Alfred Grosser

Alfred Grosser, born February 1, 1925, is a German-French writer, sociologist and political scientist. He is known for his contributions towards the Franco-German cooperation after World War II and for criticizing Israel.

Contents

Early life

His father, Paul Grosser, was born in 1880 in Berlin and died 1934 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. A director of a child hospital in Frankfurt am Main, socialist, freemason, and Jew, he was forced to immigrate to France in 1933 due to his nationality. Alfred and his mother were given citizenship through a decree by the Minister of Justice, Vincent Auriol, in 1937. This prevented them from being enterned in a camp in September 1939, when the government of Daladier were perceived as an enemy of the French.

Career

Alfred studied political science and the German language. After 1955, he became a professor at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris. In 1992, he retired as the director of studies and research at the "Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques".

In 1965, Grosser began contributing to many newspapers and broadcasts, including La Croix and Ouest-France. He was very involved in improving the Franco-German cooperation. Grosser was an outstanding French intellectual with German-Jewish background. After World War Two, he worked on improving the German-French relationship, and paved the road intellectually for the Élysée Treaty in 1963.

[1]

Political opinions

Grosser is known to oppose the Israeli government policies, as well as parts of the French government. When asked to describe the way his statements are received, he referred to the "Moral club" (Moralkeule, as a stick), which was coined by writer Martin Walser. In 1998, when a Walser speech created huge controversy, he had publicly sided with Walser.

At this I am supporting Martin Walser's idea of the Auschwitz-club [as a stick]. Yes, I see that club, that is waved constantly against Germans when they say something against Israel. When they do so still, then the club says directly: "I hit you with Auschwitz". I find that unbearable. I have always fought anti-Semitism. And I will do it again! But equalizing criticizing Israel with anti-Semitism directly — that is dishonest and leads to mistakes.

—Alfred Grosser, 2007[2]

Grosser also holds to his opinion that Israel's politics invoke antisemitism.[3] In 2003, Grosser left the board of magazine L’Express because he believed its reporting on the Middle East was unbalanced. He stated that the editor had reluctantly published his positive critique on a book that criticized Israel, while later printing multiple readers letters attacking Grosser.[4]

Alfred Grosser criticized honouring the Ludwig-Börne-Prize 2007 to Henryk M. Broder through Focus-publisher Helmut Markwort, both not worthy the prize nor the handing in the Paulskirche.[5]

Grosser was invited by the city of Frankfurt to give the main speech at a Kristallnacht commemorative meeting on November 9, 2010, in the Paulskirche. Mayor Roth was criticized for inviting him by members of the Zentralrat der Juden in Germany and others, but she stood by her invitation.[6][7] They threatened to walk out should Grosser "fail regarding Israel".[8] In the end the speech was delivered without disturbance.[9][10]

Publications (selection)

Honours

Especially for his fraternalizing efforts Grosser received honours.

  1. 1975 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, Laudator Paul Frank, diplomat.,[11] for his role as "middle man between French and Germans, non-believers and believers, Europeans and people from other continents"; this gave him an earlier opportunity to speech in the Paulskirche.
  2. 1978 Theodor-Heuss-Prize
  3. 1995 Cicero Redner prize (rhetoric)[12]
  4. 1996 Schiller-Prize by the city of Mannheim [13]
  5. 1998 Grand Prix de l'Académie des Sciences morales et politiques
  6. 2002 Humanism-Prize of the union of Classical philology in Germany
  7. 2004 Abraham Geiger-Prize of Abraham-Geiger-Kolleg, University of Potsdam
  8. Grand Cross, Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  9. Grand Officier de la Légion d'Honneur
  10. 2009 Creation of the Alfred-Grosser-chair for guest professor at the Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main

In Bad Bergzabern a school centre was named after him.[14]

Interviews

Reviews

External links

References

  1. ^ Martin Strickmann, L'Allemagne nouvelle contre l'Allemagne éternelle. Die französischen Intellektuellen und die deutsch-französische Verständigung 1944-1950. Diskurs, Initiativen, Biografien, Peter Lang, Frankfurt/M. 2004. 512pp (German)
  2. ^ "Der Stern" Interview with Hamburger Illustrierten October 21, 2007, Nr. 41. In diesem Punkt stehe ich hinter Martin Walsers Kritik an der Auschwitz-Keule. Ja, ich sehe diese Keule, die ständig gegen Deutsche geschwungen wird, falls sie etwas gegen Israel sagen. Tun sie es trotzdem, sagt die Keule sofort: "Ich schlage dich mit Auschwitz." Ich finde das unerträglich. Ich habe immer gegen Antisemitismus gekämpft. Und ich werde es immer tun! Aber Israelkritik per se mit Antisemitismus gleichzusetzen - das ist falsch und führt in die Irre.
  3. ^ http://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/alfred-grosser-israels-politik-foerdert-antisemitismus-600037.html
  4. ^ Warum ich Israel kritisiere, Internationale Politik, February 2007
  5. ^ Beleidigung des Humanismus Falsche Wahl: Henryk M. Broder hat den Börne-Preis nicht verdient, die tageszeitung, 3. Februar 2007
  6. ^ http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,726836,00.html
  7. ^ http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=194291 JPost
  8. ^ http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6196224,00.html
  9. ^ http://www.fr-online.de/frankfurt/alfred-grosser-in-der-paulskirche/-/1472798/4819526/-/index.html
  10. ^ http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/jewish-critic-of-israel-chosen-to-speak-at-frankfurts-kristallnacht-commemoration/?hp NYT, Nov 8-9, 2010
  11. ^ Text der Laudatio
  12. ^ Homepage
  13. ^ Landeshauptarchiv Speyer
  14. ^ http://www.schulebza.de
  15. ^ From the recapitulation: (Die Kritiker der Einladung) begründeten ihre Ablehnung ... mit Grossers Kritik an der Politik Israels sowie dessen Unterstützung des Schriftstellers Martin Walser. ... Walser hatte anlässlich der Verleihung des Friedenspreises des Deutschen Buchhandels 1998 von der "Moralkeule Auschwitz" gesprochen ...