Apparent Jewish passivity stemmed from insight into the fatality of the process, not blindness

Evidence

The idea that one would have done much better in his place should be discarded as well as the usually erroneous opinion that the other person is utterly unaware of the dangers he has to face, reluctant to do something about them, unwilling and unable to learn from past experiences, in short, extremely unintelligent and malevolent. On the contrary, it is mostly true that he is well aware of the dangers and very eager to do something about them. The reasons for his acting like those who have perished and his repressing his fears are, particularly in the Jewish case, his secret insight into the fatality of the process, the overwhelming forces involved and the knowledge that in such a situation each counter-measure is double-edged. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1532

Categorization

• APHORISMS: A genuine piece of moral method: assume the other person sees the danger clearly and acts out of felt helplessness, not stupidity—an anti-condescension principle that could serve across empathy and relations to the vulnerable.
• QUESTION: This is Horkheimer instructing Pollock on how to write for the AJC—interesting that he converts rhetorical strategy into an ethical-psychological claim about the victims.