Open Access“The Goldhagen Dispute” and the Reactualization of the Problem of Guilt in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990s
Author(s) -
Evgeny L. Kauganov
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
observatoriâ kulʹtury
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2588-0047
pISSN - 2072-3156
DOI - 10.25281/2072-3156-2015-0-5-116-121
Subject(s) - german , the holocaust , nazi germany , nazism , identity (music) , consciousness , period (music) , democracy , law , sociology , political science , philosophy , classics , history , epistemology , aesthetics , linguistics , politics
The article analyzes the discussion about Daniel Goldhagen’s book “Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust”, which was one of the main discussions about the German historical consciousness and national identity in 1990s. The author considers the Goldhagen’s conception of “eliminationist anti-Semitism”, depicts the reception of Goldhagen’s book in the German media and in the community of professional historians. While for professional historians a critical position was common, most readers of the book perceived it positively. The author explains it by the fact that the Goldhagen’s book allowed to draw the line clearly between the totalitarian Nazi past and the democratic present of Germany and thus produced the effect of “catharsis” among the German public.