May 23, 2022

Conference: Hijacking Memory. The Holocaust and the New Right, June 9–12

Conference
Talks, panels, performances, screenings
June 9–12, 2022
In German and English
Free admission
Program: hkw.de/en/hijackingmemory
Accreditation via

The four-day international conference deals with the political appropriation of Holocaust remembrance by the New Right.

Holocaust commemoration is commonly seen as a crucial way to prevent the resurgence of nationalism and the persecution of minorities anywhere. In the course of the postwar era, remembering the genocide of European Jews became a standard for a politics of universal human rights. In recent years, however, a troubling development has taken place: platitudes of remembrance are uttered by the very same actors who espouse anti-democratic, xenophobic and often antisemitic agendas. At first, this process has been most visible in Trump’s America, today Putin’s call for the “Denazification of Ukraine” is the latest example. But this process is also evident in Hungary, Poland, Israel, England, France, Austria and in Germany. What is the relationship between the ritualization of Holocaust remembrance and the rise of the far-right? This conference will explore the hijacking of Holocaust memory by right-wing forces and examine ways to confront it.

Conceived by Emily Dische-Becker, Susan Neiman and Stefanie Schüler-Springorum

With contributions by René Aguigah,Tareq Baconi, Omer Bartov, Peter Beinart, Hannah Black, Omri Boehm, Avraham Burg, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Mykola Borovyk, Joseph Croitoru, David Feldman, Alexander Friedman, Konstanty Gebert, Sander L. Gilman, Lewis R. Gordon, Philip Gorski, Jan Grabowski, Lutz Hachmeister, Daniel Kahn, Volkhard Knigge, Nikolay Koposov, Yeva Lapsker, Hanno Loewy, Eva Menasse, Andrea Pető, Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, Diana Pinto, Valentina Pisanty, Ben Ratskoff, Susanne Rohr, Eran Schaerf, Rachel Shabi, Jelena Subotić, Ksenia Svetlova, Hannah Tzuberi, Alexander Verkhovsky, Lothar Zechlin and many more.

An event by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Einstein Forum and the Center for Research on Antisemitism at the Technische Universität Berlin

Please send accreditation inquiries and interview requests to

Program

Day 1 | Thursday, June 9 2022

3 pm
Welcome & introduction
With Emily Dische-Becker, Susan Neiman, Stefanie Schüler-Springorum
In German and English

3.30–5 pm
Who Are the Nazis; Who Are the Jews? The Holocaust in the NOW
Sander L. Gilman
What Went Wrong? The Politics of Memory and the Return of the Xenophobic Right
Valentina Pisanty
Lectures, followed by a conversation, moderated by Emily Dische-Becker
In English

5.30 pm
Welcome
Bernd Scherer
In German

5.45 pm
Wir sind alle deutsche Juden
D: Niko Apel, script: Daniel Cohn-Bendit, France 2020, 78 min
Film screening, followed by a discussion with Daniel Cohn-Bendit, moderated by Susan Neiman
In German

Day 2 | Friday, June 10 2022

10–11.30 am
Von der Verleugnung des Holocausts zum Bekennen. Über Rechte in KZ-Gedenkstätten und Erinnerungskultur
Volkhard Knigge
Desiring Victimhood: German Self-Formation and the Figure of the Jew
Hannah Tzuberi
Lectures, followed by a discussion and Q&A, moderated by Stefanie Schüler-Springorum
In German and English

11.30 am–1 pm
Der Holocaust und die deutschen Leitmedien nach 1945
Lutz Hachmeister
Mit Lippenbekenntnissen dem Konsens hinterher: Wie die AfD über Holocaust, Juden und Israel spricht – und schweigt
Joseph Croitoru
Lectures, followed by a discussion and Q&A, moderated by Stefanie Schüler-Springorum
In German

2.30 pm
Anti-Zionism Can Be Anti-Semitic. Zionism Too
A conversation between Peter Beinart and Daniel Cohn-Bendit
In English

3.30–4.45 pm
American Israels: Christian Zionism in Comparative-Historical Perspective
Philip Gorski
Hijacking Holocaust Memory as a Dehumanizing Practice
Lewis R. Gordon
Lectures, followed by a discussion and Q&A, moderated by Susan Neiman
In English

5.15–6.30 pm
James Baldwin and the Politics of Holocaust Exceptionalism
Ben Ratskoff
Baldwin, BLM and “Black Antisemitism”
Lecture, followed by a discussion with Ben Ratskoff, Hannah Black, René Aguigah, moderated by Emily Dische-Becker
In English

18.45h
Boycott
D: Julia Bacha, Producers: Suhad Babaa, Daniel J. Chalfen, USA 2021, 70 min, English OV with English subtitles
Film screening, followed by a discussion with Suhad Babaa, Peter Beinart, Lothar Zechlin
In German and English

Day 3 | Saturday, June 11 2022

10 am–12.15 pm
The Hidden Agenda: The Holocaust in Israel between Tragedy and Strategy
Avraham Burg
Holocaust Singularity and German National Identity
Omri Boehm
Antisemitism in History and Politics
Omer Bartov
Lectures, followed by a discussion and Q&A, moderated by Susan Neiman
In English

1.45–3.15 pm
Lecture

Tareq Baconi
British Jews and the Psychodrama of the Corbyn Years
Rachel Shabi
Lectures, followed by a discussion and Q&A, moderated by Daniel Levy
In English

3.45–5.45 pm
Hijacked from the Centre: Holocaust Memory in Britain
David Feldman
Whitening of the Jews and Misuse of Holocaust Memory
Gilbert Achcar
Dubious Benevolence: The Holocaust and the Extreme Right in France and Italy
Diana Pinto
Lectures, followed by a discussion and Q&A, moderated by Carinne Luck
In English

6.15 pm
Sentiment, Seduction, Soreness: Countering the Right with Holocaust Comedy
Susanne Rohr
Lectures, followed by a discussion and Q&A, moderated by Miriam Rürup
In English

7–8 pm
Andere (Täter-)Länder, andere Sitten?
A conversation between Hanno Loewy and Eva Menasse
In German

9 pm
Concert
Daniel Kahn & Yeva Lapsker

Day 4 | Sunday, June 12 2022

10 am–12.45 pm
Appropriation of the Holocaust by the Eastern European Far Right
Jelena Subotić
Illiberal Memory Politics of the Holocaust in Hungary
Andrea Pető
“Denazification of Ukraine”: Political Semantics in the Age of Fusion Genocide
Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern
Empty Symbols: The Memory of the Holocaust in Fascist Russia
Nikolay Koposov
Lectures, followed by a discussion and Q&A
In English

2.15–5 pm
Russische Propaganda: Instrumentalisierung des Völkermords bei dem Angriff auf die Ukraine
Mykola Borovyk
The Misuse of the Holocaust and the Fluid Russian Nationalism Today
Alexander Verkhovsky
„Der Russe ist nun wie ein Jude im Berlin des Jahres 1940“. Die politische Instrumentalisierung des Holocausts in Russland und Belarus
Alexander Friedman
Unholy Alliance: Israel and the Far-Right in Europe
Ksenia Svetlova
Lectures, followed by a discussion and Q&A, moderated by Mischa Gabowitsch
In German and English

5.30–7 pm
Hijacking Memory of the Holocaust: From Treblinka, Through Auschwitz to the Warsaw Ghetto
Jan Grabowski
How the Polish Right is Rewriting the History of the Shoah
Konstanty Gebert
Lectures, followed by a discussion and Q&A, moderated by Susan Neiman
In English

7 pm
Blinded in Remembering the Present? Ask Franz
Eran Schaerf
Lecture Performance
In English

More Information: hkw.de/en/hijackingmemory

Partners

An event by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Einstein Forum and the Center for Research on Antisemitism at the Technische Universität Berlin.

Haus der Kulturen der Welt is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and by the Federal Foreign Office.

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