Holocaust Angst

The Federal Republic of Germany and American Holocaust Memory since the 1970s

Jacob S. Eder

A comprehensive account of attempts by German political actors to grapple with American Holocaust memory and reshape Germany's public image abroad
Focuses on the German effort to rehabilitate its reputation in the eyes of the world in the wake of World War II and the Holocaust
Brings American Jewish voices into narratives of West German history
Uses a large number of newly accessible and declassified sources in Germany and the United States
Author has lived and worked in both Germany and the United States

Holocaust Angst

The Federal Republic of Germany and American Holocaust Memory since the 1970s

Jacob S. Eder

Description

In the face of an outpouring of research on Holocaust history, Holocaust Angst takes an innovative approach. It explores how Germans perceived and reacted to how Americans publicly commemorated the Holocaust. It argues that a network of mostly conservative West German officials and their associates in private organizations and foundations, with Chancellor Kohl located at its center, perceived themselves as the "victims" of the afterlife of the Holocaust in America. They were concerned that public manifestations of Holocaust memory, such as museums, monuments, and movies, could severely damage the Federal Republic's reputation and even cause Americans to question the Federal Republic's status as an ally. From their perspective, American Holocaust memorial culture constituted a stumbling block for (West) German-American relations since the late 1970s.

Providing the first comprehensive, archival study of German efforts to cope with the Nazi past vis-à-vis the United States up to the 1990s, this book uncovers the fears of German officials — some of whom were former Nazis or World War II veterans — about the impact of Holocaust memory on the reputation of the Federal Republic and reveals their at times negative perceptions of American Jews. Focusing on a variety of fields of interaction, ranging from the diplomatic to the scholarly and public spheres, the book unearths the complicated and often contradictory process of managing the legacies of genocide on an international stage. West German decision makers realized that American Holocaust memory was not an "anti-German plot" by American Jews and acknowledged that they could not significantly change American Holocaust discourse. In the end, German confrontation with American Holocaust memory contributed to a more open engagement on the part of the West German government with this memory and eventually rendered it a "positive resource" for German self-representation abroad.

Holocaust Angst offers new perspectives on postwar Germany's place in the world system as well as the Holocaust culture in the United States and the role of transnational organizations.

Holocaust Angst

The Federal Republic of Germany and American Holocaust Memory since the 1970s

Jacob S. Eder

Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Note on Terminology, Translations, and Sources
Introduction
Chapter 1: "Holocaustomania": West German Diplomats and American Holocaust Memorial Culture in the Late 1970s
Chapter 2: A "Holocaust Syndrome"? Relations between the Federal Republic and American Jewish Organizations in the 1980s
Chapter 3: Confronting the "Anti-German Museum": West Germany and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1979 - 1993
Chapter 4: Politicians, Professors, and the Politics of German History in the American Academy from the 1970s to 1990
Chapter 5: The Transformation of Holocaust Memory in Unified Germany, 1990 - 1998
Epilogue: Holocaust Angst and the Universalization of the Holocaust
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Holocaust Angst

The Federal Republic of Germany and American Holocaust Memory since the 1970s

Jacob S. Eder

Author Information

Jacob S. Eder, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena

Jacob S. Eder is a Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.

Holocaust Angst

The Federal Republic of Germany and American Holocaust Memory since the 1970s

Jacob S. Eder

Reviews and Awards

"Shines a bright light on the Kohl generation's paranoia about German victimization at the hands of Jews." - Harold Marcuse, American Historical Review

"[O]ffers an original and important interpretation of the changes in and controversies surrounding Holocaust memory from the 1970s through the 1990s... Eder successfully reconstructs the multiple networks and colorful personalities involved in the politics of Holocaust memory, their varied actions, and the pervasive angst in elite government, foundation, and academic circles... Holocaust Angst will be of interest to scholars and students in a variety of fields including not only Holocaust memory and the politics of history but also German-American relations in the rather neglected decades of the 1980s and 1990s, and Cold War cultural diplomacy. It revises our understanding of how Germans tried to come to terms with the Nazi past, and it illustrates how productive a transatlantic approach to the politics of history and memory can be." - Mary Nolan, Holocaust and Genocide Studies

"The title of the book, Holocaust Angst, is eye-catching and helps dramatize a littleknown chapter in history. The information about the role played by German historians, knowingly or unknowingly, in the political game is illuminating, and puts the average reader on the alert concerning important historical debates. Eder's book is highly recommended for scholars as well" - Moshe Zimmermann, IIsrael Journal of Foreign Affairs

"What makes Holocaust Angst stand out is the vast network of actors involved in the coordinated effort to shape American memory culture — diplomats, politicians, nonprofit groups, think tanks, and charitable foundation. ... Eder has produced a wonderful, detailed analysis of the transnational nature of memory politics and how Holocaust memory became increasingly internationalized over the past four decades." - Jon Berndt Olsen, Journal of American History