With all those holocaust memorials in Germany, the country is doing the exact opposite of keeping a low profile. You‘re probably thinking of Belgium, USA, Canada, Russia, Japan or the Ottoman Empire. Like, there are so many countries that committed genocides and trying to sweep it under the rug but that‘s simply not true for Germany. Germany has a guilt culture that some say is also problematic for different reasons.
Most of the perpetrators got away with it, though, by keeping a low profile. (Of course, they were all “properly denazified”, with official, rubber stamped and signed paperwork to “prove” it) The performative remembrance is merely an empty shell, and goes hand in hand with a justice system that has systematically and purposefully dragged its feet when it came to prosecute them. Only in the recent few years, a handful surviving accomplices were dragged to court, if they even were still able to stand trial.
Nazis have been on trial throughout the decades. The Nuremberg trials in particular were a huge media spectacle and Nazi officials were convicted. Yes, many got away with it and that‘s a huge injustice to the many victims but a lot more has been done prosecuting Nazis than perpetrators of any other genocide in history. Again, low profile is not true here.
Yes, there were spectacular show trials for the big wigs, but the large majority of the perpetrators (pretty much the entirety of public administration, and the “justice” system) were allowed to carry on as if nothing had happened. They even were allowed to train their successors. It really was (and still is) a disgrace. It’s really no surprise that the post WW2 German justice system is largely blind in the right eye.
Germany learned from the holocaust. But not enough!
it learned quite a bit. For example, that you can largely get away with a genocide, if you keep a low profile.
With all those holocaust memorials in Germany, the country is doing the exact opposite of keeping a low profile. You‘re probably thinking of Belgium, USA, Canada, Russia, Japan or the Ottoman Empire. Like, there are so many countries that committed genocides and trying to sweep it under the rug but that‘s simply not true for Germany. Germany has a guilt culture that some say is also problematic for different reasons.
Most of the perpetrators got away with it, though, by keeping a low profile. (Of course, they were all “properly denazified”, with official, rubber stamped and signed paperwork to “prove” it) The performative remembrance is merely an empty shell, and goes hand in hand with a justice system that has systematically and purposefully dragged its feet when it came to prosecute them. Only in the recent few years, a handful surviving accomplices were dragged to court, if they even were still able to stand trial.
Nazis have been on trial throughout the decades. The Nuremberg trials in particular were a huge media spectacle and Nazi officials were convicted. Yes, many got away with it and that‘s a huge injustice to the many victims but a lot more has been done prosecuting Nazis than perpetrators of any other genocide in history. Again, low profile is not true here.
Yes, there were spectacular show trials for the big wigs, but the large majority of the perpetrators (pretty much the entirety of public administration, and the “justice” system) were allowed to carry on as if nothing had happened. They even were allowed to train their successors. It really was (and still is) a disgrace. It’s really no surprise that the post WW2 German justice system is largely blind in the right eye.