Das Verschwinden des Holocaust. Zum Wandel der Erinnerung

Memories of the Holocaust are fading, and its uniqueness is increasingly being called into question. In his latest book, historian and political scientist Jan Gerber (Leipzig) shows that recognition of the exceptional nature of this crime only gained acceptance after a considerable delay. For a long time, hardly anyone was aware of the differences between concentration and extermination camps, between Buchenwald and Birkenau, Belsen and Belzec. It was not until the 1970s that the Holocaust moved from the periphery of memory of World War II to its center.

Thomas Schmid (Berlin), journalist and former editor of the daily newspaper Die Welt, discusses the causes of this development with the author. What were the prerequisites for the memory and recognition that now seem to be eroding? In search of answers, both panelists delve deeply into the political, economic, and social history of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, linking these to the memory history of the Holocaust. In doing so, they place contemporary debates about the significance of the Holocaust, its relationship to colonial crimes, and the politics of Israel within a historical context.