German National Identity and the Nazi Past

Abstract

In contrast to what the term ‘hour zero’ to describe the end of the Second World War tries to insinuate, in many ways the 8 May 1945 did not mark a new beginning for Germany. It marked a beginning in the midst of the total destruction brought on by a world war which had been started by Germany and had ended in its unconditional surrender, foreign occupation and eventually, the foundation of two German states which — as the Cold War evolved — became ever more tightly integrated into the respective spheres of influence of the two superpowers. In view of the crimes committed under Nazi rule, in particular the attempt to eradicate European Jewry, Germany also faced complete and utter moral bankruptcy. The result was that not only the immediate aftermath of the defeat but also subsequent decades were deeply influenced by the legacy of the Third Reich. This became particularly obvious regarding questions of national identity. In view of the centrality of the role of the past in any construction of national identity, the key question was how to integrate crimes as incomprehensible as those committed in Hitler’s Germany into the self-understanding of the German nation after 1945. As public debates or, at times, the lack of them have shown, at different times the two Germanies found different ways to ‘deal with’ this past.