Dear Colleagues:
Please find below details of my forthcoming book on
'Vergangenheitsbewältigung'. It is not due to appear until October 5th, but
I thought it might be a good idea if I outlined its contents in advance of
publication. I hope the book will be a useful source of reference for
university courses which deal with various aspects of coming to terms with
the Nazi past since 1990.
The book is called 'Facing the Nazi Past: United Germany and the Legacy of
the Third Reich' and will be published by Routledge (London and New York).
The paperback is projected to cost £15.99 and the ISBN number is
0-415-26281-X. The hardback will cost £50 and the ISBN is 0-415-18011-2.
The chapters of the book, which is illustrated and also has a detailed
chronology of the 1933-2000 period for overview purposes, are as follows:
INTRODUCTION: The Inclusive Picture (argues that a more integrative culture
of memory is the hallmark of the post-1990 period)
CHAPTER ONE: Concentration Camp Memorial Sites (tracing developments since
the setting up of the sites, but particularly since 1990; includes sections
on the debate surrounding the prison at post-war Neuengamme and the
'supermarket scandal' in Ravensbrück, but deals more broadly with changes
and additions to the commemorative and exhibition landscape)
CHAPTER TWO: The 'Double Past' (considers united Germany's efforts to
commemorate the victims of both Nazi and post-war Soviet internment at
Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen, and indeed the victims of Nazi, Soviet and GDR
internment at Torgau and Bautzen; section too on negative portrayals of the
GDR in the 'House of German History' in Leipzig and Bonn)
CHAPTER THREE: Resistance (discusses focus on communist resistance to Nazism
in the GDR, and on Stauffenberg in the FRG. Argues that, in 1994, albeit
somewhat hesitant attempts were made to embrace both these traditions. Also
considers the acceptance of Schindler and Elser into the resistance canon,
and the deconstruction of anti-fascism in the former GDR, particularly by
example of changes to street names)
CHAPTER FOUR: 8 May 1945 in Political Discourse (looks at the very different
way 8 May 1945 was commemorated in East and West Germany, but contends that,
in 1995, the best elements of these traditions [though unfortunately also
some of the worst] were fused. Considers attempts to bring together
conflicting personal memories with a generally accepted political code of
remembrance)
CHAPTER FIVE: Daniel Jonah Goldhagen and Victor Klemperer (examines the
reception of Goldhagen's book and sets this beside a discussion of the
reception of Klemperer's diaries. Argues that, whatever the faults of
Goldhagen's book, and despite the misappropriation of the diaries by those
wishing to refute Goldhagen's thesis, the discussion surrounding Goldhagen
and Klemperer led to a broader awareness of all aspects of German-Jewish
relations between 1933 and 1945)
CHAPTER SIX: The Crimes of the Wehrmacht (considers the impact of the
long-running Wehrmacht exhibition, from its beginnings in Hamburg in 1995
till the closing of the exhibition in 1999 (the new one will open in Berlin
in November). A section on the report of the committee set up to review the
exhibition has also been added. Argues that the exhibition helped to
'demythologize' the picture of the Wehrmacht and led to a broader awareness
of complicity and involvement)
CHAPTER SEVEN: The Walser-Bubis Debate (while in no way discounting the
complaint that Walser's Friedenspreisrede in 1998 may have been revisionist
in tone, and that it was welcomed by the New Right and far right as well as
by more traditional conservatives, the chapter argues that it also allowed
for a more differentiated interpretation and helped to trigger a fruitful
debate about the 'best way to remember' and the role of the media in shaping
this)
CHAPTER EIGHT: The Holocaust Memorial (looks at discussions surrounding the
Berlin Holocaust Memorial Project, which have helped to raise awareness of
the centrality of the holocaust to the National Socialist period. Contrasts
the planned memorial with memorials such as the Neue Wache and exhibitions
such as that at the Bonn House of History which effectively lump the Germans
together with their victims. While disaggregation into victims and
perpetrators (e.g. Topography of Terror) is necessary, so is a (certain
degree of) disaggregation of victims, and it seems likely that Berlin will
have central memorials to the murdered Sinti and Roma and other sets of
victims as well as the Jews)
CHAPTER NINE: The Past in the Present (considers contemporary Germany's
problems with right-wing extremism and the scandalously slow resolution of
the forced labour compensation issue as examples of a continued need to
press for a more open confrontation with Nazism. Despite these problems,
concludes by arguing that contemporary Germany may be moving towards a
concept of national identity and citizenship which is itself inclusive, the
corollary, perhaps, of the move towards more integrated patterns of memory)
More details can be found on the Routledge web site (in the catalogue under
http://www.routledge.co.uk).
Best wishes
Bill Niven
