After the end of World War II, it seemed that the German people would wake up to the atrocities committed by their Nazi government and would have been shocked by the war crimes that came to surface. However, the collapse of German society left many of the German people with a collective trauma and a common feeling of victimhood. (Hilton p.3) Attempts by occupant Allied forces were viewed as tyrannical measures to condemn German volkishism, because in their minds the blame of failure rested on anyone else but themselves. It was this sentiment that ultimately led to German civilian resistance to occupational mandates, which helped to create the postwar black market. Initially the market itself was the only way most people could survive after the war, where bartering became commonplace and currency was valueless. American and French pursuits to produce economic stability were also spurned by Germans out of their desire to resist the changes brought by the Allies.
The victimhood portrayed by Germans may seem to the historical observer as folly, since the war crimes carried out by Nazi Germany were some of the worst in the modern era. Yet, after understanding the initiatives of some of the Allies after the war can help shed light on this perceived victimhood. Forced migrations of German speakers from other nation-states (primarily in Eastern Europe) was motivated by preventing future German wars to gain ethnic/cultural territories. (Douglas p.2) Sweeping competition played out for adoptions of children displaced after the war, and Germany was seen by many states as undeserving of manpower to replenish its own population, allowing the Allied “good guys” the legitimacy needed for their immoral attempts to assimilate German orphans. The mass rapes of German women by Allied occupants left life-long impressions on German society as a whole, with abortions sky-rocketing after occupation. (Grossman p.15) The immense amount of suffering inherited by Germans may to some be seen as a repercussion for Nazi crimes against humanity, but it also allowed the German people to feel victimized and powerless. This victimization helped Germans to not accept their own personal roles in Nazi atrocities and to deny responsibility while they passed the blame onto higher ranking officials.
I really enjoyed your post, I felt the empathy in your writing, not endorsing nor forgiving the Nazi’s actions but seeing the loss that Germans endured following the end of the war, but more importantly I liked how you make the connection that by becoming the victim rather than the complicit made them feel exonerated from the crimes.
The things Germans suffered after WWII definitely contributed to their narrative of victimhood. However, that does not cleanse them of the role they played in the Nazi regime. It does not make their suffering right, but it does not cancel out the suffering they inflicted on others.