German Jews and Anxiety

Last night, via Germany's public TV network ARD, 'Hart Aber Fair' (Hard But Fair) chat forum show (live) came on, and the major topic was....'How Strong is Hatred for Jews in Germany'.

Two German Jews sat on the panel, along with a Minister of Interior for Lower Saxony (SPD), a Linke Party member, and public TV journalist.

Various points were made....some more hyped-up than others.  Some related to facts.  Some simply going over public opinion.

Since 1978 when I first arrived in Germany....I've kinda sat in the observation 'seat' and noted the WW II guilt business, and private opinion of Germans.  In that initial period of 1978/1979....I worked with older German guys who were in the war and the Jew topic would come up time to time.  Most recognized that mob mentality had taken over in their youth, and nothing could be trusted as fact by the last six months of the war.

It surprised me as discussions continued on....most all of these guys knew Jews in their neighborhood or village, who ran shops, banks, or farms.  As they said....no one was on a first-name basis, and after the war, there were a number of feelings that ran through their head (way more than guilt).  Just surviving in the last six months of the war, and the 1945/1946 period scored fairly high in their mind.

Most Germans from that generation are now gone.  The bulk of Germans around today don't hold themselves responsible for the actions of their parents or grandparents.

As for right-wing extremism and the topic of German Jews?  The general belief by this group is that the financial world is still controlled by Jewish influence.  This was the same attitude in 1919 and the era after WW I.  But if you asked the amount of this influence or numbers of the German anti-Jew crowd.....I have serious doubts about it being into the hundreds of thousands, or even into the tens of thousands.

Violence being conducted against the Jews in Germany by Germans?  A lot of the destructive actions which lack witnesses can't be attributed back to Germans or non-Germans.  When you have a dozen Jewish gravestones toppled over, you can't attribute it to solely Germans.  Some attacks around Berlin in the past year or two....can be attributed to non-Germans.

Behind all of this....sit journalists and politicians, wanting to settle Jewish anxiety, and get the blame out on someone or some group.  I might agree with this strategy, but if someone ever establishes that 50-percent of Jewish property damage goes back to non-Germans, then you have a vastly different situation on the blame-game.

Meanwhile, if you gauge the entire population of Jews in Germany....it's in the 120,000 to 150,000, depending on if you count both active Jews, and non-participating Jews.  This is out of a total population of 82-million residents.