New German Survey
Reveals Hostility
Berlin (JTA) — More than
one in five Germans has
hostile attitudes toward
Jews, and a growing number
of Germans feel anti-
Semitism is a very serious
problem in their country.
These were some of the
findings of a survey on Ger-
man attitudes toward Jews
and other minorities that
was conducted in late
January by the American
Jewish Committee.
David Singer, the
AJCommittee's director of
research, released the
survey's findings.
Mr. Singer termed the
survey's findings
"disappointing," compared
to a similar survey that was
conducted among Germans
in 1990.
He noted that one of the
most alarming findings of
the survey was that more
and more Germans believe
that anti-Semitism is a very
serious problem — 26 per-
cent of the respondents in
Germans' attitudes
toward Jews in
politics were
disappointing.
the current survey, corn-
pared to 14 percent four
years ago.
Mr. Singer called this
result a "warning flag."
Noting that younger and
better educated Germans
reflected more tolerant at-
titudes in the survey, Mr.
Singer, nonetheless, said the
gap between this group and
others "is not as strong as
one would like it to be."
The AJCommittee was
scheduled to hold a follow-up
briefing in Bonn with repre-
sentatives of the German
government, educational
foundations and political
parties to discuss the
implications of the survey's
findings.
The latest survey did show
some improvement in at-
titudes toward Jews over the
previous sampling of Ger-
man attitudes.
In the current survey, for
example, 31 percent said
that Jews exert too much in-
fluence on world events,
compared to 38 percent in
1990.
Significantly, residents of
,
the former East Germany
expressed more tolerance
toward Jews than their
Western counterparts.
While 24 percent of those
from what was formerly
West Germany believe that
Jews have too much in-
fluence in German society,
only 8 percent of those from
the eastern part of the coun-
try expressed this view.
Asked whether they felt
Jews were exploiting the
Holocaust for their own pur-
poses, 44 percent of Germans
from the western part of the
country agreed, while 19
percent of their counterparts
from the east agreed.
All together, 39 percent of
those interviewed thought
that Jews are exploiting the
Holocaust for their own pur-
poses — the highest percen-
tage of any of the questions
in the survey. Forty- one
WE SHIP
percent disagreed.
FURNITURE
Among Germans in the
west, 30 percent disapproved
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of a Jew being nominated as
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candidate for president of
Germany, while 20 percent
32328 Grand River
of their eastern counterparts
Farmington
voiced a similar disapproval.
474-9730
In the western areas of the
country, 56 percent said the
6453 Farmington Road
Holocaust has been discuss-
W. Bloomfield
ed too much, while 36 per-
855-5822
cent of Germans from the
east felt the same way.
Mr. Singer theorized that
Send Someone
the more tolerant attitude
Special A Gift
toward Jews among
residents of the former East
52 Weeks a Year.
Germany had to do with the
strong anti-fascist ideology
Send a gift
that was taught during the
subscription
to
days of the German Dem-
Dcratic Republic.
He also suggested that
West Germans, since they
were brought up in a dem-
ocratic regime, were con-
stantly forced to confront
their wartime past.
"There is a degree of
resentment in having to
again and again come to
grips with something that is,
shall I say at the least,
rather unpleasant," Mr.
Singer explained.
He said he was surprised
that 37 percent of those
MCI1:25
interviewed disapproved of
establishing a national
Holocaust Memorial muse-
32605 W. 12 Mile • 488-0333
um in Germany. Mr. Singer
said he originally thought 90
percent would approve of the
idea.
Similar surveys have been
conducted by the AJCom-
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