"The newspaper Die Zeit launched an online search engine for the vast archives of the National Socialist German Workers' party (NSDAP), making information about individuals' Nazi membership easily accessible for the first time."
"After 1945 the majority of Germans saw themselves as victims. There was little discussion of their own involvement, of their role as bystanders or accomplices, or of their knowledge of the regime's crimes."
"Now that the generation of witnesses is passing away, many find it easier to ask critical questions and to verify the stories passed down within their families."
"For Kondgen, the search engine took him from a decades-long academic engagement with the darkest chapters of his country's history to a highly personal and emotional confrontation with the actions of his own flesh and blood."
Olaf Kondgen, a 64-year-old German human rights expert, recently learned about his father's Nazi affiliation through an online search engine launched by Die Zeit. This tool provides access to the NSDAP archives, revealing family secrets about involvement in Hitler's regime. The public's response has been significant, indicating a growing interest in confronting historical complicity. As the generation of witnesses fades, many Germans are now more willing to explore their family's past and question inherited narratives about World War II and the Holocaust.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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