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288History and responsibility

Germany’s special responsibility for Israel has a historical basis.

The question asks for the basis of this responsibility: Nazi crimes against Jewish people.

About 4 min readReviewed: 20 October 2026
AI-generated closed dark book beside a single white rose on a plain table.
Federal Foreign OfficeHistorical responsibility
Symbolic illustration of remembrance and learning; not a historical photograph or actual memorial.
The short answer

National Socialist crimes against Jews.

This refers in particular to the Shoah, or Holocaust. The German Nazi regime, together with its allies and collaborators, persecuted and murdered six million Jewish people. That history is the basis of Germany’s special responsibility.

Try it for yourselfExam question · No. 288
What is Germany's special responsibility for Israel based on?

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The crimes must be identified clearly.

Persecution of Jewish people was central to Nazi rule. Exclusion, state discrimination and organised violence radicalised into systematic mass murder. The term Holocaust refers to this genocide and its history of persecution; Shoah is another commonly used term.

The Federal Foreign Office identifies Germany’s responsibility for the Shoah as the basis of the special German-Israeli relationship. The exam question seeks this historical connection. It does not ask about membership in a present-day organisation or a general religious tradition.

Two fictional adults with short dark and long copper-coloured hair thoughtfully discuss a blank book.
AI-generated present-day learning situation; no depiction of witnesses or actual victims’ biographies.

The other three answers

The other answers do not identify the historical origin sought.

membership in the European Union (EU)

EU membership is not the historical basis of Germany’s special responsibility. The decisive connection is Nazi crimes.

the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany

The Basic Law is Germany’s present constitution. Here, the question about the basis of special responsibility is answered by the preceding crimes, not a bare reference to the constitution.

Christian tradition

Christian tradition does not explain the particular responsibility arising from the Shoah. The question concerns Nazi crimes, not religious affiliation.

Distinguish the historical basis from individual current decisions.

Identifying this responsibility does not mean approving every decision of an Israeli government. A 2025 interview published by the Federal Foreign Office explicitly distinguishes responsibility for Israel from possible criticism of government action.

The short exam question is not a complete account of the Middle East conflict. For learning, it is essential not to minimise documented Nazi crimes and to distinguish the historical basis precisely from the other three types of answer.

Historical responsibility · Federal Foreign Office ↗
Your memory cue

Special responsibility: remembrance of the Shoah and its consequences.

The basis sought lies in Nazi crimes against Jewish people.

Three words for this question

die Shoahthe Shoah
A term for the Holocaust, the genocide of European Jews.
der Antisemitismusantisemitism
Hostility, hatred or prejudice directed at Jewish people.
die historische Verantwortunghistorical responsibility
Responsibility rooted in past actions and their consequences.
Auswärtiges Amt · Deutschland und Israel: Bilaterale Beziehungen ↗

Other questions help place persecution and remembrance in context.

163In what year did the National Socialists destroy synagogues and Jewish businesses in Germany?
Catalogue answer

1938

The November pogroms of 1938 form part of the history of Nazi persecution.

96How can someone who denies the Holocaust be punished?
Catalogue answer

with imprisonment up to five years or a fine

Holocaust denial is a separate legal subject.

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Sources & context

An independently written study guide, not an official BAMF publication or advice for an individual case. The sources below were reviewed on 20 October 2026 for the claims explained here; the test question comes from the existing question bank.

The two editorial pictures are AI-generated illustrations. They do not document real events or official proceedings.