CHALLENGING THE POLITICS OF GERMAN VICTIMHOOD: MEMORY ACTIVISM AND THE CONTESTED ANNIVERSARY OF THE DRESDEN BOMBINGS SINCE 2005

Abstract

The anniversaries of the bombings of Dresden on 13 and 14 February 1945 have become key events in Germany's memory calendar. This article examines the role that local civil society agents have played in shaping, and changing, local memory culture in Dresden after 2005. It will explore how different memory agents interpreted the Dresden bombings, what significance for the present they attributed to them, what memory practices they adopted, and how these led to a significant transformation of local memory culture. I will argue that the years 2005 to 2016 saw two important shifts in local memory culture. First, the initiatives of local civil society activists, who aimed to resurrect ‘forgotten’ memories and advocated alternative memory practices, resulted in a more diverse and pluralist local memory landscape. A key dimension of this was the diversification of the meaning of victimhood that included, crucially, victims of Nazi persecution. Secondly, these years witnessed a reassessment of the meaning of the Dresden bombings and of the inherently political character of the annual commemoration, linking the legacy of the bombings unambiguously to the fight for tolerance and against right-wing extremism.