Alfred Grosser

Alfred Grosser ( born 1 February 1925 in Frankfurt am Main ) is a German - French journalist, sociologist and political scientist.

Life

His father Paul Grosser (1880-1934) was director of the Frankfurt Children's Hospital, a Social Democrat and Jewish origin, also Freemasons, according to the data of Grosser, so he emigrated in 1933 with his family to France. Was a regulation of the Minister of Justice Vincent Auriol on October 1, 1937 his widowed mother, Mrs. Lily Rosenthal and thus awarded him the French citizenship, which kept them from Germans pursued by the Daladier government in September 1939 as the others of Hitler as "enemies " to be interned in French camps. He studied political science and German, and was from 1955 holds a chair at the Institut d' études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) in Paris. He retired as a study and research director at the " Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques " in 1992.

Grosser was from 1965 employees of many newspapers and television stations. Among other things, he wrote political columnist for La Croix and Ouest -France. He sat up very much for the Franco-German understanding.

Besides Joseph Rovan (1918-2004) Grosser is a prominent French intellectuals with German - Jewish roots. He has worked in the postwar period to the present day for the German -French relations and was one of the intellectual pioneers in advance of the Elysée Treaty. In many travels and lectures in Germany and France, he has been involved in the reconciliation of the neighboring countries and strengthened them.

Stance on Israel

Grosser is known as an opponent of the Israeli and partly also of the French government policy. For several years he argues that " criticism of Israel " in Germany was not allowed, and a mace 'll swung against the Germans, who would say " I hit you with Auschwitz." He thus affirmed explicitly the position and wording Martin Walser, which led to a scandal in 1998. Grosser also believes that Israel's policy promotes anti-Semitism. In protest against the imbalanced in his view Middle East Coverage publicist left in 2003, the Supervisory Board of the French magazine L' Express: " The chief editor had published only hesitantly my positive review of a book critical of israel. The following number is printed a storm letters to the editor calling me. "

On the occasion of the award of Ludwig Boerne Award in 2007 by the Focus editor Helmut Markwort Henryk M. Broder criticized Alfred Grosser than both of Boerne price and a ceremony at the St. Paul Church for not worthy. Background was not a form printed from the focus positive review Grosser's about a book by Rupert Neudeck, which called this Israel as an apartheid state.

Grosser was keynote speaker at the 9 November 2010, organized by the City of Frankfurt am Main commemoration of the Kristallnacht pogrom in St. Paul's Church, for which Frankfurt's Mayor Petra Roth was criticized in advance from various sides. Members of the Central Council of Jews in Germany had threatened to leave the party, Grosser should be " abusive towards Israel ." Roth explained to her some remarks Grosser were unknown to her, however, defended his invitation because he " many decades to the reconciliation of peoples striving " have. The feared scandal came. Both Large and the speakers of the Central Council of Jews, Dieter Graumann, Vice President, were tried at the memorial to moderation and gave himself symbolic hand.

In a review of Big defended the controversial Heinz Berggruen 's biography of Vivien Stone ( Berggruen "will not pay any taxes ... should be taken seriously "). At the same time he criticizes Michael Naumann, who had once operated as State Minister for Culture buying the Berggruen Collection. Naumann had the charge Grosser's back, he was " answers guilty " remained, and was in turn surprised that Big did not respond as a reviewer on the "negative - dialectical variant of that anti-Semitism ", which was seen in Vivien Stone accusation, Berggruen had not offensive known to his Judaism.

In the debate on the Grass - text What needs to be said, he defended its author. Grass had indeed concealed his membership in the Waffen -SS for too long, however: " There were 900,000 young German, who were in the Waffen-SS, but not in the SS ." He reiterated his view that objective criticism of Israeli policy in Germany is taboo: " It is always called immediately that it was anti-Semitism ." Large also said: " The Israeli government provoked ... To divert attention from its own policy about against the settlers, it takes the danger from Iran. "

Prizes and awards

For his contributing to international understanding Grosser works received numerous prizes and awards:

In Bad Bergzabern also was a school center, consisting of junior high school and high school Plus, named after him.

Writings (selection )

  • Germany balance. History of Germany since 1945, 1970.
  • The Alliance, 1981.
  • Attempting to influence, 1981.
  • The Thin Red Line of Freedom, 1981.
  • The Germany in the west, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, 1985, ISBN 3-446-12619-8.
  • France and its foreign policy, 1986.
  • With Germans argue, 1987.
  • My Germany, 1993.
  • Germany in Europe, 1998.
  • What I think., November 2000.
  • How different are the Germans?, 2002.
  • How different is France., 2005.
  • The fruits of the tree. An atheist view of the Christians, September 2005.
  • The concept of revenge is completely foreign to me. In: Martin Doerry (ed.): nowhere and everywhere at home. Conversations with survivors of the Holocaust. DVA, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-421-04207-1 ( also on CD ), pp. 120-129.
  • The question of the dominant culture. In: Robertson -von Trotha, Caroline Y. (ed.): Culture and Justice ( = cultural studies interdisciplinary / Interdisciplinary Studies on Culture and Society, Vol 2 ), Baden -Baden 2007, ISBN 978-3-8329-2604-5.
  • From Auschwitz to Jerusalem. Rowohlt Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-498-02515-1.
  • The joy and death. A life balance. Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 2011, ISBN 978-3-498-02517-5.
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