A Third of Germans Harbor Fond Memories of Nazis, Poll Finds

Nearly one-third of Germans believe that the Nazi era had good points, ARD national television reported Friday.

The poll was released just two days before a planned demonstration in Berlin to protest months of attacks on foreigners. Government officials have attributed the ethnic violence to a huge influx of foreigners seeking political asylum.

ARD, citing a poll of 3,000 Germans by the Infas Institute of Bonn, said 32% believed there was some good under the Nazis, while 64% said there was nothing good about the Hitler regime.

To the question of whether Jews themselves were responsible for their persecution throughout history, 10% in west Germany said “yes,” while only 4% of those asked in east Germany agreed, the station said.

However, when asked if the Jews bore at least a part of the blame for the way they were treated, the percentage agreeing shot up to 28% in west Germany and 26% in the east, the station said.

Infas said the margin of error for the poll was 3.5 points.