National Guilt - Hans Frank Quote Response

“A thousand years will pass and the guilt of Germany will not be erased.”

This quote revolves around the national guilt of the German people during World War 2 and their crimes committed by Hitler’s Germany. It was said by Hans Frank, a former Nazi governor of Poland. In some aspects, I do agree with the statement above. However, there are other areas in which I disagree that the guilt of Germany will not be erased.

I strongly believe that future generations after WW2 will still feel that they are responsible for the crimes committed by Hitler’s Germany. They feel as if they cannot wash the blood off their hands. In an article, Bernard Schlink (author of ‘The Reader’) pointed out that “Children inevitably share some of that guilt...Not because they were directly involved but their parents, teachers and those they look up to as people of admiration may have had a concealed past.” If a child was suddenly told that his or her father was involved in the holocaust and slaughtered many lives, the child would be full of regret and would immediately feel the desire to re-pay the debts his or her father had caused to the Jews. In essence, I believe that the guilt would not fade away. By having this guilt and remorse created by future generations, it makes them pay homage to the victims of the Holocaust, acknowledging that Jews were a serious victim of torture, torment and slaughter. In this way, Jews who were involved in the Holocaust and the children of the victims are able to be at peace and gain respect and acknowledgement from the outside world. Although victims of the Holocaust may never forgive Germany for exposing them to genocide, they know that Germany acknowledges that they are guilty and as long as history stands, they will always feel regret and do not wish to impose any prolonging threats against the Jews made by their ancestors.

However, society, as a whole, should move onward and need not remind themselves about the atrocities of WW2 and the Nazi’s whenever they hear the word “German” or “Germany” in the next thousand years. There are those who have become ashamed of calling themselves “German” because of WW2. It is true that one must recount history, learning about mistakes in the past to advance and learn for the future. But it does not need to be exaggerated like Frank’s quote. The Crusades between the Christians and Muslims occurred roughly a thousand years ago, yet no strong collective guilt is felt between Christians today. There are no memorials to celebrate the end of the Crusades, neither are there any emphatic gestures of apology today. In a thousand years time, would the same occur for the Holocaust? Would people forget about the atrocities although it has been engraved in the sandstones of history? Although I strongly believe that the victims of the Holocaust should be remembered, we cannot guarantee that the collective guilt of Germans will never be erased.

I do believe that the guilt caused by the Nazis of those who were not involved will be difficult to erase. But as history has told us with the Crusades, this “guilt” defined by Frank may not last for a thousand years. It could fade away as time burries the events of the past. This guilt felt by Germans who were not involved in WW2 should not be taken lightly. 11 million to 17 million of Jews were slaughtered for no definite reason. This guilt should last as a reminder and a gesture remembrance to the countless victims killed during the Holocaust.