Remembrance and Ethnicity

The coexistance of diverse ethnic groups in the towns and villages of central and eastern Europe was accepted as normal before WWII. The conflict lines which existed prior to 1939 were exacerbated in many places by genocide, civil war and various occupation policies. Since many of these lines extend to the present day, WWII is central to European remembrance cultures as the cause of conflict, as well as the opportunity for reconciliation.

Geschichtswerkstatt Europa investigates the representation of ethnicity at specific sites in its local complexity. This not only ‚reconstructs’ the mosaic of central Europe, but scrutinises the process of re-assembly, thereby tracing the construction of ethnicity on the level of individual, lived experience. Through individual biographies, Geschichtswerkstatt Europa examines the significance of ethnic identities for remembrance of Europe beyond the catastrophe of war and the influence of this on the process of remembrance.