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During the Asia Pacifi c War (1937-1945), the Japanese Imperial Army forced women in Japanese East Asian colonies to work as so-called “comfort women” (sex workers). The justice movement for these women is an international intersectional alliance of feminists from Japanese ex-colonies in East Asia, the former colonial power Japan, and other societies, such as Australia, Germany, and the USA. This long-term feminist justice movement has campaigned for an apology and compensation from the Japanese government, as well as for recognition of “comfort women‘s” suff ering and of sexual violence in war in cultural memory. Through researching this justice movement from a processual intersectionality perspective, this paper shows that it gained power and legitimacy from refl ecting and working on its internal intersectional inequalities. This included refl ecting on the class hierarchies between many former “comfort women”, who had power of defi nition, and intellectual feminist activists, as well as on the postcolonial divide between former Japanese colonies and the former colonial power Japan, leading it to develop horizontal cooperation and practices. Following an overview, the paper outlines the movements in South Korea, Japan, and Germany, and highlights the different postcolonial constellation between East Asia and Germany, the main actors, and their aims. While the Japanese government rejected the justice movement‘s demands and the right wing mobilised against it, has been able to infl uence cultural memory to widely recognize sexual violence in war and the dignity of the “comfort women”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's Germany, the memory of the Holocaust has become institutionalized. However, its institutionalization should not be mistaken for stability. In fact, Holocaust memory has been and still is questioned and contested. At the same time, a global phenomenon, postcolonial memory, is receiving increased attention in Germany. As postcolonial memory is better understood, new questions are arising about Germany's memory culture in the twenty-first century. Precisely because of Germany's experience with National Socialism, the memory of colonialism exists in a memory space that is heavily influenced by discussions of the Holocaust. The memories of the two phenomena appear in constellations that conflict with each other. In this paper, I address the two conflicting constellations of Holocaust memory and postcolonial memory, and propose a discursive perspective on Germany's memory culture. Analyzing a national memory culture as a creation of discourse provides an opportunity to resolve the argumentative standoff between Holocaust memory and postcolonial memory, and instead put German memory culture itself at the center of criticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines WWII forced labour memory politics in Germany and Japan by drawing from Barkan's concept of amending historical injustices. After lengthy negotiations, germany reached in 2000 a milestone agreement compensating victims individually, while in Japan, settlements, consolation payments and apologies have been overshadowed by a revival of revisionist historical narratives and victim denial. It is argued that the official recognition of forced labour as historical injustice made a mutually acceptable outcome possible in Germany and helped to shape a genuine historical memory in victim nations. In Japan, by contrast, an alliance of politicians, bureaucrats and academics has been reconsecrating revisionism as official position. The revisionist inability to recognize victims and admit mistakes has implications for South Korea as the rift between right-wing pro-revisionists and left-wing nationalists divides the country and prevents the formation of a shared collective memory. unintended consequences have dimmed prospects for a settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to offer a critique of the proposal of 'methodological cosmopolitanism' in theoretical terms and to substantiate this critique by providing an account of the dynamics of collective memory and identity in postunification Germany. In the first part, we look at the arguments about methodological cosmopolitanism and their derivative, the idea of cosmopolitan memory, illustrated by the case of Holocaust memory. In the second part we look at the case of Germany: firstly at its postwar experience of the attempted construction of 'postnational' identity, and then at more recent trends, contemporaneous with the Berlin Republic, towards a 'normalization' of national identity in Germany. The Holocaust plays a crucial, but different, role in each phase, we suggest. In the conclusion we return to more general themes, asking what the German case tells us about the cosmopolitanization thesis more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of articles on topics related to historical memory and social justice, including "Voices from the rubble Society: 'Operation Gomoorah' and its Aftermath" by Linde Apel, "Forgetting Indigenous Histories: Cases from the History of Australia's Stolen Generations" by Anna Haebich, and "The Long Life of Stalinism: Reflection on the Aftermath of Totalitarianism and Social Memory" by Maria M. Tumarkin.

Angela Merkel came to power at a crucial time in regards to Germany's relationship with its past. Where would she position herself in light of Gerhard Schröder's approach that had offered a new way of accepting responsibility for the past and integrating it into the twenty-first century present by explicitly making it a key element of German national identity, but also in view of her East German biography? Would she continue and maybe even reinforce the institutionalization of Holocaust-centered memory and–given the forceful return of the topic of German victimhood–complement it with the institutionalization of the memory of German suffering, or would she emphasize the latter at the expense of the former? This paper attempts to answer these questions by examining Merkel's politics of the past during her first three years in office. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important developments in the incipient Berlin Republic's memory regime has been the return of the memory of German suffering from the end and aftermath of World War II. Elite discourses about the bombing of German cities, the mass rape of German women by members of the Red Army, and, above all, the expulsion of Germans from then-Eastern Germany and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe have gained massive visibility in the last decade. Although many voices have lauded these developments as liberating, many others within Germany and especially in Poland—from where the vast majority of Germans were expelled—have reacted with fear. Yet, do these elite voices resonate with mass publics? Have these arguments had demonstrable effects on public opinion? This paper delves into these questions by looking at survey results from both countries. It finds that there has been a disjuncture between the criticisms of elites and average citizens, but that the barrage of elite criticisms leveled at German expellees and their initiatives now may be affecting mass attitudes in all cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the paper he presented at a conference in La Plata, Argentina in September 2004, on the topic of "The State and the Politics of Memory: Archives, Museums, and Education." His paper is about discourses and sites of public memory and history in Berlin, Germany. The theoretical dimension of the paper he gave argued for the persistent dialectic of memory and history, specifically for the sharpening of discourses of memory according to the rules of history. He was arguing against the appropriation of history by memory in the tradition of Pierre Nora, and for the infusion of memory qua raw material by historical reasoning in what he takes to be the central Freudian argument.

Die Wannseekonferenz (1984) portrays the Wannsee Conference of 20 January 1942, where Reinhard Heydrich chaired a meeting of Germany's ministers to co-ordinate the "Final Solution." Produced by the public television network Bayerische Rundfunk (BR), Die Wannseekonferenz is neither mere entertainment nor a dry, unsubtle didactic film. Instead, it portrays history in a compelling and disturbing manner. The West German press, however, panned the film, which gained critical acclaim abroad. This article discusses its negative reception within the context of the 1980s television and memory landscapes through a grounding in archival sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In what way does national history shape the interpretation of international events in that country's media? Germany has always had a particularly sensitive and complex relationship with Israel. The Holocaust left such a scar on German identity that the country cannot consider Israel without confronting its own history. In Israel, Germany sees a 'reflection' of its own historical and symbolic space. In this article, I draw together a close reading of major German newspapers with more interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives in order to illuminate the mechanism of what I call 'mirror reading,' and especially to reveal its workings during what I consider a key shift in the discourse on German identity. The German print media, which I treat as the activating agent in German narration of national identity, plays a central role in this reflection by projecting national symbols onto Israel. In particular, I identify the initial reception of the Israeli wall (2003-2004) as a turning point in the debate on German self-understanding after the Holocaust. I establish that there are two extremes in a continuum of how German national history can frame the Israeli wall, one making Germany an active agent and the other a passive one. Employing national symbols in the media distorts the domestic perception of foreign events. My study casts a first light on this little understood-but nonetheless crucial-phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses (West) Germany as an exemplary case to analyse the formation of collective memories over a period of more than two decades after 1945. It traces the formation of collective memories in the German public through a decade of collective amnesia, followed by a period of regaining collective memories. It argues that the formation of collective memories is embedded in social and normative change, and identifies three causal factors that were responsible for the oscillation between amnesia and memory: the absence of victims in the imminent post-war period, that promoted the 'myth of innocence' (Fulbrook 1999); a series of major trials that started in the 1960s; and young elites who acknowledged moral and legal guilt and supported the trials, reconciliation and compensation. Data from public opinion polls covering the period from 1950-1970 are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article explores mediated memory practices in refugee camps in post-war Germany. In response to refugees experiencing a disjuncture of temporality materialized in the liminal space of the refugee camp, the article argues that media practices of camp residents include practices of remembering and witnessing. Drawing on memory studies, media practices are understood as forms of "management of change" and "mediated witnessing", enacting cultural and diasporic memory, as well as providing opportunities to remember, store the present and give witness to one's plight. Based on an analysis of archival records from camp structures in Germany (1945-1955), examples of mnemonic media practices are analyzed. Concludingly, the article argues that mediated memory in refugee camps is characterized by an ambiguity of "hopeful" and "obligatory" memory, affected by structures and control of media and mnemonic activities, as well as agency and initiatives to remember and create memories from below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

German political culture has been undergoing gradual but significant changes since unification. Military engagements in combat missions, the introduction of a professional army, and a remarkable loss of recent historical knowledge mostly within the younger generations are hallmarks of the new millennium. Extensive education about the Holocaust is still prevalent and there is a strong continuity of attitudes and orientations toward the Nazi era and the Holocaust reaching back to the 1980s. Nevertheless, a lack of knowledge about history-not only the World War II period, but also about East and West Germany-in the age group of people under thirty is staggering. The fading away of the generation of victims who are the last ones to tell the story of persecution during the Holocaust and a parallel rise of new actors and technologies, present challenges to the educational system and the current political culture of Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany is one of the very few countries in the world with deserter monuments. Sparked by the Filbinger affair of 1978 and the protests of the German peace movement against NATO rearmament in the 1980s, a deserter monument movement emerged in numerous German cities, and by 2010 some 25 deserter monuments had been established across the country. These monuments fall into two main categories: those which specifically commemorate German soldiers who deserted from the Wehrmacht in the Second World War and those which are dedicated to honouring desertion as a matter of principle. Both types of monument qualify as a form of counter-monument, seeking to provoke reflection about traditional soldierly values and to challenge existing war memorials. The deserter monument movement and the monuments which it has spawned have played a significant role in shifting public perceptions about deserters from the Wehrmacht – leading to legal rehabilitation of the deserters in May 2002 – and have also contributed to the broader public debate about the role of the Wehrmacht in Hitler’s ‘war of annihilation’. The monuments occupy an important place in the evolving ‘memory culture’ (Erinnerungskultur) of contemporary Germany, representing one example of continuing German attempts to rewrite the public narrative of German war experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses long-term psychological impact of the bombing of Hamburg, Germany during World War II on German families. Particular focus is given to the transmission of individual and social memory of traumatising events. According to the author, research on this subject confirms earlier scholarship on the disconnect between public remembrance of the Jewish Holocaust and private family histories and viewpoints. Topics discussed include National Socialism, bystanders, and public commemoration of the bombings.

Copyright of Historical Social Research - Supplement is the property of GESIS - Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Author-supplied Abstracts.)

One aspect of the Cold War's legacy has slipped from collective memory: the distinctly socialist arguments against the regimes of the East, for instance the GDR. Volker Braun's 1977 novella Unvollendete Geschichte provides an instructive example of the current invisibility of such socialist arguments. In the West, Unvollendete Geschichte has been read as a straightforward condemnation of an authoritarian state that penalizes individuals on illegitimate grounds. Yet Braun is a committed socialist and criticizes the state not for its violation of the individual's integrity, but for the suppression of conflict internal to the collective. A historically sensitive reading reveals that Braun seeks to expose the (East German) state as a distorted manifestation of social collaboration, in line with a radical socialist tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Federal Republic of Germany—both before and after 1989—has been influenced deeply by collective memories of the Nazi period and the Holocaust, a seemingly "unmasterable past." In a first phase after unification, memory trends, which had their origin in the mid 1980s, continued, but a second period, beginning around the 1999 move of the capital back to Berlin, however, witnessed the erosion of this older trend and the delayed rise of new memory dynamics. Substantively, there have been three vectors of memory concerning Nazi crimes, German suffering, and the period of division, especially regarding the German Democratic Republic. In this article, I outline the major collective memory dynamics and debates, first from a qualitative and then from a more quantitative perspective where I analyze the holdings of the German National Library. I conclude that an intense period of memory work characterized the postunification years, but the peak of concern was reached several years ago and the German future will be much less beholden to the past. Given inevitable normalizing trends and the unintended consequences of the hegemony of Holocaust memory, Germany's difficult historical legacy increasingly appears to be disappearing or even mastered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two decades ago, East European state socialism met with a paradoxical fate. Between 1989 and 1991, communist party hegemony was abolished, leaving the very idea of socialism permanently discredited—or so it seemed. Yet in the decade that followed, “socialistic” principles and practices would retain—or perhaps acquire—a surprising degree of popular appeal. Was this a cultural legacy of systematic indoctrination? A strategic response to material insecurities? Perhaps a combination of both? In this article, it is argued that many previous efforts to unravel the paradox are inadequate because they ignore both the “strategic” dimensions of culture and the cultural dimensions of instrumental reason. Using life-history data on the former East Germany, it is shown that apparently discredited ideologies can acquire renewed salience in the wake of regime change if they (1) remain culturally available as strategies of action that (2) provided material opportunities or symbolic privileges in the past, and (3) promise to ameliorate new problems engendered by alternative strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 3 October 1990, the National People's Army (NVA) of the German Democratic Republic, in which about 2.5 million East German citizens served their country, was dissolved. Its personnel either was removed from military service, placed into early retirement, or integrated into the Bundeswehr after a two-year selection and examination process. Since then, the NVA has turned into an object of history with no immediate significance for contemporary German society—despite efforts of former NVA officers to change the official interpretation of 1989-1990. This article examines the processes of remembering and forgetting with regard to East Germany's military heritage since 1990, contrasting the Bundeswehr's politics of memory and “army of unity” ethos not only with the former NVA soldiers' vision of the past, but also with the East German population's general attitude towards their former armed forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses reports published within the issue on German collective memory and national identity, including one by Ruth Wittlinger on Angela Merkel and the focus of Germany on the memory of the Holocaust, another by Alexandra Kaiser on German remembrance days and the politics of memory, and one by Erick Langenbacher on the shift towards a focus on the memory of German suffering.

During the course of the 2006 Soccer World Cup, Germans started to celebrate a “new patriotism.” As the construction of national identity is inseparable in Germany from the Nazi past, this occurrence can be considered an indicator of an altered relationship to this past. This article examines these changes by focusing on a nationally recognized site of remembrance, the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg, where five matches of the World Cup were played. The convergence of site and event evokes contradictions and ambiguities, such as the encounter of the opposed needs of sports and remembrance at the same location. It shows what problems arise at a site of national collective memory today, when the role of the national collective is challenged by developments like European integration, migration within and to Europe, and the on-going effects of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on the assumption that cultural representations of the past contribute to the establishment and regulation of gendered power relations, this article investigates the representations of female participation in the Nazi regime in the German television series Hitlers Frauen. Stuart Hall's concept of decoding is used for a critical media analysis, asking how men and women are positioned as historical agents or passive objects in the series. In fact, the series plays on the gendered symbols and representations associated with the Third Reich. It reproduces traditional ideas regarding the (non)relation between femininity and politics and evokes a sexualized imaginary where women are seduced by a powerful, charismatic leader. Women are represented as dependent–materially, physically, and emotionally. In this way, the television series contributes to the continuation of traditional gender regimes. Even when the series apparently reacts to ongoing debates about women's role within the Nazi system, it disappoints those who hoped to learn about the reasons, interests, and possibilities of women between 1933 and 1945. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on topics related to German collective memory, including the politics of the past under Angela Merkel's government, German memory culture in the 21st century, and German national identity and the Nazi past.

British-German relations have undergone a considerable transformation since 1945 with both countries having to adapt to significant changes in their own status, as well as a very different international environment. Germany's status as a morally and militarily defeated and occupied power in 1945 is in stark contrast to the confident role it is playing at the beginning of the new millennium when—sixty years after the end of World War II—the German chancellor for the first time took part in the VE-Day celebrations of the victors. This article analyzes recent dynamics of collective memory in both countries and examine if and to what extent their collective memories play a role in British-German relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of cinematic texts in upholding cultural memories concerned with World War II and the Jewish Holocaust in Germany. A visual material is created by the documentaries and fictional films that inform about the wartime past and the way in which it is remembered. The directors of these films are guided by postmemory, where the connection to the source is mediated through imagination and creation. The limitations of second generation to access the past make them dependent on stories and metaphors of the Holocaust that are shared across the national boundaries of remembrance. The cinema provides that medium as it can reach large audiences across national borders and cultural contexts.

As the most important medium of memory, German television has refracted intellectual debates about the burden of the past and influenced the popular perception of nazism for generations of viewers since the 1960s. However, limited access to archives and intellectual prejudice have so far prevented a full appreciation of television's role in the evolution of German collective memory. This article addresses this gap in the scholarship on contemporary Germany by taking a closer look at the historical coverage broadcast by the West German public television station ZDF between 1963 and 1993. In the course of our analysis the development of the contents of three decades of programming on the history of the Third Reich is linked to the available qualitative and quantitative television reception data for the same period. The evidence suggests that West German viewers were quite interested in the history of nazism and the second world war. With the exception of the mid-1970s there is no indication that the audience systematically avoided the historical coverage of the ZDF. But the data also indicates that this surprising willingness to engage with the burden of the past reflects significant changes in media content and political disposition. In the 1960s, television recycled the apologetic plot structures of West Germany's postwar historical culture. As a result, the programmes all but ignored the Holocaust and provided a very schematic, self-serving image of the past for the benefit of viewers who had themselves experienced the Third Reich. In the 1980s a more complex and self-critical vision of the nazi past appeared on the screen and was appreciated by a more diverse audience, including a majority of viewers who shared no personal responsibility for the crimes of the regime. But even the improved programming of the 1980s for the most part avoided any direct confrontation with the perpetrators and bystanders of the `Final Solution'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of reports on German politics and society including "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright: SPD-Left Party/PDS Coalitions in the Eastern German Länder," by Jonathan Olsen, "British-German Relations and Collective Memory," by Ruth Wittlinger and "Spying on Terrorists: Germany in Comparative Perspective," by A. James McAdams.