EUROPE INSIGHT
Learning to learn from History
Géraldine Schwarz French-German writer , journalist and filmmaker , author of the bestseller “ Those Who Forget : My Family ’ s Story in Nazi Europe – A Memoir , a History , a Warning ”
Up until World War II , remembering history served only to glorify the nation , stir up
revanchism , or sanctify heroes . After 1945 , the trauma of war , totalitarianism , and the Shoah gave birth to a new ambition in Europe : that of learning from history .
Did it succeed ?
The 75th anniversary of the end of the war coincides with an international health catastrophe that is putting us all to the test . Our reactions show that we have at least learned a fundamental lesson from the twentieth century : when we cease to be human , we destroy ourselves .
At a time when the technological and economic vision reduces man to algorithms , consumers , users , identical and substitutable models , the majority of Europeans have reaffirmed that each of us is unique and non-replaceable and has a fundamental right to life and physical integrity . Faced with utilitarian doctrines which accept the sacrifice of a minority in the name of the so-called general well-being , most of us have agreed that no one should be entitled to decide on the right to live or die , or to compare the value of one life with another – old or young , sick or in good health , French or German .
The solidarity shown by the younger generations with the older ones , the healthy with the sick , and ( even though slightly late ) of European countries with each other , have shown that in a situation of crisis we are able to let humanism guide our actions . The pandemic has reminded us that our ability to be human not only gives meaning to our lives but is the condition for all of us to survive .
But this teaching of the past remains fragile . Will it be able to resist the autocratic temptation that hangs over our societies , and the growing scourge of conspiracy theories ? Will it be able to resist the amnesia that is eating away at us , the demagogues who are rewriting history , and the artificial intelligence that is replacing our memory ?
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Observing Memories ISSUE 4