GOLDHAGEN AND THE GERMANS - PSYCHOANALYTI C REFLECTIONS ON THE GERMANRESPONSE TO A BOOK AND ITS AUTHOR

Goldhagen proceeds on the hypothesis that the extermination of the Jew s during the Third Reich was the product of a long history of anti-Sem itism in Germany. The authors analyze this contention at three differe nt levels, a) the individual (micro), b) the institutional (meso), and c) the level of German society as a whole (macro). The (partly justif ied) criticisms of Goldhagen's findings are interpreted by Vogt and Vo gt as defense mechanisms (transformation into the opposite, projection , denial, rationalization, derealization) largely motivated by a colle ctive, unconscious, vicarious feeling of guilt. Together with genuine insights, this collective vicarious feeling of guilt is also seen as t he reason for Goldhagen's immense personal success in Germany, in chat it favors idealizations (unconscious hopes of redemption, positive id entifications) invested in the person of the author.