Germany's Contradiction

Tonight we settled into our first dinner together as a group. The program is funded by the German Foreign Ministry. The very interesting thing is that as a result of the Marshall Plan, Germany is now "repaying" its debt to America through this program. I feel amazed to be a part of history. I know nothing will ever ever ever make the Holocaust OK, but the Germans are truly owning up to their responsibilities. I feel so honored to be a part of this program. I feel so honored to have a place in this history.

With that, we heard from a representative of the German government who works in Transatlantic relations and focuses on German-American relations. He was quite fascinating - introducing himself by saying that he was born in 1941 and then following to say that anti-Semitism was never OK in his household. He apparently attended the Auschwitz trial. We covered a lot of topics like the place of the two largest minority groups - former Soviet Jews and Turks. Lots of issues have arisen. Beyond this, we somehow got onto the topic of Iran. I know - I asked him about his projects. Even though he works on the American-German relations, most of his work is not bilateral. He does a lot of work with America, Germany, and other countries, including Iran, Israel and many others. And so I asked what was the conversation like about Iran. He voiced that America went into Iraq to get to Iran, but perhaps that was the wrong order. I asked if Germany talks with Iran and he said yes. Apparently, according to him, America sees Iran and namely Ahmadinejad's words as a threat of nuclear capabilities. Germany sees it more nuanced - less that anything will actually happen. I questioned him on the Holocaust denial issue. I questioned him about the nuclear weapons more, but sort of ceded that perhaps Germany is naive when it comes to Iran. Regarding Holocaust denial, I asked if when he talks with Iranian officials, does he mention their denial of the Holocaust, especially in light of how much Germany has taken ownership of the genocide that they commited. He stated and reiterated that Iran and namely Ahmadinejad is very ideological and what he says in theory is not necessarily how others in government act. This concerned me, though, because in the public arena he denies it happened. I don't understand how a country that has done so much to take ownership for the Holocaust can then trust the two-faced government.

If Ahmadinejad's ideology is not the practice of others in government, then what is? I am concerned for how soft Germany is on Iran. He even said straight out - the German people see Ahmadinejad's words similarly to the discourse before WWII. Should that not be a red flag? Clearly Germany, of all countries, ought to tell Iran no. Iran, take Germany's mistake and stop. Germany perpetrated the murder of 11 million people and they say Iran is now only talking in ideological terms? Mein Kampf was written in ideological terms. So was the Final Solution. And then it came into fruition.

I don't want to let it seem like it was a bad dinner with him. It was very interesting and thought-provoking. However, he was a seasoned politician and clearly redirected my tougher questions well. It's taken my after-thought processing to really see what was lacking and what was truly troubling about that conversation.

So that was day 1 of the program. Goodnight!