THE principle of “never again” is built into the very foundations of German national identity. The reasons should be obvious. German disavowal of its past through commemoration has become something of a gold standard for countries that have perpetrated unforgivable crimes.
And yet, since Oct 7, Holocaust memory has increasingly been invoked in Germany to suppress debate on the Hamas attack of that day in Israel and the brutalities the Israel Defense Forces have meted out against Gaza Strip civilians in the aftermath. It appears that something has gone terribly awry in Germany’s famed “culture of memory.”
