In the postwar years, the Germans clearly showed the desire to protect themselves
from the trauma of "collective guilt." For this purpose, the collective self-
consciousness of the nation was shaped by such psychological mechanisms of
protection as silence, as well as a clear distinction between the Nazi regime and the
German people. The Nazi regime, associated with the group of political leaders of the
Third Reich, was positioned as a criminal, while the people acted as a victim of
deception and manipulation of this criminal group. The responsibility of the German
people for Nazism was not recognized, but, conversely, in public discourse the main
focus was on the suffering of the Germans as the main victims of the war. Thus, instead
of "collective guilt", the idea of "collective innocence" was defended, which took
responsibility for the anti-human policy of the German authorities. This interesting
social phenomenon is a manifestation of shame for its own history and a silencing of
the historical truth that negatively characterizes the nation in a certain period.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
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