Reverberations of Nazi Violence in Germany and Beyond : Disturbing Pasts

"Reverberations of Nazi Violence in Germany and Beyond explores the complex and diverse reverberations of the Second World War after 1945. It focuses on the legacies that National Socialist violence and genocide perpetrated in Europe continue to have in German-speaking countries and communities, as well as among those directly affected by occupation, terror and mass murder. Furthermore it explores how those legacies are in turn shaped by the present. The volume also considers conflicting, unexpected and often dissonant interpretations and representations of these events, made by those who were the witnesses, victims and perpetrators at the time and also by different communities in the generations that followed. The contributions, from a range of disciplinary perspectives, enrich our understanding of the complexity of the ways in which a disturbing past continues to disrupt the present and how the past is in turn disturbed and instrumentalized by a later present"-- Provided by publisher Introduction : disturbing the past, disturbed by the past / Stephanie Bird and Mary Fulbrook PART I. EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS. Troubling issues : guilt and shame among persecutors and persecuted / Mary Fulbrook Shamed by Nazi crimes : the first step towards Germans' re-education or a catalyst for their wish to forget? / Ulrike Weckel Ashamed about the past : the case of Nazi collaborators and their families in postwar Dutch society / Ismee Tames Autobiography, moral witnessing, and the disturbing memory of Nazi euthanasia / Susanne Knittel PART II. DISTURBING NARRATIVES. Disturbing mending : on the imagined third generation of Holocaust survivors in Israeli literature of the second generation / Tsila Ratner Disturbing the past : the representation of the Waldheim Affair in Robert Schindel's Der Kalte / Katya Krylova The return of the Jew in Polish culture / Uilleam Blacker PART III. FASCINATION / PLEASURE. Don't mention the war / Julian Petley 'However sick a joke...' : on comedy, the representation of suffering, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Melodrama and Volker Koepp's Melancholy / Stephanie Bird Disturbing Anselm Kiefer / Caitriona Leahy PART IV. BETTER FUTURES? : (DIS)PLACING IDENTITIES. German tourists in Europe and reminders of a disturbing past / Julia Wagner Reverberations of a disturbing past : reconciliation activities of young West Germans in the 1960s and 1970s / Christiane Wienand Disturbing pasts and better futures? : a comparison of recent approaches to the past among Bukovina Jews and Bukovina Germans / Gaelle Fisher How to cope with it? : the Steuben Society of America's politics of memory and the Holocaust / Julia Lange Afterword : hauntings and revisitings across generations / Lisa Appignanesi. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents List of Contributors Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: Disturbing Pasts Part I: Emotional Connections 2. Guilt and Shame among Communities of Experience, Connection and Identification 3. Shamed by Nazi Crimes: The First Step towards Germans’ Re-education or a Catalyst for Their Wish to Forget? 4. Ashamed about the Past: The Case of Nazi Collaborators and Their Families in Post-war Dutch Society 5. Autobiography, Moral Witnessing and the Disturbing Memory of Nazi Euthanasia Part II: Disturbing Narratives 6. Disturbing Mending: On the Imagined Third Generation of Holocaust Survivors in Israeli Literature of the Second Generation 7. Disturbing the Past: The Representation of the Waldheim Affair in Robert Schindel’s 8. The Return of the Jew in Polish Culture Part III: Fascination/Pleasure 9. Don’t Mention the War 10. ‘However sick a joke ... ’: On Comedy, the Representation of Suffering, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Melodrama and Volker Koepp’s Melancholy 11. Disturbing Anselm Kiefer Part IV: Better Futures? (Dis) Placing Identities 12. German Tourists in Europe and Reminders of a Disturbing Past 13. Reverberations of a Disturbing Past: Reconciliation Activities of Young West Germans in the 1960s and 1970s 14. Disturbing Pasts and Better Futures: A Comparison of Recent Approaches to the Past among Bukovina Jews and Bukovina Germans 15. How to Cope with It? The Steuben Society of America’s Politics of Memory and the Holocaust Afterword: Hauntings and Revisitings Index "Reverberations of Nazi Violence in Germany and Beyond explores the complex and diverse reverberations of the Second World War after 1945. It focuses on the legacies that National Socialist violence and genocide perpetrated in Europe continue to have in German-speaking countries and communities, as well as among those directly affected by occupation, terror and mass murder. Furthermore it explores how those legacies are in turn shaped by the present. It considers unexpected and often dissonant interpretations and representations of past events, made by those who were the witnesses, victims and perpetrators at the time and also by different communities in the generations that followed. The contributions, from a range of disciplinary perspectives, enrich our understanding of how a disturbing past continues to disrupt the present and how the past is in turn disturbed by a later present"-- Provided by publisher