Is my parents’ silence also mine? Edgar Selge on Germany, Israel, culture and grief.
For almost two months now, since October 7th, “business as usual” has no longer been possible for me. There are still accusations and astonishment about the relative silence in the cultural scene, about the lack of a comprehensive, spontaneous expression of compassion among the population, and especially among those working in the arts, most recently formulated by Michel Friedman in an interview with the rbb. It is the coldness of a “yes-but debate” that he and many others rightly complain about, which stifles any warmth of affection and whose absence is so hurtful.