German politicians of the postwar era actually consciously kept their distance from the issue. |
The debate only kicked off properly in Germany about two years ago, and interestingly had to do with the crisis of the social systems. |
The thinking that mothers should look after children and men should go out and support the family is a product of our dark past. It's still in the minds of people, even if they sound liberal or progressive. |
When it came to demography, the German debate oriented itself very much on the past. And our Nazi past had loaded the topic with terms like race research, race ideology and that's why there was a great reluctance to even deal with the issue after World War II. |