Germany’s recent history helps to explain the empathy its citizens feel for today’s refugees, whom they call die Flüchtlinge – the fleeing The mass migration that has affected many countries in recent years as a direct result of war, oppression and persecution has now become a major crisis in Europe, writes Werner G. Jeanrond.For fear of the “others” at their borders, shores, railway stations and motorways and for fear of those people among their electorate that dislike immigrants, many European politicians are urgently searching for ways to block the influx of the so-called migrants. In sharp contrast, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, declared that refugees from war-torn Syria are welcome in Germany and may count on being granted refugee status an