Those of us who have endured the most pain
understand the need for silence about fascism.
These stories are not true of all Germans, many Germans will tell us,
as though telling the stories implicates them somehow.
The silence is created to support the illusion that everything is O.K.
They want to deny the stories, because they ring true to so many people's experiences.
That means we all must face the enormity of what has been done
and the fear that what allowed it still remains a part of German culture.
The choice is to go through the pain to get to the healing,
or spend the rest of our lives in fear of repeating that
which we are so ashamed of in our pasts.