THE NAZI PAST IN AN EVERCHANGING PRESENT: EXPLORING HOLOCAUST SITES AS TOURIST DESTINATIONS IN 21ST CENTURY GERMANY
TAN ZHENG WEI MARTIN
TAN ZHENG WEI MARTIN
Citations
Altmetric:
Alternative Title
Abstract
Since the fall of the Third Reich, monuments and memorial sites have emerged across a divided, and subsequently, reunited Germany as a means for Germans to commemorate the victimised groups as well as acknowledge their wartime past and its legacy for German national identity. Within the context of the Federal Republic of Germany, West German memory culture developed more profoundly when grassroots pressure compelled a more critical perspective starting in the late-1950’s. This saw a rejection of the immediate postwar narratives of German victimisation and ignorance. In addition, international examination of the National Socialist past foresaw how the Holocaust was relevant outside of Germany too. Over the next half-century, both local and international approaches have transformed the Holocaust and its historical sites, ‘de-territorialising’ the past and construing it as a shared memory with international resonance. Thus, these developments had a significant impact on how monuments and memorial sites in Germany are constructed as they are catered not only for Germans, but an international audience as well.
This thesis examines the representation of collective memory and values conveyed in Holocaust memorial sites and documentation centres in Germany to foreign tourists visiting as part of a larger phenomenon of ‘Holocaust tourism’. This is achieved by analysing the mediated experience and exhibition spaces (both online and onsite) of four sites: the Neuer Börneplatz Memorial Site in Frankfurt, the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, the NS Documentation Centre in Cologne, and the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg. Although each of these sites possess unique approaches to deal with the Holocaust and the NS past, this thesis argues that ultimately, they converge in their ability to project the image of a repentant Germany and moreover, convey relevant and universalist lessons that deepen our collective understanding of the human condition and society today.
Keywords
National Socialism, Holocaust tourism, collective memory, public history, memorial sites, documentation centres
Source Title
Publisher
Series/Report No.
Collections
Rights
Date
2019-04-22
DOI
Type
Thesis