ABSTRACT
The peaceful end to the Marxist experiment in the East Germany and the overwhelming wish of East Germans to live in a reunited, democratic Germany was, by and large, accepted as a welcome event in West Germany, where a large majority at first supported the idea of reunification, although some were hesitant about the huge economic burden it represented. Xenophobia and right-wing extremist attacks are of course also a reality in West Germany. German right-wing extremism is often explained as a basically socioeconomic phenomenon. The West German intelligentsia have often been excessively and unjustly critical about the way in which the Federal Republic coped with its past despite the fact that relative to other nations deeply involved in war crimes, it has been relatively willing to discuss and admit its moral responsibility for what happened in the Third Reich.
