Formation and Development of the Policy of “Overcoming the Past” in the National Memory of the FRG

Abstract

The article analyzes the processes of postwar development of Germany from the point of view of implementing measures to denazify and disqualify persons who have tarnished themselves under theHitler regime, the specifics of the formation and stages of the formation of the policy of “overcoming the past” in the national memory of postwar Germany. The author, singling out four different stagesand depths of understanding, clarifies the problems of the formation and development of this policy from posing the “problem of guilt”, the differentiation of its types with respect to the common andexcellent policies of the two German states, the role of the international political context and the reconstruction of the historical truth regarding the Third Reich and conditions for the formation ofculture of memory in modern Germany. The strengths and weaknesses of West Germany’s ambivalent policy with regard to its identity are analyzed through clear disassociation from the Nazi past and, on the other hand, the broad integration of former Nazis into new public institutions as an option to win democracy in Germany despite the post-war moods of most of its citizens. The immediate significance of the succession of generations in the political arena, the public study of the Nazi past and the establishment of a new political culture in public discourse are underlined. Its main elements were the memory and responsibility of generations for the Holocaust and the strengthening of the national identity of the Germans through “constitutional patriotism”. In the united Germany, the comprehension of the totalitarian past, which took place quite intensively and resulted not only in public discussions, but also contributed to the memorialization and commemoration of historical memory, the reparation to victims of Nazism and forced workers of the Third Reich from different countries and the restoration of justice to all those affected by the so-called policy “Arization” and measures to return property and cultural values to their heirs, is fairly effective. The policy of “overcoming the past” contributed to the achievement of a public consensus of the national memory of the modern FRG regarding the recognition of the crimes of the Nazi period and the making of lessons from the past. As in any other Western society, in Germany the attitude towards the Holocaust is the cornerstone of the memory of the Second World War and the symbol of the crimes of Nazism, as well as the central historical event of the XX century.