Date: Tue, 23 May 1995 10:19:32 -0500 Reply-To: H-NET List on German History Sender: H-NET List on German History From: H-GERMAN EDITOR Dan Rogers Subject: Re: Victimization Submitted by: Dan Kapp I'm getting a little tired of this 'Victimization' story. Suffering is clearly individual and perceived by the individual in a subjective manner. If any historian should feel it nessesary to judge whether the one or the other suffering was deserved or not (and I do not believe that this is his job...!) , he could only look into the individual relation between responsibility (some would say: 'guilt') and suffering. But are we historians or judges? I propose a little bit of separation of powers ('Gewaltenteilung') to historiography. But let's put it simply and generally: for any German to get upset about German suffering after 1945 is like complaining to the firebrigade about the water damage after having set one's own house on fire! Dan Kapp ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dan Kapp Vienna / Austria check out this URL: http://www.wu-wien.ac.at/usr/edvz/kapp/local.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ .