DějinyGeschichteDejiny

Edited by Christoph Cornelißen, Roman Holec, and Jiří Pešek, this volume examines how state institutions, political and social elites, and populations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Germany dealt with the recent past after World War II. In several longitudinal sections over the entire postwar period, the conflict-ridden formation of collective cultures of memory is shown. Here it becomes clear to what extent "Eastern" and "Western" science, politics, and journalism, but also feature films and documentaries, were able to convey contrasting images of the past that still determine the collective memory of nations today. The concluding contributions on coming to terms with war and post-war experiences since the collapse of communism form the basis for a wide-ranging international comparison of national cultures of memory in Europe.