Abstract
Although the German lands have a rich and diverse history prior to the National Socialist\r regime of the 20th century and since then, Germany is tainted, seemingly forever, by this\r dark past. The government, fully aware of this reputation, has put a considerable amount\r of effort into redeeming itself through monuments, Holocaust education, relations with\r Israel, etc. However, this thesis goes beyond viewing German and Jewish relations in\r isolation. I explore how Germany’s past experiences with “otherness” throughout\r history—certainly, including the Jews—affect its current experiences integrating\r immigrants, minorities, and refugees—particularly Muslim ones. I argue that—although\r German citizenship has become more inclusive, particularly to other European or at least\r Western cultures, over time—there is still some semblance of essentialist ideology\r circulating among Germans. Those who do not fit this mold encounter obstacles to their\r structural and cultural integration into German society. Governmental solutions to amend\r this marginalization and aid the Syrian refugees currently at Germany’s borders are often\r unsustainable, short-sighted, or provisory, demonstrating Germany’s dilemma between\r its responsibility to atone for the past, its deep-rooted pragmatism, and its enduring\r hesitation to truly accept non-Germans as they are. By comparing these trends to the\r failure of Jewish emancipation and suggesting reforms to Holocaust education, I shift the\r onus of integration onto the Germans themselves. Accordingly, by interviewing\r Germans—mostly ethnic, but non-ethnic citizens as well—I try to gauge the openness of\r the average German to multicultural policies that do not merely tolerate “otherness,” but\r actively encourage it. In doing so, this thesis seeks to contribute to anthropological\r research concerning the dichotomy between unfortunate, but seemingly natural human\r inclinations for “othering” and the need for multiculturalism.