Histories of the Aftermath : The Legacies of the Second World War in Europe

"This is an excellent collection. In its thematic breadth and its broad geographical coverage it is quite distinctive." · Mark Roseman, Indiana University, Bloomington In 1945, Europeans confronted a legacy of mass destruction and death: millions of families had lost their homes and livelihoods; millions of men in uniform had lost their lives; and millions more had been displaced by the war's destruction, and the genocidal policies of the Nazi regime. From a range of methodological historical perspectives-military, cultural, and social, to film and gender and sexuality studies-this volume explores how Europeans came to terms with these multiple pasts. With a focus on distinctive national experiences in both Eastern and Western Europe, it illuminates how postwar stabilization coexisted with persistent insecurities, injuries, and trauma. Frank Biess is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of Homecomings: Returning POWs and the Legacies of Defeat in Postwar Germany (Princeton UP, 2006), and he is currently working on a history of fear and anxiety in postwar Germany. Robert G. Moeller is Professor of modern European and German history at the University of California, Irvine. He has published widely on the social, cultural, and political history of Germany in the twentieth century. Contents 5 Acknowledgements 7 Introduction — Histories of the Aftermath 9 Part I — Defining the Postwar 19 Chapter 1 — The Persistence of "the Postwar": Germany and Poland 21 Chapter 2 — Feelings in the Aftermath: Toward a History of Postwar Emotions 38 Chapter 3 — In the Aftermath of Camps 57 Part II — Public and Private Memories 73 Chapter 4 — Nothing Is Forgotten: Individual Memory and the Myth of the Great Patriotic War 75 Chapter 5 — Neither Erased nor Remembered: Soviet "Women Combatants" and Cultural Strategies of Forgetting in Soviet Russia, 1940s–1980s 91 Chapter 6 — Generations as Narrative Communities: Some Private Sources of Public Memory in Postwar Germany 110 Part III — Mass-Mediating War: How Movies Shaped Memories 129 Chapter 7 — "When Will the Real Day Come?": War Films and Soviet Postwar Culure 131 Chapter 8 — Winning the Peace at the Movies: Suffering, Loss, and Redemption in Postwar German Cinema 147 Chapter 9 — Italian Cinema and the Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy 164 Part IV — The Reconstruction of Citizenship 181 Chapter 10 — War Orphans and Postfascist Families: Kinship and Belonging after 1945 183 Chapter 11 — Manners, Morality, and Civilization: Reflections on Postwar German Etiquette Books 204 Chapter 12 — "We Are Building a Common Home": The Moral Economy of Citizenship in Postwar Poland 223 Chapter 13 — From the "New Jerusalem" to the "Decline" of the "New Elizabethan Age": National Identity and Citizenship in Britain, 1945–46 239 Part V — In the Shadow of the Bomb: Military Cultures 257 Chapter 14 — The Great Tradition and the Fates of Annihilation: West German Military Culture in the Aftermath of the Second World War 259 Chapter 15 — The Soviet Military Culture and the Legacy of the Second World War 277 Chapter 16 — 1945–1955: The Age of Total War 295 Select Bibliography 305 Notes on Contributors 311 Index 315 Introduction / Frank Biess Defining the postwar The persistence of "the postwar" : Germany and Poland / Norman M. Naimark Feelings in the aftermath : toward a history of postwar emotions / Frank Biess In the aftermath of camps / Samuel Moyn Public and private memories Nothing is forgotten : individual memory and the myth of the Great Patriotic War / Lisa A. Kirschenbaum Neither erased nor remembered : Soviet "women combatants" and cultural strategies of forgetting in Soviet Russia, 1940s-1980s / Anna Krylova Generations as narrative communities : on the private sources of official cultures of remembrance in postwar Germany / Dorothee Wierling Mass-mediating war : how movies shaped memories "When will the real day come?" War films and Soviet postwar culture Denise Youngblood "Winning the peace" at the movies : suffering, loss, and redemption in postwar German cinema / Robert G. Moeller Italian cinema and the transition from dictatorship to democracy / Ruth Ben-Ghiat The reconstruction of citizenship War orphans and postfascist families : kinship and belonging after 1945 / Heide Fehrenbach Manners, morality, and civilization : reflections on postwar German etiquette books / Paul Betts From the "New Jerusalem" to the "decline" of the "New Elizabethan Age" : national identity and citizenship in Britain, 1945-56 / Sonya O. Rose "We are building a common home" : the moral economy of citizenship in postwar Poland / Katherine Lebow In the shadow of the bomb : military cultures The great tradition and the fates of annihilation : West German military culture in the aftermath of the Second World War / Klaus Naumann Soviet military culture and the legacy of the Second World War / Mikhail Tsypkin 1945-1955 : the age of total war / Pieter Lagrou.