Deconstructing Holocaust Memorials: Towards a new understanding of memory culture

By tracing the evolution of the Holocaust memorial one can begin to better understand the mind of a nation grappling with its history of perpetratorship. In our investigations, we will ask: what is a memorial, what purpose do they serve, for whom are they created – and, within the German and European context – who does Holocaust memorial culture belong to?

This course will survey key Holocaust memorials in various forms, including invisible memorials, disappearing memorials, highly contentious or banned memorials, and counter-memorials. Our dialogue will be shaped by author, artist, and activist responses to Holocaust memorialization to further expand our perspective on not only the past, but more importantly, the future of memorial work from a critical, intersectional, postmigrant, queer, and feminist perspective. We will also situate Holocaust memorial culture within the larger cannon of memorial culture from diverse perspectives in the German context.