Racism in the New Germany and the Reaction of White Women

Abstract

My subject is not a pleasant one. Racism and antisemitism in the new Germany are a frightening and shameful specter, and I wish I had better news to bring to this country. We find ourselves living in times that demand an ever-intensified struggle against negative powers on many levels?the government, an internationally linked Right-wing movement propelled by violence, stupidity, and inhumanity, and a large part of the population that is at best unconcerned, and at worst condones or supports destructive forces. I want to begin by giving some information about my own develop ment as a Christian woman in Germany. When I talk of white Christian, this is to distinguish between Christian and Jewish and does not pertain to religious practice. I will then present some information about the women's movement in Germany, focusing on its relation ship or lack thereof to concerns dealing with racism and antisemitism. Finally I will address the present situation in Germany. I was born in 1941 in Berlin. In 1943, my father had in vain applied for a release from the army and reinstatement in his civilian job. When refused, he returned belatedly to Russia, where he was sentenced for desertion and ostensibly committed suicide. I grew up with my grand mother, my mother, and my sister and was able to finish high school. My school years took place during the 1950s, the era of the Cold War during which the economic miracle of the western part of Germany was constructed with the help of the Marshall Plan. Twice we went through world history and twice our teachers stopped at the year 1930.1 learned almost nothing about the political movements of the time, for example, the movement against the remilitarization of Germany. This meant that I was part of the post-war generation that was not taught about the past. We had to acquire the knowledge on our own and figure out for ourselves how to deal with the guilt of our parents and grandparents. When the German Left began to evolve in the early 1960s, I left Germany to study in the United States. In Ann Arbor, Michigan and later in Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Madison, Wisconsin, and Chicago I worked in the civil rights movement. This is where and how I received my Women in German Yearbook 9 (1993)