What can be learned from “the Germans”? What have "the Germans" yet to learn?
Online
For many countries, the “German model” of coming to terms with the past has long been considered exemplary with regard to the Holocaust. Many saw that the “Vergangenheitsbewältigung” could serve as a model for other “difficult histories”. Yet in the recent years, this model’s character has come under scrutiny: The debate around the Humboldt Forum showed that Germany has widely ignored other dark chapters in its history, such as its colonial past. Furthermore, it triggered the question of how to place the different histories of violence into relation with one another and whether, as Michael Rothberg puts it, memories of atrocity must stand in hierarchical relationship to one another. The rise of populism in Germany has led to a renaissance of allegedly overcome narratives that want to avoid “difficult chapters” completely and focus on other, more “glorious” moments of the past instead.
So, where does this leave us? Can German efforts to atone for Nazi atrocities still serve as a model for how other countries might come to terms with their own legacies? To what extent is the old model of “Vergangenheitsbewältigung” still relevant in a post-migrant societies? What other “histories” need to be written? How can we steer away from competitive models of history writing? And what tools do we have to deal with populist or even extremist criticism of contemporary forms of dealing with the past?
This round table brings together four leading experts from Germany, the US and the UK to discuss these pressing questions of our time: Corinne Fowler, Susan Neiman, Michael Rothberg and Mark Terkessidis. BBC Radio 4‘s Samira Ahmed will moderate the session.
In cooperation with the German Historical Institute London. More information about their Summer Lecture Series 2021 can be found here.