WAR, POST WAR, COLD WAR

REMEMBRANCES OF WORLD WAR II AND THE NEW BEGINNING OF THE POST-WAR YEARS (1945–1960)

The Second World War and subsequently the Cold War led Europe into a state of enduring division. Evidence of this can be seen today in the greatly differing cultures of memory and remembrance in European societies. In the programme year 2012, Geschichtswerkstatt Europa funds projects that examine the after effects of the Second World War on European societies in the first 15 post-war years. These international projects should make a contribution to our understanding of the formative years of European cultures of remembrance.

The projects should consider one of three topic areas – each of which particularly highlights the different practises of remembrance of the war in the post war years: going back, exchange and the politics of history.