ABSTRACT
When Germany opened the borders in August 2015, the reactions that followed were a big surprise inside as well as outside the country. The so called “Welcoming Culture” was initially based as much on official policy as on the generosity of large parts of the population.
It moreover elicited intense and polarized reactions from idealized admiration to the shaking of heads and to strong and even violent disapproval.
The following text traces the psychodynamics of this mass movement and of international reactions to it. The argument that this welcoming culture is a result of German guilt feelings resulting from WW II and the Holocaust is discussed in some depth. It will be connected to the lesser known German history of flight and displacement following WWII, when between 1945 – 1948 roughly 12 Million refugees from the former Eastern parts of the German Reich and from the German diaspora of mainly (East-) Europe migrated to the 4 occupied zones (British, French, American and Russian). In addition, the impact of the the later - from the 50s onwards - intake of some million workers and asylum seekers into (mainly) West Germany is traced.
These influxes are considered as important background factors to understand public reaction to the situation of 2015 and later. Furthermore, the role allocated to Germany after the crimes of fascism and WW II, and the psychic functions this role serves for other countries is explored.
