Grace of late birth

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The grace of late birth is one of the German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in the years 1983 / 1984 coined phrase which should express that the Germans, who were born after 1930, the Nazis not guilty (d. E. Not the perpetrators or fellow ) could become. They were born so “late” that they did not have to consciously decide for or against National Socialism for themselves. The term, which was originally used by the journalist Günter Gaus and adopted by Kohl, quickly developed into a political catchphrase . It was related to the policy of the so-called spiritual-moral turn after 1982, which Kohl had proclaimed at the time .

history

Kohl used the term “the grace of late birth” as early as 1983, in the run-up to his state visit to Israel at the time , to describe the relationship between his generation and the Jewish state. The Spiegel wrote at the time that he wanted to present himself to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin "as a man of the new generation". “The 'grace of late birth', the 53-year-old Chancellor believed, gave him the steadfastness to face even a man like Begin in an unbiased manner.” The meeting for which Kohl had prepared extensively took place at that time no longer, since Begin resigned in September 1983.

Helmut Kohl nevertheless used the term during his trip to Israel the following January. When greeting people at Tel Aviv airport on January 24, 1984, he said he had “come as a representative of a 'new Germany', as 'the first Federal Chancellor from the post-war generation' who wanted a more impartial political dealings between Germans and Israelis than previous generations . ”His speech to the Knesset on the same day, which took place amid protests by several MPs, he began with the words:“ I am speaking to you as one who could not get into guilt during the Nazi era because he was gracious and late in birth was lucky enough to have a special home. ”He emphasized his date of birth several times later during the visit, but nevertheless emphasized the special German responsibility for Israel. At the time, Germany came under fire for delivering arms to Saudi Arabia . The German-Israeli relations had "become more and more a normal relationship", therefore this sale of German weapons to the opponents of Israel is no longer excluded.

The publicist Günter Gaus later pointed out that even before Kohl he had spoken of the “grace of late birth” and that Kohl had only plagiarized this term . In doing so, however, he was referring to the Protestant doctrine of justification according to Martin Luther and was referring to a grace “which does not redeem guilt and which cannot be earned through one's own merit.” The word was subsequently torn out of this context and its meaning became apparent inverted into the opposite of what was originally meant by it. Gaus said the term had been misused as an alibi for "closing the line".

It was only in 1990 that Kohl made it clear what he had meant when he visited Israel: “The grace of late birth is not the moral merit of my generation for having escaped entanglement in guilt. Grace means nothing more than the coincidence of the date of birth. "

reception

The term “grace of late birth” was vehemently criticized at the time because it recognized the attempt to absolve the post-war generation of their responsibility for the Second World War and the Holocaust . This gave the impression that Kohl was granting himself indulgence , as if, as a result of this grace, he was actually “legitimized to deal with the past in an impartial manner”. Kohl's statement was also remembered in the scandal surrounding the speech on November 10, 1988 in the German Bundestag , which led to the resignation of Bundestag President Philipp Jenninger .

The criticism did not start immediately, but only a year later, when Helmut Kohl visited the Bitburg military cemetery with Ronald Reagan in 1985 , where members of the Waffen SS are also buried, and when the historians' dispute broke out.

Kohl's political statement was perceived very differently in individual cases. Critics saw the possible problem in the formulation that later generations would reject historical responsibility and at the same time no longer develop a sense of responsibility for burgeoning fascism and anti-Semitism. The then President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Heinz Galinski , warned that the grace of late childbirth should "not become the curse of early relapse".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Christel Gärtner, Karl Gabriel, Hans-Richard Reuter: Religion among opinion makers . VS publishing house for social sciences. Wiesbaden. 2012. ISBN 978-3-531-18443-2 . Footnote 56 on p. 220f. (Quoted after the preview on Google Books on March 8, 2014).
  2. ↑ Late birth . In: Der Spiegel . No. 36 , 1983 ( online ). , P. 35.
  3. ↑ a b c d Monika Köpcke: 20 years ago: Helmut Kohl arrives in Israel and speaks of the “grace of late birth” ( Memento from August 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) . In: Deutschlandradio Berlin. Calendar sheet. January 24, 2004. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  4. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung, quoted by: Monika Köpcke: 20 years ago: Helmut Kohl arrives in Israel and speaks of the “grace of late birth” ( Memento from August 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) . In: Deutschlandradio Berlin. Calendar sheet. January 24, 2004. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ a b "With puzzle cups through history" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 46 , 1988, pp. 22-28, 27 ( online ).
  6. ↑ Who invented the phrase "grace of late birth"? Article from September 15, 1986 on Spiegel Online .
  7. ↑ a b Claudius Seidl: That was the FRG . Review by: Günter Gaus: contradictions. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. October 24, 2004. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ Lars Rosumek: The Chancellor and the Media. Eight portraits from Adenauer to Merkel . Campus publishing house. Frankfurt am Main. 2007. ISBN 3-593-382148 . P. 174 (quoted after the preview on Google Books on March 8, 2014).
  9. ↑ Jürgen Leinemann: National understood itself. SPIEGEL reporter Jürgen Leinemann on Kohl's understanding of history . In: Der Spiegel . No. 46 , 1986, pp. 24-26, 24 ( online ).
  10. ↑ rearview mirror. Quotes, Der SPIEGEL reported ... In: Der Spiegel . No. 52 , 1986, pp. 182 ( online ).