Future of memory: Experts discuss NS crimes in Stuttgart

Future of memory: Experts discuss NS crimes in Stuttgart

In 2025 marks the latest date in German history: 80 years after the liberation from National Socialism. While in many parts of the country the atrocities of the past era are remembered, the question arises how the culture of remembrance can be designed in the future. In this context there was a discussion round that dealt with the future of memory of the crimes of the Nazi regime. The event was organized and moderated by journalist Lisa Welzhofer from the Stuttgarter Nachrichten in cooperation with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Experts such as Prof. Dr. Jacob Eder, a historian, Julia Wolrab, scientific director at the Documentation Center National Socialism Freiburg, and Christian Serdarusic from the Coordination Center Memory Culture Stuttgart. As reports [stuttgart.de] (https://www.stuttgart.de/veranstaltungskalende/80-jahne- after- warsende--koennen-wir-in-zukunnernen-502741.php), the last survivors of the Nazi era are now older, which means that this memory is increasingly at risk.

The need for a lively memory

The event not only illuminates the risks of forgetting, but also the challenges that schools, memorials and museums are about. "The culture of remembrance in Germany was shaped by displacement for a long time," says the Stiftung-evz.de. Especially after the Second World War, its own offenses were silent, and responsibility for the crimes of the Nazi era was also rejected in the GDR. It was only with the student movement of the 1960s that there was a turn that made a deep examination of the past necessary. Today schools are central places to address this problem, supplemented by documentaries and projects with contemporary witnesses.

The opinions of the population

"A current study shows that many people in Germany want a final line under the Nazi past," reports tagesschau.de. This debate raises questions: Is it really time to leave the discussion about this terrible era? About 42.8% of those surveyed consider the memory of the Nazi crimes important, while 38.1% believe that it is now time to draw a line. It is particularly striking that young and highly educated people are more likely to represent the need to memory, while a majority of older respondents and AfD voters support the attitude of commemoration.

The challenges of memory culture

The result is particularly alarming that many people perceive National Socialism as an era without a reference to the present. Veronika Hager from the EVZ Foundation described this as a "memory-cultural tipping point". This development is reinforced by a feeling of overwhelming current problems, where 43.6% of those surveyed prefer to pursue current issues. Therefore, it is all the more important to keep the examination of the past alive and to look at it in a new light to ensure that the atrocities never have been forgotten. The discussions and initiatives that took place as part of the event are a step in the right direction, towards a reflective and responsible culture of memory.