Conclusion
Despite the different trajectory of East and West since the end of World War II, both sides of Germany's wall have had to deal in some sense with vergangenheitsbewältigung. While East Germany dealt with the past by ignoring its role in the present and positioning itself in opposition to the fascist ideology, West Germany finally began to come to terms with the past through open discussion of the "Holocaust" series. These different histories mask similar strategies in the portrayal of these crimes and the memorializing of their victims which resemble many of the issues brought up by the Historikerstreit. In the Berlin street memorials, the memorial of Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg, and the Unter den Linden memorials, we find the same or similar issues coming up regardless of which government, East or West, initiated the memorial's construction. Specifically, the process of distancing the German public from the reality of their involvement with the Nazi regime, the removal of the actors or identification of the perpetrators from the memorial, the ignoring of the past outright through lack of interest, the relativization of the horrors of the Nazi regime in comparison to post-war Stalinism, and identification with the victims are all evident on these memorials, irrespective of time or government. This trend suggests that despite the divergent evolution of the two states, East and West have a strikingly similar method of vergangenheitsbewältigung, with the new government making changes in memorials that often serve to reinforce aspects of the East German message.
I do not think, however, that Germany's confrontation with the past, as seen in the country's war memorials, is completely avoiding coming to terms with the past. East Germany's Neue Wache effectively acknowledged that the victims of the war included concentration camp victims and individuals killed fighting fascism on the battlefield. The Bebelplatz memorial is an ideal presentation of responsibility and remembrance. Finally, I believe that the increasing emphasis on the victims of Stalinism is a way of acknowledging the added pain of the East Germans in a way that will allow them to feel more an integral part of a new, united German state. "Memory certainly is a prerequisite of identity" (Maier 1988: 149). If so, then perhaps through these memorials, the common bonds of dealing with the past as well as their common history will help the Germans to form a common national identity.
Next: Bibliography
Home
Email: merrilllee@earthlink.net
