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How did the West German student movement of 1968, primarily defined by a generational conflict over the Nazi past (“the revolt against the fathers”), fundamentally democratize and liberalize the sociocultural landscape of the Federal Republic, despite failing to achieve its revolutionary political goals? This article examines the seismic cultural shifts of the late 1960s in West Germany, centering on the “68er” generation. It analyzes the movement’s dual origins: the global anti-Vietnam War protests and the specifically German confrontation with the “Auschwitz generation.” The article explores the formation of the Extra-Parliamentary Opposition (APO) in response to the Grand Coalition and the…