German Deeds, Polish Soil, Jewish Shoah: Auschwitz Memory and the Politics of Commemoration

Auschwitz memory has been constructed, maintained, and modified within a resilient, but not immobile political and cultural framework, resulting in the emergence of three dominant modes of collective memory at the memorial site. First, Auschwitz was presented and groomed as a site of Polish national martyrdom. Second, the plight and struggle of the political prisoner, often styled as a socialist hero or heroine, was elevated over the fate of the Jewish victim of genocide at Auschwitz. Third, the memorial site, through its exhibitions and commemorative events, was often used to gain political currency and was even instrumentalized as a stage for political propaganda. Although durable, this framework was both bolstered and, at times, shaken by external political considerations, by the influence of prisoner groups in Poland and abroad, and even by the encroachment of historical fact.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Huener, Jonathan

Contributors dc:contributor

• Peter Fritzsche

• Political Science, General

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9912276

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/84742