Germans, the World Experts in Atonement

The German parliament's recognition of the 1915 genocide of Armenians in Turkey has predictably angered the Turkish government, which has even recalled its ambassador from Berlin. But more importantly, it raised the question of what constitutes sufficient atonement for the past sins of entire nations.

The Bundestag's resolution, which calls the 100-year-old events in the Ottoman empire a genocide, isn't mere symbolism. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who did her best to delay the vote so it wouldn't take place on the 100th anniversary of the mass killings, was conspicuously absent from parliament on Thursday as her own party, along with all the others, backed the document. To her, friendly relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are critical because a deal with him has stopped the flood of undocumented Syrian immigrants to Germany.