Germany is providing a one-time payment of $236 (€220) to each of Israel’s 113,000 Holocaust survivors to help them cope with the impacts of the October 7 attack by Hamas and its aftermath.
The question is, what symbolism do people draw from this gesture. The symbolism I see is viewing the current conflict through the lense of 80 years ago. And, in my view, the pervasive of that 80 year old lense to this conflict is the central problem to solving it.
If Germany wants to pay symbolic reparations for the Holocaust, fine. But don’t tie it to something that has nothing to do with the Holocaust.
The question is, what symbolism do people draw from this gesture. The symbolism I see is viewing the current conflict through the lense of 80 years ago. And, in my view, the pervasive of that 80 year old lense to this conflict is the central problem to solving it.
If Germany wants to pay symbolic reparations for the Holocaust, fine. But don’t tie it to something that has nothing to do with the Holocaust.