Returning Memories

Former Prisoners of War in Divided and Reunited Germany
Erscheinungsjahr 2015
ISBN: 978-1-57113-904-7
Verlag: Boydell & Brewer

Buch, Englisch, 362 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 703 g

Reihe: German History in Context

Provides the first comprehensive analysis of the history of returning German POWs after the Second World War, explored as a history of memory both during Germany's division and after unification.

Millions of former German soldiers (known as Heimkehrer, literally "homecomers," or returnees) returned from captivity as prisoners of war at the end of the Second World War, an experience that had profound effects on German society and touched almost every German family. Based on extensive archival research and oral history interviews, this book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the history of the German returnees, explored as a historyof memory, both during Germany's division and after unification. At its core lies the question of how the experiences of war captivity were transformed into individual and collective memories. The book argues that memory of the experience of captivity and return is complex and multilayered and has been shaped by postwar political and social frameworks.

Christiane Wienand is a historian and works in Heidelberg, Germany. She holds a PhD in Historyfrom University College London.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wienand, Christiane

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Deutsche Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Völkermord, Ethnische Säuberung, Kriegsverbrechen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Geschichtspolitik, Erinnerungskultur

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Writing the History of Returnees
Depicting Returnees: Contested Mass-Media Representations in East and West Germany
Negotiating Victim Status: The Presence of the Past in Compensation Debates
Giving Meaning to the Past: Narratives of Transformation and Conversion
Interacting with the Past: Memory Projects of Returnees
Epilogue: Transmitting Memories-Shaping Postwar Presents
Conclusions
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Christiane Wienand is a Research Fellow on the AHRC-funded research project "Reverberations of War: Communities of Experience and Identification in Germany and Europe since 1945." She holds a PhD in History from University College London.