36 | 37
THE STATE & POLITICS
TOPIC
VIBRANT CULTURE OF REMEMBRANCE
Addressing war and tyranny, ideologically
The overwhelming sentiment in the memor-
motivated crimes and political injustice in the
ial services in 2014 and 2015 marking the
20th century, not to mention commemorating
100th anniversary of the beginning of the
the victims of persecution play an important
First World War and the 25th anniversary of
role in the culture of remembrance in the
the fall of the Berlin Wall was one of grati-
Federal Republic of Germany. Preserving eye-
tude. Gratitude for the Allies’ anti-Hitler co-
witnesses reports by persons who actually ex-
alition for liberating Germany in 1945, as well
perienced the events is the key element in a
as for the opportunity to re-build the country
culture of remembrance destined to make cer-
and for it then to be re-united in 1990. There
tain that coming generations are conscious of
was also gratitude to those who, as surviving
the crimes committed by the Nazis. The nu-
victims of the Holocaust, bore witness to the
merous memorials to the various groups of
crimes – and reached out their hand to a
victims all over Germany are also part of this
democratic Germany after the Second World
vibrant culture of remembrance. In central
War. The initiation of diplomatic relations
Berlin, for example, the Memorial to the Mur-
between Israel and Germany, the 50th anni-
dered Jews of Europe is a memorial to the six
versary of which was celebrated in 2015, was
million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
a particular symbol of this willingness to embrace reconciliation.
INFO
“Stolpersteine”
In many German and European cities,
“Stolpersteine” (stumbling stones)
placed in the ground remind passersby that Jewish citizens who were
persecuted, murdered, deported, or
driven away by the Nazis, once lived
or worked in the buildings outside
which the stones are placed. The approximately 10 by 10-centimetre
cube-shaped concrete blocks have a
brass top with an inscription in
memory of the victim bearing his or
her name and biographical data.
→ stolpersteine.eu
Memorials to war, resistance
and dictatorship
Memories of the communist dictatorship
during the Soviet Occupation Zone (1945–
1949) and the days of East Germany (1949–
1990) are also being kept alive for those generations that never experienced the division
of Germany and the East German system.
The Federal Commissioner for the Records
of the State Security Service of the Former
German Democratic Republic, the institution where files are still being examined,
sorted, and made accessible to those affected and academics, plays a major role in this.