Book overview
This book methodically examines the decade-slongprocess in which Germany has garnered its reputation as a model for confronting and reconciling with its dark history. Much of this has been attributed to the embodiment of Vergangenheitsbewaltigung or, "the process ofcoming to tenns with the past." Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaboratorspe1petrated the deadliest genocide in world history, killing more than 6 millionJews and millions of other victims of marginalized groups. After the conclusion of World War II and the ultimate defeat of Nazi Gem1any, the country was physically devastated, and most Gennans refused to even discuss the Holocaust. As successive generations of young Gennans came of age, they began confrontations with their elders that would placeHolocaust awareness at the forefront of academics, national politic, sand everyday life. Furthennore, it led to unprecedented efforts to memorialize the victims of the Holocaust in meaningful ways, especially after the reunification of Germany.
