germany today, not because I think popular option is so vastly more enlightened, but because some people in the subsequent generations really do "get it" and care deeply about creating a better Germany and society, and they are spending much of their life on doing so. They include the friend who teaches people how to effectively counter neo-Nazis, others who work in government, others who write. It's not extraordinary that there are foolish, racist, antisemitic people (sadly), but it is extraordinary that there is such a robust cadre dedicated to a better way and willing to stand up tall and loud for that.

3. And finally, today at JDC our Yom Hashoah commemoration was dedicated to the incredible creative acts that survivors, aka victors, accomplished in the aftermath of the Shoah. That resilience, ability to build on, and incredible creative and generous impulse that inspired so many is the most inspirational of all.