ABSTRACT
German-Jewish dialogue groups, even in the United States, sponsored by churches, political parties, and foundations, all of them trying to "normalize" German-Jewish relations. There is something else one may consider to be typically German: evade the subject, never talk about a topic that is supposed to talk about. This attitude can also be seen as democratization and diversification of culture. Germany is in fact becoming a multicultural, multiethnic, multireligious society. Reunification was a windfall benefit-the Germans were taken by surprise, especially the citizens of the Federal Republic. Unification has indeed changed the fabric of German society even though people in Cologne, Trier, and Saarbruecken continue to live as if nothing has happened. "Die Karten wurden neu gemischt": that means not only that seventeen million people in the old East can now participate in democracy, but also that in the old West a new dynamic is changing the traditional terms of power.
