Manfred Gerstenfeld on: The Reconstitution of Postwar German Jewry – Jews in Post-Holocaust Germany 1945-1953 by Jay Howard Geller, Cambridge University Press, 2005, 330 pp.

In April 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was officially commemorated. Paul Spiegel, chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, praised the Jews who had stayed in Germany after the Holocaust. He … [Read More]

Decades of Dutch Debate on Releasing World War II Criminals. Manfred Gerstenfeld on: De Drie van Breda: Duitse oorlogsmisdadigers in Nederlandse gevangenschap 1945-1989 by Hinke Piersma

Excessive tolerance for intolerance has been a major characteristic of the Netherlands in the past decades. A core element of this “pseudohumanism” is the emphasis on the needs and “human rights” of criminals, often at the expense of their victims. … [Read More]

Group-Targeted Misanthropy and Anti-Semitism in Germany. Manfred Gerstenfeld on: Deutsche Zustände Folge 1, Folge 2, by Wilhelm Heitmeyer

This series of books analyzes issues in Germany related to “group-targeted misanthropy” (GMF).1 This term includes categories such as racism, anti-Semitism, hatred of foreigners, homeless, homosexuals, and Muslims, as well as sexism. Though anti-Semitism is mentioned in the first two books … [Read More]