Guilt

[briannaanderson]

At the end of the story we see what seems to be a guilt stricken and nervous Jutta. When a man with a prosthetic leg sits next to her on a train, the book says, "...her deficient French will betray her. Or that Max will say something. Or that the man can already tell. Maybe she smells German. He'll say, You did this to me" (507).

Why was she nervous? She wasn't involved with the War, so why would did she feel so guilty?

[isabelleansberry]

After the war, there were many Germans who felt guilty for the innocent lives that were taken during the war, even the ones who didn't contribute to the war, like Jutta, felt guilt. I think that Jutta felt guilty because she was a part of the country that caused the pain and suffering for millions of people. Even though she didn't partake in the war, she could have regret being a bystander, and not taking an action to stop it. She also could have felt guilty for her brother being a part of the war, and knowing she didn't do anything to stop it. I'm guessing Jutta is nervous in this situation because she is worried that people will misjudge think of her as a bad person if they found out she was German.

[zevgreen]

Once the tragedies of World War II and the Holocaust were revealed to the world, Germany as a whole was struck with incredible guilt. Germans who kept their head down and didn't bother anybody couldn't help feeling guilty for those events, even if they weren't directly involved.

Don't we feel somehow responsible for the devastation the US caused Hiroshima and Nagasaki, despite those events occurring when our grandparents were small?

[ellahardiee]

The entire country of Germany was held accountable and universally criticized for the events of the second World War. Innocent citizens who were not directly involved with the damage were burdened with unbearable guilt due to the millions of unnecessary deaths that occurred. The country then hung their previously cavalier, domineering heads in disgrace. In the war, Jutta lost her brother, her home, and endured daily misery, making her a victim of the war. In the quoted passage, the reader sees that due to her nationality, Jutta's pain is no longer valid to outsiders, so blinded by the misconception that "all Germans are bad Germans" that they do not sympathize with her in the least. Jutta feels loss and sorrow, but is also weighed down by guilt and contempt.