Kai's journal entry

Vergangenheitsbewältigung

Vergangenheitsbewältigung, a German term meaning “coming to terms with the past” is quite relevant for the citizens of modern day Germany. Since the terrible events of the Holocaust in the 1930s/1940s, Germans have had to cope with having one of history’s worst genocides take place (for the most part) in their home country. While no one in modern day Germany is to blame, naturally Germans must feel some sort of responsibility. Having Dachau, a Nazi killing camp in their country were [millions] of Jews were murdered, in their country cant be easy to live with. As far as Americans coming to terms with the past, the only things I can think of are either the Japanese internment during WW2 or the small scale massacre in the town of My Lai during the Vietnam War. Neither can even compare to the scale of the Holocaust, but both were violations of basic human rights. I believe that the term Vergangenheitsbewältigung is strictly a German problem. While there have been instances in American history that modern day Americans should come to terms with, no one does. The average American has no knowledge of the Vietnam War or of Japanese Internment, and it is because of this ignorance that there is nothing for them to come to terms with. Maybe it is because of the American lifestyle, or maybe it is because Americans have yet to do anything as appalling as the Holocaust. Lets hope that Americans never do anything that would require Vergangenheitsbewältigung.