Vergangenheitsbewältigung in The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Bt Jay Stine
November 8, 1999

Germany's history is different from all other countries in the world. From 1933 to 1945 Adolf Hitler and the Nazis ruled the people. Everyone was forced to follow the Nazis rules and individuals were stripped of all of their freedom. The Nazis were also committing mass executions of certain classes of people. Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, handicapped, and other groups of people were treated unfairly and stripped of all their rights. This cruel treatment attracted the attention of countries from all around the world. The events taking place in Germany and neighboring countries led to the outbreak of World War II. Many Germans are not proud of their country's history. It is hard for individuals to do, but everyone must cope with it. Coping with the past, or Vergangenheitsbewältigung, has influenced the way people in Germany have lived their lives.

In The Reader there are many examples of individuals having to cope with the past. Hanna Schmitz was a member of the SS during the Holocaust. She served in concentration camps in Auschwitz and a camp near Cracow. Although Hanna never killed anyone herself, she was involved in taking people to be executed. She must go to court for her actions while being in the SS. When Hanna was a guard she would pick certain girls to read to her. "Yes she had favorites, always one of the young ones who was weak and delicate," says a survivor of the Holocaust during Hanna’s trial (Schlink 116). Hanna knew the younger, weaker girls would not tell anyone what they were doing for her. Hanna was illiterate so she enjoyed being read to by the girls. Hanna’s entire life is being influenced by all the actions that happened in her past.

Hanna is involved in a love affair with a boy less than half her age named Michael Berg. Their relationship is kept secret from people and is rather strange, mostly because of Hanna’s past. Their relationship is based around the same principles as Hanna’s special prisoners in the concentration camps. After many meetings together Hanna and Michael do not know each other's names. When Michael asks Hanna about her name she suspiciously replies, "Why do you want to know?" (Schlink 34). Even when Hanna learns his name she refers to him as "kid". Hanna can feel like Michael is someone in her camp if she does not know his name. Michael is very young compared to Hanna, like the delicate weaker girls Hanna would pick to read to her. Since Hanna is older she can have more power and control of the relationship. Hanna makes Michael read aloud like her prisoners would. Hanna may be in love with the feeling of having prisoners do things for her, not with Michael.

During one winter Hanna was involved with marching prisoners to the west. One night everyone stopped in a church to seek shelter from the cold. The prisoners stayed in a church and members of the SS stayed near-by in the priest's house. That night the Allies came and bombed the church where the prisoners were staying. The church caught on fire and most of the people inside were burned to death. Now, two of the survivors of the bombing are taking five members of the SS to court for allowing the death of the prisoners. The survivors claim the SS could let everyone out of church before they were burned to death. During the trial the judge focuses on facts written in a report about the incident. Hanna admits to writing the information in the report because she does not want to take a hand writing test. She would rather have the judge believe she wrote the report, than have everyone know that she could not read or write. Hanna is sentenced to life in jail, mainly because of her claim that she wrote the report.

Michael knows that Hanna could have not written the report because he knows she is illiterate. He is torn over the decision of going to the judge and telling him this information. Michael goes to his father to seek advice on the matter. His father talks to him more as a philosopher than a dad. Michael finally decides to talk to the judge, however he never gets the courage to bring up the topic during their conversation. When the judge sentences Hanna to life Michael feels terrible. He knows that he could have prevented her life sentence if he would have told the judge that Hanna cannot read and write. Michael is forced to live the rest of his life with the feeling of guilt haunting him.

Michael has an extremely hard time dealing with the events that happened during the trial. He feels that he should have told the judge about Hanna’s disability to save her from life in jail. Over Christmas break Michael goes on a skiing vacation with some students from his university. He skies the slopes dangerously and out of control. He skies in shirts even though it is extremely cold outside. He did not care that he was starting to feel sick from the cold weather. One day he is taken to the hospital for his extreme sickness. Michael somehow is punishing himself for allowing Hanna to receive a life sentence. "My own diagnosis is that the numbness had to overwhelm my body before it would let go of me, before I could let go of it" (Schlink 168). Michael is trying hard to lose all his feelings that are haunting him everyday.

This book gives an accurate description of the feelings that many people have in Germany today. Hanna accurately represents both the Third Reich and present day Germany. There are a lot of individuals that are forced to live with the past similar to how Hanna was living. Michael represents people in Germany who are affected by individuals living in the past. People being born now will still be effected by Germany’s past. The Reader is one of many stories that involve individuals living in Germany who are coping with the past. Vergangenheitsbewältigung will always have a strong influence on people living in Germany.