Week 6 Notes

Week 6 – Contentious Memories in Contemporary Germany (2/22 – 2/24)

Mon 2/22 – German Memory 1980s to Present

Discussed:

Discussion of Paper #2 (due March 6)

  • analysis of a work (from the last 3 weeks) we have discussed in class
  • a critical perspective of a secondary source that discusses a particular historical memory
  • an analysis of a primary source – making connections to other ideas, analysis of a work
  • manage your ambitions! pick one thing to say or one idea to present

Lecture on Tues at 7pm – see link on course schedule 

Jay and Peter introduced the German memory of the Holocaust

  • Memory of the Holocaust
    • became more popular after the 1960s-1970s with the Eichmann trials, increasing output of cultural works
    • in the 1990s (with reunification) memory became institutionalized with state-built memorials and memorial ceremonies
    • post 1990s- less active commemoration, some political controversy but dominant narrative of German responsibility for the Shoah holds
  • Memory of German suffering/expulsion
    • the memory of German suffering was dominant from the end of the war to the 1960s-70s
    • from the 1970s onward it was talked about less than the memory of the Holocaust
    • German suffering was often weaponized by right-wing nationalists (what-aboutisms)
    • recent resurgence in the early 2000s – but contested by certain groups such as the Poles
  • Memory of the Cold War
    • in Eastern Germany- had to come to terms with memory of both Nazism and Communism
      • Dominant memory in DDR during Cold War: defeat of fascism – Nazis are no longer a problem
      • After reunification (1990s), East Germans began to question these narratives and memories
      • Can Nazi crimes be compared to Communist crimes? Left-wing East Germans and those who have nostalgia for life under Communism would say “no”.

Eric Lagenbacker, “The Mastered Past?”

  • Is it possible to master a past?
    • Has Germany “come to terms” with the memory of the Shoah? of WWII? of the Cold War?
    • Germany has integrated an awareness of the Shoah into their politics and federal government
    • What does “mastery” look like?
      • An ethical/active memory of the past that keeps the voices of the victims and survivors alive
    • Within the context of rising right-wing ideology (AfD: Alternative für Deutschland)- how does this influence our evaluation of “mastery” of memory in Germany?
      • Does Lagenbacker have too small of a focus when “proving” that Germany has “gotten over” the memory of the Holocaust?

Discussion of the pre-1989 memory of the Holocaust

  • 1940s and 1950s- an era of amnesia
  • 1960s-70s
    • “Holocaust” TV miniseries – influenced the elimination of the statute of limitations for Nazi crimes
  • Historians’ debate on how the Holocaust should be memorialized and understood by historians – 1986
  • rise of the term “Vergangensheitbewältung” in the 1970s and 80s

Post-1989

  • 1990: Winning the world cup- built a new German national identity
  • Stolpersteine- tens of thousands of blocks in the sidewalk that would make people notice the homes of victims of the Holocaust
    • Active memory and personalized memory
  • Holocaust-Mahnmal – 2005

Tues 2/23

Lecture by Dr. Neiman on Memory in Postwar Germany and its Relationship to the U.S.

  • German reconciliation with memory was far difficult than it seemed
  • Initial German memory was much like the post-Civil War “Lost Cause” myth
  • Germans had to recognize the suffering they inflicted on others
    • trying war criminals, which only recently started in the U.S. with the trial of perpetrators of anti-Black violence
  • Key to constructing historical memory: constructing a different historical narrative in popular culture
    • recognizing up-standers as well as victims
  • Memory in East Germany vs West Germany
    • West Germany:
      • Nazis remained in government/academia, few were tried
      • turning points:
        • Eichmann Trial (late 1950s)
        • Politicians like Willy Brandt (1960s)
        • Grassroots movements “digging up” the past
    • East Germany
      • antifascist historical narrative
      • tried far more Nazis, produced far more textbooks/films that addressed  German crimes
      • However, far more censorship
      • Memory of Nazi Germany in some ways was weaponized by East German government
  • Memorialization in Germany vs U.S.
    • Stepping Stones in Berlin
      • According to Neiman, most effective memorial in Germany
      • Inspiration for Bryan Stevenson’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice (Montgomery, Alabama)
    • Americans would be surprised at the number and variety of memorials in Germany
  • Trends in Contemporary German memory
    • rise of the AfD
      • directly opposed to Germany’s memorialization efforts
      • endorses a xenophobic political platform
    • importance of “remembering shame” rather than erasing it
    • growing conversation about memory of German colonialism with the BLM movement in the U.S.

Wed 2/24

-discussion of Dr. Lieman’s lecture