Facing the Nazi Past: United Germany and the Legacy of the Third Reich

The Berlin Wall crumbled amidst fears that a united Germany might seek too quickly to put its Nazi past behind it, inaugurating a new era of triumphant nationalism. What happened instead was surprising: behind the flag-waving arose a more public, thoughtful, and realistic scrutiny of the country's horrific legacy than ever before seen in postwar Germany.Facing the Nazi Pastshows how the readiness of a newly united people, combined with an explosion of media events, gave birth to a collaborative, determined effort to reexamine and accept the past. The reunification of Germany brought an end to a certain way of looking at the Third Reich. As long as Germany was divided, guilt for National Socialism could be passed back and forth over the border. However with one Germany the past is now shard by all Germans, and if the country is to be psychologically as well as geographically united, then it will have to be on the basis of accepting a common past, both the good and bad. Drawing on archivalresearch, newspaper reports, and historical documents, Facing the Nazi Past casts a new light on the history and legacy of Nazism. Together, Germans are shaping a more inclusive memory of the past, and a more inclusive, pluralist society in the future.

Bill Niven is Reader in German at the Nottingham Trent University.