GERMAN: Almost 70 per cent of Germans say they are annoyed at being held responsible for the Holocaust and many believe Jews use Germany's Nazi past to their advantage, according to a major German university survey published yesterday.
The survey by Bielefeld University showed 69.9 percent were irritated at still being held responsible today for crimes against Jews. A quarter of 3,000 people surveyed also agreed with the statement: "Many Jews try to use Germany's Third Reich past to their advantage and want to make Germans pay for it."
A further 30 per cent said there was "some truth" to the statement.
Almost two-thirds said they believed too many foreigners live in Germany, while 30 per cent said foreigners should be sent home when jobs are scarce.
Some 60 years after the end of the second World War, Germany is still haunted by guilt and it has spent decades debating how to atone for the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis.
Endorsing the survey, which was conducted this year, German parliamentary president Wolfgang Thierse said he understood why so many wanted to shed the guilt for what happened before they were born. He said the survey did not prove there is widespread anti-Jewish sentiment.
"It's a surprising figure at first. But when you think about the thought process behind it, it is understandable," he said. "The people alive now are not the perpetrators."
There was a new distinction between guilt and a responsibility to stop history repeating itself, he said. - (Reuters)