Dissonant Memories: National Identity, Political Power, and the Commemoration of World War Two in Switzerland
The 1990s debate surrounding the Swiss bank accounts of Holocaust victims has led to a revision of the historical view of Switzerland's role in World War Two, which until then was dominated by the image of an innocent and resisting nation. The theory of commemoration of German researchers Jan a...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Oral History. - Oral History Society. - 35(2007), 2, Seite 57-66 |
|---|---|
| 1. Verfasser: | |
| Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2007
|
| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | Oral History |
| Schlagworte: | Communicative Memory Cultural Memory Holocaust World War Two Switzerland Behavioral sciences Political science History |
| Zusammenfassung: | The 1990s debate surrounding the Swiss bank accounts of Holocaust victims has led to a revision of the historical view of Switzerland's role in World War Two, which until then was dominated by the image of an innocent and resisting nation. The theory of commemoration of German researchers Jan and Aleida Assmann can help us to understand the ostensible clash of history and memory that occurred during this debate. Based on the results of the oral history project Archimob. The article shows that despite the long-time dominant view of the country's past, several partial memories have existed which have threatened to oppose this, but which had no chance of being articulated in public. This leads to the conclusion that the dominance of a certain method of commemoration in public is always a means for gaining social power. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 01430955 |