The discourse on enemies and victims, its effects on our conduct in and perceptions of war and genocide, and the extent to which such perceptions have in turn redefined our views of victim-hood and identity can be viewed as among the most crucial issues of this century. This is an important key to understanding German self-perceptions and attitudes toward Jews; French conduct in the “somber years” and subsequent conceptualizations of the nation; and Jewish self-definitions and views of real and perceived enemies. But in the larger context, the relationship between enemies and victims has broad implications for grasping the phenomenon of modern genocide, for while it molds national and individual identities, it also retains a persistently pernicious potential that has often led to obfuscation, repression, and violence, rather than understanding and reconciliation. At the end of the twentieth century, we need to ask whether we have succeeded in breaking out of the vicious circle of defining enemies and making victims, which has characterized a great deal of the last hundred years and has been at the root of so much violence and bloodshed. Since historians have been implicated in much of this discourse in the past, they would do well to think about its ramifications for their own time as well.