German reparations for Holocaust reveal complexities of atonement

Germany is considered a global model when it comes to atonement, having paid out nearly €90 billion to Holocaust survivors around the world over the past 70 years.

The government has constructed world-class memorials and museums to highlight Nazi Germany’s role in the murder of 6 million Jews. Holocaust education is mandated in the public school curriculum, and the federal government staunchly allies itself with Israel. The move to financially redress past wrongs has been crucial to help legitimize democratic governance in Germany after World War II, and instructs others on how to heal wounds that strengthen a country’s foundation for the future, says Alexander Karn, a Holocaust historian at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.

“Almost every group that wrestles with a history of genocide comes back