Can a nation be haunted by crimes it didn't personally commit?
In short: For the Nachgeborenen—those born after World War II—the shadow of the Holocaust is a psychic inheritance. It is a phenomenon where guilt transcends individual action to become a national atmosphere, forcing new generations to inhabit a
In 1945, Swiss psychologist C.G. Jung introduced 'Kollektivschuld' (collective guilt) to describe a psychic phenomenon in Germany. Jung argued this guilt is a 'dark cloud' from unexpiated crimes; crucially, it is not a moral condemnation but a psychic state tied to nationality and locale, affecting future generations living on that soil.
This concept was bolstered by 'Vergangenheitsbewältigung'—the 'overcoming of the past'—suggesting that grappling with history is the only path forward. Philosopher Karl Jaspers argued in 1946 that while perpetrators were morally guilty, those who tolerated crimes without resistance were politically guilty. This framework ensured no one could escape collective responsibility, seen as necessary for Germany's moral and political rebirth.
Artist Anselm Kiefer embodies this struggle. As a member of the Nachgeborenen generation, Kiefer uses his body to perform Nazi iconography, acting as a stand-in for past and present. He noted that, in theory, he is counted among perpetrators because he cannot be certain what he might have done had he lived during that era. His work explores 'facticity'—the paradox of free will against socio-historical determinism—suggesting the shift to post-Holocaust democracy did not entail an immediate change in underlying structures.
This inheritance is further complicated by the 'Blut und Boden' (Blood and Soil) rhetoric of the National Socialists, which knit together a 'people’s community' based on a psychobiological connection between a people, its nation, and its history. This ideology sought to expunge 'foreign' elements, creating a deep-seated link between the land and the national identity that continues to haunt the German psyche.
Today, the burden of this guilt remains a point of contention. Some thinkers, like Bernhard Schlink, suggest that Germans have attempted to retreat from this burden by immersing themselves in the European project. Others, like Thomas Mann, viewed the guilt as a mechanical and inevitable reaction to the crimes of the nation, where individual innocence plays no part in the collective wretchedness of the national identity.
Kiefer’s work serves as an 'exorcistic force,' designed to disturb complacent silence. By engaging with the 'ghost' of the monstrous, he forces the audience to confront the fact that even after the destruction of the Holocaust, intellectuals often sought to preserve cultural patterns of tradition, potentially elevating a 'denazified' culture back into a moral institution.
Opens the Intellect+ feed with this card first. Swipe up for the next one.
Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Inhabiting Collective Guilt and the Inability to Mourn – In Focus | Tate
- Also: German collective guilt
To cite this card, link to https://intellectplus.co.uk/app/art-german-collective-guilt.
How we source, check and correct cards: Editorial standards.
General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.
Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?
Related
More in Entertainers · More in Art · Latest · A–Z · All topics
