Lessons From the Past? Distorted Perspectives on Germans' Involvement During the Time of National Socialism

Papendick M, Rees J, Zick A. Lessons From the Past? Distorted Perspectives on Germans' Involvement During the Time of National Socialism. Presented at the ISPP 2020 - Polarization, Misinformation, and Entrenched Group Conflict: Harnessing Political Psychology to Find Solutions to Problems.The German “culture of remembrance” is appreciated internationally, anchored in state-funded institutions and educational curricula and assumed to be a pillar of a vital civil society. Confrontation with the time of National Socialism is often assumed to raise awareness of current societal issues. We present data from a representative sample of German participants (N = 1000) interviewed via telephone in November and December 2019. The interview covered a range of participants’ perspectives on the time of National Socialism. More specifically, they estimated the extent of the general population’s involvement as perpetrators, victims and helpers in the system of National Socialism, reported their knowledge about the involvement of their own ancestors and finally estimated the probability that they themselves would have been involved if they had lived during the time of National Socialism. Comparing these assessments reveals significant differences that can be explained as group- and self-serving biases and depend on the specific perspective participants take. For example, participants estimate the proportion of helpers among the general population as significantly lower (15.8%) than the proportion of helpers among their own ancestors (28.7%) and the probability that they themselves would have helped those in need (64.7%). The results allow for optimistic as well as pessmistic interpretations of Germans’ historical perceptions, raising questions regarding the potential of “learning from history”. These will be discussed in terms of the theory of social identity and with regard to potential implications for practitioners in the fields of remembrance culture and historical-political education in Germany and elsewhere