German general dismissed for praising anti-Semitism

AP/The Jerusalem Post ^ | 4 November 2003 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

[anotherview]

A frightening trend in Europe in general and in Germany in particular is the rise in anti-Semitism, both in the population and in the halls of government.

[veronica]

German general dismissed for praising anti-Semitism.

Buh bye, good riddance, and all that good stuff. :)

[Michael81Dus]

No, the opposite is true. The reactions across Germany during this affair have proven that there is no room for anti-semitism. Even if you´re ´just´ a Brigadier General.
Being dismissed within hours, that´s impressive.

[george wythe]

If I'm reading correctly the statement by Hohmann [what a last name!], he just said that we should not blame the ethnicity of individuals for the stupid choices humans make.

In other words, many Germans made a stupid choice by supporting Nazism, the same way that many Jews made a stupid choice by supporting Bolshevism.

To always assume that ethnic Germans are somehow "guilty" of Nazism or ethnic Jews are somewhat "guilty" of Bolshevism is inaccurate.

Am I misreading Hohmann's statement?

[disgruntledinCa]

If he was a FRENCH general they probably would have made him President!

[anotherview]

Yes, I think you are misreading his statement. Didn't he call Jews a "national of perpetrators" and blame Jewish people for deaths in the Russian Revolution? Pretty much the whole world, including many Germans in his own party, condemned it as anti-Semitism.

[anotherview]

Why would the Germans make a French general President?

Only joking. Oh, and yes, anti-Semitism seems worse in France, but none of Europe seems quite immune right now.

[anotherview]

Yep, and CNN lauds his legacy.

[george wythe]

The first pont I saw about this on FR:

Hohmann, a member of parliament since 1998, responded Friday with a terse statement. ``It was and is not my intention to hurt feelings,'' he said. ``I am calling neither Jews nor Germans a people of perpetrators.''

In the speech in his hometown of Neuhof, Hohmann argued that Germans still labor under the burden of Nazi crimes but other nations with bloody pasts cast themselves as ``innocent lambs.'' He cited the French revolution and the prominent role of Jews in the 1917 communist revolution in Russia.

``With a certain justification, one could ask in the light of the millions killed in the first phase of the revolution about the 'guilt' of the Jews,'' Hohmann said, according to a copy of the speech obtained by The Associated Press.

He said ``it would follow the same logic with which the Germans are described as a guilty people.'' He concluded that the point was not to blame the Germans for Nazi crimes or Jews for those of the Bolsheviks, but rather ``the godless with their godless ideologies.''

[Michael81Dus]

And what will the NYT misinform about tomorrow? ;)

[Napoleon Solo]

Our government should take the same action with the one sided "Arabists" in the State Department.

[ExpandNATO]

Given the following summary of Hohmann's words from Fox News, please demonstrate how they are anti-Semitic. Alternately, prove that the following is an inaccurate summary.

Hohmann argued that Germans still labor under the burden of Nazi crimes, but other nations with bloody pasts cast themselves as "innocent lambs." He cited the French revolution and the prominent role of Jews in the 1917 communist revolution in Russia.

"With a certain justification, one could ask in view of the millions killed in the first phase of the revolution about the 'guilt' of the Jews," Hohmann said.

He said "it would follow the same logic with which the Germans are described as a guilty people." He concluded that the point was not to blame the Germans for Nazi crimes or Jews for those of the Bolsheviks, but rather "the godless with their godless ideologies."

[tictoc]

English-language weblogs referencing Hohmann's speech.

http://cumgranosalis.blogspot.com/2003_10_26_cumgranosalis_archive.html#106757510293390048

http://www.papascott.de/2003/10/31/2674.php

http://www.usefulwork.com/shark/archives/001187.html#001187

Not reported in any of the above weblogs is the fact that Hohmann as a member of the German parliament made an official inquiry to the givernment, requesting that German reparation payments to Holocaust survivors (there aren't that many left, they are mostly in their 80s and 90s) be reduced to take into account Germany's budget difficulties.

In the meantime, a brigadier general has been fired for having written a letter to Hohmann expressing gushing admiration for the speech.

[Michael81Dus]

He he he, sorry, but I cannot comment that. Due to my "don´t interfere"-policy, I´m not going to discuss internal affairs of the US.

Good afternoon to the States,

Michael

[Michael81Dus]

:-) I knew someone would bring it up.
Well, it caused an outrage here, simply, because it is a taboo in Germany to compare Jews to Nazis. By doing that, Hohmann (and the General who praised him) slapped into the face of the victims of the Nazi era. The Central Jewish Council in Germany even wants MP Hohmann to resign for it. I think this would be exaggerated.

[dennisw]

bttttttttttttttt

[SJackson]

Given the following summary of Hohmann's words from Fox News, please demonstrate how they are anti-Semitic.

His description of Jews as Taetervolk, a race of perpetrators, places a burden of guilt on me, an American Jew (if you prefer on my parents and grandparents who lived in America at the time of the revolution). It's equivalent to branding Catholics as Taetervolk, responsible for WWII, because Hitler was baptised. His very comment later attributing these events to the “godless with their godless ideologies” would seemingly contradict his first premise. Neither would have any bearing on Germans of the 1930s and 1940s.

[ExpandNATO]

Spare me the silly taboo business and get to demonstrating that what Hohmann said was actually anti-Semitic. Sounds to me like a the Germans are truly enforcing a double standard on themselves. If the Germans are to be held guilty of the Holocaust, then the French should be held guilty of the French Revolution, the Chinese of Mao's mass murders, the Latvians, Russians and Jews of the Communist revolution and so on.

Personally, I think your left-wing government took the opportunity to slap around a right wing MP and revenge themselves on a right-wing general whose unit helped the Americans in Afghanistan

[ExpandNATO]

From the summary which you obviously did not read.

He concluded that the point was not to blame the Germans for Nazi crimes or Jews for those of the Bolsheviks,

Therefore there was no description of Jews as "Taetervolk," except to refute it.