The Guilt

Writer: Paul Sieger de Klerk | Language: English

Description:

In deciding to write The Guilt, provoked by Russia’s ‘anti-nazi’ attack on Ukraine, the author pleads for European civilisation to move beyond its historical sense of guilt. Especially beyond the need to deflect that guilt, once more towards Jews. The author comments on post-holocaust Jewish, Christian and secular identity. By holding up a mirror to the history of pro- and anti-Semitism in Christo-European and Muslim civilisations, he describes, among other things, how this history forged the formation of modern Israel. De Klerk maintains that these waves of anti-Semitism are ultimately rooted in the seeds sown during Christianity’s early history. Inconclusion, the author encourages us to search for solutions for permanently halting the pendulum-like swings of anti-Semitism within Western civilisation. Personal experiences and analysis challenge conventional assumptions about these issues. Despite the heavy subject, the author adds humour when he supports his arguments with bizarre and curious historical facts.

Paul Sieger de Klerk is a Dutch social scientist specialised in group behaviour, criminology, and group dynamics. He has worked as a socio-psychological researcher and advisor to the Amsterdam Police and related institutions. His main focus of interest is aggression, group dynamics, discrimination and racism. He has conducted interviews with survivors of the Serb massacre of Muslims, during the Bosnian war. He took a special interest in the motives of perpetrators. He also interviewed many holocaust survivors, rescuers and resistance fighters, also for Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation.