Hijacking Memory

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

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

• #Collective memory
• #Conference
• #Holocaust
• #memory
• #Minority
• #Nationalism