SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Author and former German TV presenter Eva Herman got kicked off a major talk show this week for refusing to apologize for statements she made that allegedly glorified Nazi-era family policies. Herman is now at the center of a growing culture war.
In Germany, portraying any aspect of the Nazi era in a positive light is a great way to quickly destroy a career. Just ask Eva Herman, the controversial TV presenter and author sacked by the public television station that employed her for 19 years last month.
The commotion began in September when, at a press conference to promote her new book, Herman said that life under Hitler wasn't all that bad -- at least not every aspect. "It was a gruesome time with a totally crazy and highly dangerous leader who led the Germans into ruin as we all know," Herman said. "But there was at the time also something good, and that is the values, that is the children, that is the families, that is a togetherness -- it was all abolished, there was nothing left."
The statement led to Herman's termination (more...). Rather than apologize or distance herself from her comments, though, she has fought back with missionary zeal in the past month, granting interviews and appearing on talk shows -- the latest being Johannes B. Kerner's show on German public broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday night.
When Kerner pressed her on whether she would repeat her statements today, Herman evaded the question. Instead, she said: "If one isn't allowed to discuss Nazi family values, then neither can one talk about the German autobahns, which were built during the Third Reich." She also said it had become impossible to discuss German history without endangering one's reputation.
Herman has spent the past month accusing journalists of taking her original quote out of context, saying they pulled the half that was favorable to the Nazis and eliminated the parts where she clearly distanced herself from Hitler's terror regime. Tuesday was no different. On Kerner's show, she said: "I didn't make a mistake, "I'm just sorry that people have been misinformed by the press."
Of course, Kerner's show on Tuesday wasn't completely without its agenda, either. After conducting 50 minutes of what seemed more like a show trial than an interview and only a few minutes left to go on his show, Kerner kicked Herman out, saying she had become unpalatable to him and his guests. One had to note, however, that Kerner's show was taped hours before it airs and his producers were quick to spread the news of Herman getting kicked off -- as well as photos -- so that there could be plenty of time to promote the scandal and ensure record ratings of 2.65 million viewers.
Not that that made Herman look any better -- as she continued to defend her comments and refuse in anyway to assuage her tsunami of critics. Her appearance led German mass-circulation daily Bild to ask its readers: "Is Eva Herman a brownshirt or just dumb?"
Herman is a divisive figure in Germany, ridiculed by the left as the leader of a new wave of anti-feminism that would like to see women give up their careers to become cookie-baking, stay-at-home moms. Religious conservatives, on the other hand, have embraced her family friendly message. With an average of 1.3 children per women, Germany has the lowest birth rate in Europe at a time when the country faces a looming demographic crisis. Concerns about Germany's future have assured Herman of a broad audience among conservatices. In her book the "Eva Principle," Herman argues that if German feminists don't change their ways against against the backdrop of a graying population, the country will die out. Firestorm over German TV Presenter's Remarks Grows (more)
Mark Alexander
