Publications

The publication presents the 2024 catalogue of the exhibition 'Between Life and Death. Stories of Rescue during the Holocaust.'

In creating the first issue of Remembrance and Solidarity: Studies in 20th Century European History, we elected not to give it a theme any more precise than what the title seems to suggest. Nonetheless, the scholars we invited to contribute, no matter whether they were experienced or young, submitted texts in which two relatively clear tendencies are evident. The first is the theme of remembering the history of the 20th century in terms of political and societal issues. The authors describe debates and decision-making processes leading to the establishment of days commemorating certain events or situations in which new political rituals come into being that are meant to change our perception of the past. They compare the reigning principles in historical memory in Eastern and Western Europe, and consider the roles of the great historical caesurae in forming a sense of community within a generation. The subject of memory and its political function and potential has evidently lost none of its relevance, and continues to attract researchers, although it has been widely discussed and addressed in Europe for at least twenty years. Another aspect that unites the majority of texts is reference to communist history. This surely results from the history of the communist system and regimes having been ‘delved into’ to a much lesser degree than that of Hitlerism and its affiliated ideologies, and the sinister mark they have left on the history of 20th-century Europe. Although it is not the intention of the publishers of Studies to oppose this sort of compensatory work in the fields of history and memory, we hope that the coming issues of our annual magazine will be devoted to the memory of crises (2013), which were plentiful in 20th-century Europe, and the memory of World War One and its far-reaching effects (2014).

Since there are a number of relevant periodicals dealing with Holocaust research, the ‘Call for Articles’ for this current issue, published in February 2015, requested a focus on issues that are particularly relevant to the work of the ENRS. The objective was to obtain current research contributions from different European countries and to address authors with regional and methodologically different approaches. The response to this call has been overwhelming. The fifteen contributions ultimately selected for publication in this issue were written by an international group of authors either in English or in their native language and then translated into English. They deal with Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary, or Central and Eastern Europe as a whole. The issue is divided into two main parts: I. Articles, which include academic research, and II. Miscellanea, which present both project reports and professional reflections. The Articles are subdivided into two further sections: ‘History – Studies on the Period’ focuses on the history of oppression and dispossession of Jews as well as the history and course of the murders in different local, regional and national contexts; and ‘Memory – Studies on Remembrance’ centres on post-1945 memory and remembrance, in which a variety of forms of public and private remembrance and memory preservation are considered, including literature, exhibitions, films and memorials. Special emphasis is placed here on the ways in which the subject was handled during the communist era and the question of comparability of the Holocaust / Shoah with the crimes of Stalinism.

The publication presents the 2020 catalogue of the exhibition 'Between Life and Death. Stories of Rescue during the Holocaust.'

En: Europe on Trial: The Story of Collaboration, Resistance, and Retribution during the Second World War.

In Europe on Trial, acclaimed historian István Deák presents the comparative history of collaboration, retribution and resistance during the Second World War. Deák explores these three themes through the Western and Eastern European countries that suffered at the hands of German military occupation. The occupied countries had to face the question of whether to cooperate with their German occupiers, try to survive the war without any political involvement or risk their lives by opposing the Nazis. Foreword by Norman M. Naimark.

German version published by the ENRS in cooperation with Böhlau publishing house. Year: 2017.

Polish-English edition. The war, the ghetto and the extermination constitute the darkest and most tragic chapter in the history of Otwock, Poland, and its inhabitants. This publication attempts to show the reality of those days as seen through the eyes of witnesses.

Published by Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Otwacka, with ENRS as a partner.

En: Magazines of European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, Volume 5. Competitive interpretations in Eastern Europe after the Second World War.

The volume focuses on different approaches and argumentations in the process of commemorating the Second World War. Particular attention is paid to work and motivation of victims’ associations in the countries of Eastern Europe and Germany.

Published in 2012 by European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, De Gruyter Oldenbourg.
Edited by K. Erik Franzen, Prof. Dr Martin Schulze Wessel

En: Magazines of European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, Volume 2. Commemorating the Second World War: Monuments and Museums in Central and Eastern Europe.

The publication gives a broad view on memory of the Second World War in three countries: Germany, Russia and Poland. The book includes a transcript of discussions focused on themes like Holocaust, Victory Day, occupation and resistance.

Published in 2011 by European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, Leipziger Universitätsverlag
Edited by Stefan Troebst, Johanna Wolf.