I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II.
The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan.
It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not because of it was ordered by SS leader Heinrich Himmler, but because their neighbors — ordinary citizens — reported them.
Public antisemitism in Germany was fueled in part by the perception that many Jews were relatively wealthy. In the wake of the Great Depression, widespread economic hardship created a strong sense of “relative deprivation” among the lower and middle classes, who resented those they perceived as better off — a sentiment that Nazi propaganda actively exploited.
Many Germans reported their Jewish neighbors to get rid of them and take over their properties. That behavior reflects a broader psychological pattern. Many of us had a bad experience in school. For example, a student who is marginalized by classmates might seek acceptance by targeting others who are even more marginalized, to show they are on the same side as them. By participating in the exclusion of a vulnerable group, they attempt to secure their standing within the dominant majority.
After Germany’s defeat in World War I, the country became a target of resentment and hostility across Europe. Rather than confronting the source of that animosity, many Germans directed their bitterness inward, blaming the Jewish population — a group already long stigmatized and scapegoated throughout European history.
We can bring some of those ideas to the case of modern-day Taiwan. Are Chinese spouses or new immigrants regarded as wealthy? I am sure we are all aware that a Taiwanese man marrying a Chinese or Vietnamese immigrant is unlikely to be rich.
Also, before the emergence of the group “new Chinese immigrants,” which group was likely to face hostility in Taiwan? I would certainly be in the running, being a “half” third-generation Chinese mainlander.
However, have the new Chinese immigrants been marginalized by the mixed Chinese mainlanders? Besides a few new Chinese immigrants who have spoken in favor of unification by force, such as Chinese-born social media influencers Yaya (亞亞), Xiaowei (小微) and Enqi (恩綺), there are hundreds of thousands of new Chinese immigrants in Taiwan, and there is no indication that they are not getting along with their neighbors.
Once we understand the underlying factors that allowed ordinary members of the German public to sympathize with the marginalization of Jewish people, we would see that no parallels could be seen in Taiwanese society.
Jimway Chang is a high-school history teacher.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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