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PARTISAN REVIEW
question a little bit, because it may make it plainer, to me at least. I was
two years old when the United States dropped the bomb on Hiroshima
and on Nagasaki. I don't believe that what we did was wrong but if I
did, am I hearing that I am supposed to feel guilty about that?
Margarete Mitscherlich:
Well, you shouldn't feel personally guilty,
but you are living in this country, responsible in some sense for what
happens. When I think of
all
the people killed in Hiroshima, I can't help
but feel guilty. What are we doing with our guilt, historical guilt, his–
torical responsibility? What are you doing with your guilt feelings? We
shouldn't ward them off, we should say, "Why do we feel guilty?" We
should try to be guilty when looking at people who have been treated
in such an inhumane way.
John Carney:
Well, I appreciate your response , even though I don't
agree with it. One other comment: I understand that what the Germans
did was a terrible thing. What I don't understand is why when the Rus–
sians killed millions and millions of people, or when the Turks or when
anybody else did those things, it was not a terrible thing. That somehow
what the Germans did was unique. I have difficulty grasping what the
uniqueness of that was.
Igor Webb:
Would anybody like to try answering?
David Gress:
That of course is the big question we're all wondering
about. I think it's partly because more was expected from Germans, a
civilized people, therefore their fall was greater. I think that has a lot to
do with the "uniqueness" argument. My mind is not made up , but I un–
derstand what both sides are saying, and I think to understand why
they're saying what they're saying is part of your answer.
Igor Webb: I
think this will come up again in the next few days.
Bernice Tanenbaum:
I'm a New York City public schoolteacher.
do believe that there is such a thing as applying individual psychology to
group psychology. I have observed a psychological classroom geography,
which is a microcosm of the world. There are depressed children, there
are aggressive children, there are friendly children, there are paranoid
children, and they very rarely change. I would say that if we were to
identify Germany in my classroom with a particular childhood personal–
ity, it would be identifiable with the aggressive child.
It
may be para–
noid. We should examine again Germany's childhood. One of the things
