Antidemocratic, Racist, and Antisemitic Sentiments in Postwar West Germany
cambridge.org
cambridge.org
It is best described as an opinion piece based upon qualitative insights drawn from a tiny number of unrepresentative samples.
Nonetheless, I found it a worthwhile read. Its conclusions, in particular, struck a chord with me:
> ... antidemocratic, racist, and antisemitic sentiments did not vanish when Germany was defeated in 1945 nor when it was refounded as a democratic state in 1949. Instead, they drifted, and acquired new representations they could attach themselves to. In the self-image of passivity and privacy, the analyzed group ... could cling to old antidemocratic, antisemitic, and racist stereotypes without violating the new discursive rules of the Bonn republic. It may have been that this private self-image was eventually conducive for the stabilization of democracy in West Germany. But the question remains as to what it did to its foundations.
What is particularly lacking in research is perspectives from countries beyond Western world. Humankind's history is full of racism and xenophobia everywhere, but most research has a Western perspective.
Racism played and still plays a huge part but the resentment against Jews was primarily caused because the Nazis convinced people successfully that they are the victims of a Jewish conspiracy around the world. The typical mechanism of populism. Of course this manipulation only works if a basic resentment already exists, which was true for Jews since time immemorial.
And this resentment did not vanish over night. I would argue that little of it remains today however. At least against Jews in Germany. There are of course very vocal exception. And it is a crowds that is indeed very dependent on outside confirmation.
No idea if this is true or myth, but fascinating to imagine.