The Dynamics of Collective Guilt Three Generations After the Holocaust

In his seminal article "Guilt and Defense," Adorno (1955) attributed antisemitic sentiments voiced by participants of his study to a paradox projection. Because they experienced latent feelings of guilt, his respondents tried to use (secondarily) antisemitic defense mechanisms like rationalization, projection, and displacement. This idea of expressing antisemitism not despite but because of Auschwitz has remained highly influential in contemporary theorizing about post-Holocaust antisemitism in Germany. The research presented here is the first systematic effort to empirically and quantitatively test three central assumptions of Adorno's theory. Does the supposedly central defense mechanism of demanding historical closure on the Nazi past indeed attenuate feelings (or expressions) of group-based guilt? Is expressing group-based guilt indeed associated with prosocial attitudes, less prejudice, and an interest in positive intergroup contact with the former victim group? The final question concerns the core assumption of theories on secondary antisemitism: Does the portrayal of surviving Jews as continuing to suffer as a result of their previous victimization fuel antisemitism against them and, if so, are there boundary conditions to this effect? Die Studie vermittelt grundlegende Annahmen der geisteswissenschaftlichen Antisemitismusforschung mit psychologischen Theorien und schlägt so eine Brücke zwischen den zuweilen unverbundene Disziplinen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass einige der Annahmen Adornos auch über 50 Jahre später noch hochaktuell sind und sich empirisch bestätigen lassen, während andere einer Revision unterzogen werden müssen.