Anti-semitic resentment declines steadily across German postwar generations

Evidence

In general, there are more anti-semites among the older generational cohorts and there is a slow but steady decline in anti-Jewish attitudes since 1945. This is probably due to democratization and transformation processes within Germany’s political culture. Up to 62 percent among the Hitler youth generation (over age sixty) think it is true or somewhat true to claim that “Jews exploit the Holocaust for their own purposes and let the Germans pay for it.” This is fully or partially affirmed by between 40 percent and 50 percent of the second generation, and only by 39 percent of people under twenty-nine (Bergmann & Erb, 1991; Bergmann, 1997). — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 1194

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A group’s dominant emotion can shift from shame to guilt across generations — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 225; Postwar German public discussion revealed majority anti-democratic and anti-Semitic sentiment. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1887; Most postwar Germans rejected shared guilt; academics and farmers were most anti-Semitic — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1887 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Postwar German public discussion revealed majority anti-democratic and anti-Semitic sentiment. #contradicts (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1887
• Most postwar Germans rejected shared guilt; academics and farmers were most anti-Semitic #complicates (0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1887
• Open anti-Semitic remarks persisted among Frankfurt faculty in the 1950s #complicates (0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1999