Anna Saunders Livres

During the final decade of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), young citizens found themselves at the heart of a rigorous program of socialist patriotic education, yet following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the emphasis of official state rhetoric, textbooks and youth activities changed beyond recognition. For the young generation growing up during this period, "normality" was turned on its head, leaving a sense of insecurity and inner turmoil. Using a combination of archival research and interviews, together with educational materials and government reports, this book examines the relationship between young people and their two successive states in East(ern) Germany between 1979 and 2002

Memory debates and the built environment since unification -- 'Working through' the GDR past -- A shifting memorial culture -- Memory, monuments and memorialization -- Notions of, and problems with, collective forms of memory -- Monuments, memorials and 'memory markers' -- Socialist icons: from heroes to villains? -- The role of monuments in the GDR -- Transition: October 1989 to October 1990 -- Eastern Berlin I: from unification to Lenin's fall -- Eastern Berlin II: from the commission's recommendations to -- Thalmann's survival -- Demolition debates beyond Berlin: Chemnitz's 'nischel' -- Modification: a modern makeover for Halle's flag monument -- Relocation: finding a new home for Leipzig's Karl Marx relief -- Conclusion: the ever-present narrative of 1989 -- Soviet special camps: reassessing a repressed past -- Special camps and interrogation centres -- Commemoration without monumentalization: representing silenced memories at Buchenwald -- Emotive symbolism and reconciliation at Funfeichen -- Breaking the silence: historical revision in Greifswald -- A monument without answers? Haftstatte Prenzlauer Allee, Berlin

Exploring the ways in which the GDR has been remembered since its demise in 1989/90, this volume asks how memory of the former state continues to shape contemporary Germany. Its contributors offer multiple perspectives on the GDR and offer new insights into the complex relationship between past and present.