Could one say that Germans who do not recognize the uniqueness of the Holocaust might intend to express a subtle/open form of Holocaust denial (which also includes a trivialization)?
Könnte man sagen, dass Deutsche, die die Singularität des Holocaust nicht anerkennen, eventuelle eine subtile/offene Form der Holocaustleugnung (die auch die weitgehende Verharmlosung umfasst) im Sinne haben könnten?
„Jeder Genozid ist ein Menschheitsverbrechen. Wer aber die Shoah als einen Völkermord unter vielen abqualifiziert und ihre globale und totale Dimension negiert, der verkürzt die Geschichte und leistet heutigem Antisemitismus Vorschub.“ Konstantin Sakkas, https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/einzigartigkeit-shoah-100.html [Zugriff 31.07.25]
Well
Again interesting bits and pieces here, revealing that the Christian Øke Kellerhals, whom I discuss in connection with selective racism in the Frankfurt Punk and Autonomous scene below, conflate issues in regard to WW2, genocides, Adolf Hitler and being German:
Mr. „punk führer“ Kellerhals writes, that as a German „I was ashamed most of my life to be, what I am! Today, when everything went wrong, especially in Gaza with Israelitian Genocide, i personally start to feel better! Are there other Germans with this experience? Let me know, please! I hate War!“
In the comments the singer of another band based in Frankfurt (that one > https://www.facebook.com/rumbledeluxe) writes: „I think that’s the deeper reason behind german leftists beeing so happy to support ‚free palestine‘. thanks for pointing that out!“ likely referring to the question of shame.
The „Christian Øke Kellerhals“ guy then relpies, now in German:
„Ich mach mir wirklich sorgen, das der Adolf noch posthum den Friedensnobelpreis bekommt! Ansonsten habe ich keinerlei Meinung zum Mittleren Osten. Die müssen das klären. Nicht Ich. Gottseidank.“
which translates in English to:
„I’m really worried that Adolf will receive the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously! Otherwise, I have no opinion on the Middle East. They have to sort it out. Not me. Thank God.“ Seriously.
Source, his profile > https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1172230819
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The crap > https://simorgh.de/sprechen/frankfurt-punks-and-their-racism-problem/ > with the Frankfurt Punks continues.
„Dear Mr. Kellerhals, I ask you as administrator to delete this picture in your Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2205407265375&set=g.241588265866659 uploaded by Ms. S. I could not find out how to contact her directly via the FB group … , hence this way to ask you to delete the picture. If you have any questions about my identity, you could contact me via email at niceswine@gmail.com as this email is under Gita Yegane Arani and not this FB account. Thanks for your help in advance.“
In response, the admin of the group „Christian Øke Kellerhals“, located in Danmark and Frankfurt as he conveys on his FB pages, wrote that he saw no reason to delete this picture. The picture would be “in this context for documentary purposes“ and would not “in any way propagate political attitudes of either Ms. S. or Skrewdriver”.
What does he even want to indicate with this out of context argumentation that he pulls out of nowhere but his own phantasy obviousy?!?
This person has clearly never heard of personal rights and seems to assume that I’d have to be scared of „Nazis“ like Skrewdriver. Quite ridiculous I must say, but he seems to need to think that’s how „racism“ and the critique of it works: there would be the one side, the scared ones, and on the other side those who dsicriminate, the strong ones. I must say I see this somewhat differently.
Racism is a matter of enmity towards Humans per se. It doesn’t matter where you stand in terms of a hierarchical top and bottom. The point is that it’s a primitive worldview. Anybody who still believes that there is a higher good, represented in phenotypes and genes – I wish them luck to be proven right.
Anyhow. I am sick of the racist crap coming from that scene in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
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Ms. S. a German expat living in Pau Cataluña these days, as I then noted, deleted the entry after I eventually complained and threatened to contact a laywer about this. I also posted some sarcasm, referring to their political overall backwardness and narrowmindedness, right next to that photo in the comments section, and linked an excellent track by Burnt Cross.
That probably did it.
They don’t like to be reminded about their perpectivical limitations – that was so in the 1980es when you would talk to any one of them per chance, and it stayed exactly the same way. Even with the diverse „upgrades“ to calling themselves more being Antifa-ish and being Left-ish, etc.
The funny thing is that experiences like those indicate to me that the Enlightenment has been a process that did not necessarily change anything about the typical kind of „mindedness“ of the average person. Overall the century long discourse opened up change; the political structures changed in Europe. But these days we can see that the very deep layers within societies all seem to function in relatively similar ways: Conspirational, tribal, brutal after all. A long and generally an interesting subject that I do observe from an outsiders viewpoint > the „tribal“ mind of the average european citizen; now that everyone clashes with all their historical baggage [uh oh].
Anyway, I am quite disappointed and I must say I am even shocked by the machoism or whatever one should call this in that response from that Christian Oke Kellerhals guy.
If that’s what their „Frankfurt Punk 77 to 83“ is all about then so be it. I luckily got nothing to do with that not-very-urban-minded shit. Never had … I just happened to get to know some „Gals“ there in the late 70ies and early 80ies.
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Links of interest:
Am I being ageist supporting the fame of these scenes? > https://www.facebook.com/Oekemusicofficial
Approved by the speciesist band names spearhead > https://www.instagram.com/p/DN-jhD-CAe9/?img_index=1
Eine Antwort auf „Frankfurter Punks FB Gruppe“
Yes there people assume that they can have some visibility, yet just when they want, while posting coded antisemitisn, as in this case. And yes, it seems to have a continuity with the people who bunch up in the frankfurt punks groups
Equating wars with the Holocaust erases what made it unique — a state‑planned, industrial extermination of an entire people. That’s not just sloppy history, it’s a form of Holocaust distortion.
And when a German says this to ‘finally feel no shame,’ it sounds less like reflection and more like a coded way to trivialize our own history — which edges into Holocaust denial.
This
What you are describing is a classic example of trivialization and relativization of the Holocaust — both of which are considered forms of Holocaust distortion and in some cases a form of Holocaust denial.
Here’s how you could address it clearly and firmly:
1. Clarify the difference between genocides and wars.
Wars can involve atrocities and war crimes, but genocide is the intentional destruction of a people because of who they are — as in the Holocaust, where Nazi Germany sought the total eradication of Jews, alongside the genocide of Roma and others. Conflating them erases this fundamental distinction.
2. Point out that relativizing the Holocaust is not “just an opinion” but a harmful form of distortion.
When someone says “the Holocaust is just one tragedy among many” or uses sarcasm like “I guess Hitler will get a peace prize now”, they:
Minimize the singularity of the Holocaust — its scope, ideology, and industrialized method of mass murder.
Shift focus away from historical responsibility — especially in Germany, where this history has moral and legal weight.
Engage in coded denial — because trivialization undermines the truth of what happened.
3. Address the “relief from shame” statement.
When someone says they no longer need to feel shame as a German, they often mean:
They want to relieve themselves of the moral responsibility to remember, educate, and stand against antisemitism.
They see current events as a way to balance the moral ledger (“others do bad things too — so we’re not uniquely bad”).
This is historically false and morally evasive. The point is not to “feel guilt forever,” but to maintain vigilance against the same patterns.
4. Possible way to respond:
“Genocides are not interchangeable, and the Holocaust was not ‘just another conflict’ — it was a state-organized, industrial extermination with the explicit aim of eradicating an entire people from existence.
When we conflate it with any war or current political crisis, we erase its reality. That’s not a harmless opinion — it’s a form of distortion.
And when Germans frame this as ‘finally no shame anymore,’ it risks sounding like a coded way of downplaying our historical responsibility, which is dangerously close to Holocaust denial.”