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PARTISAN REVIEW
the total destruction of Germany.
Despite
all
these undeniable facts, even someone as astute as former
West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt finds it difficult to relinquish
the notion of a decent
Wehrmacht,
as opposed to the infamous SS. Cur–
rently, Schmidt and many others of his age who took part in the war
continue to insist that they had no idea of what was going on, and that
nothing dishonorable happened in their branch of the armed forces. "In
those two years of war service I was never subjected to any National
Socialist influence and later - I remained a soldier until autumn 1945,
partly as a prisoner-of-war - I never came into contact with anything of
the sort. In those eight-and-a-half years I made the acquaintance of only
two generals and neither of them were Nazis or war criminals. ... At
that time (1941, Eastern front) we knew nothing of the extermination
of the Jews." He adds, "I was lucky."
The need to avoid looking reality in the face and to ward off the
guilt and crimes of one's own people has remained a prevalent defense
mechanism, even among thinking, reflective individuals. Defense against
guilt, the deflection of blame, the quest for new or past ideals that we
can fall back on and protect ourselves with are things which are obvi–
ously as old as humanity itself. Adam and Eve are the archetypal instances.
Igor Webb: Thank you, Dr. Mitscherlich. Now, we will hear from
Professor Gress.
David Gress: Let me begin by thanking Professor Kurzweil for doing
me the singular honor of placing my talk directly after that of our very
distinguished guest, Margarete Mitscherlich. When I began studying post-
1945 German history in a serious way about fifteen years ago, I soon re–
alized the significance of the name Mitscherlich. In the
History of West
Germany
that I co-authored some years ago, I used the work she did
with her late husband on the "inability to mourn" and the "fatherless
society" to set the tone for the section on social change in the 1960s.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that one day I would actually
be on a panel with such a legendary figure.
Even legends need criticism, though, so I am not going to pretend
that I agree with
all
of Dr. Mitscherlich's diagnoses of the psychological
state of her compatriots or with their therapeutic implications. I do,
however, want to welcome and salute her justified ambition to under–
stand the political culture and social change of an entire nation through
psychology. Taking a method and a science designed to diagnose and
explain the condition of individuals and expanding it to explain, with
