Holocaust angst : the Federal Republic of Germany and American Holocaust memory since the 1970s

321 Pages·2016·6.088 MB·English

by  Eder, Jacob S

Holocaust Angst

Holocaust Angst
THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
AND AMERICAN HOLOCAUST MEMORY
SINCE THE 1970s
JACOB S. EDER
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Eder, Jacob S., author.
Title: Holocaust angst : the Federal Republic of Germany and American
Holocaust memory since the 1970s / Jacob S. Eder.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016] | ?2016 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015050164| ISBN 9780190237820 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780190237844 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Foreign public opinion, German. |
Memorialization—United States—Foreign public opinion, German. |
Public opinion—Germany (West) | Holocaust (Television program)—Influence. |
Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Historiography. | Antisemitism—Germany (West). |
Memorialization—United States. | Germany (West)—Ethnic relations.
Classification: LCC DS134.26.E34 2016 | DDC 940.53/1843—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015050164
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
This book is dedicated to the memory of
Katharina Buchhorn (1918– 2011)
and
Michael Buchhorn (1949– 2011)

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xiii
Note on Terminology, Translations, and Sources xvii
Introduction 1
1. Holocaustomania: West German Diplomats and American
Holocaust Memorial Culture in the Late 1970s 16
2. A Holocaust Syndrome? Relations between the Federal Republic
and American Jewish Organizations in the 1980s 50
3. Confronting the Anti- German Museum: (West) Germany and the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1979– 1993 84
4. Politicians and Professors: The Politics of German History in the
American Academy from the 1970s to 1990 130
5. After Unification: The Transformation of Holocaust Memory,
1990–1998 160
Epilogue: Holocaust Angst and the Universalization
of the Holocaust 197
Notes 211
Bibliography 255
Index 285
vii

Acknowledgments
A few years have passed since I completed my dissertation at the University of
Pennsylvania, on which this book is based; even more years have passed since
I finished my M.A. thesis at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, where I spent
a year on a Fulbright scholarship and began thinking about the topic of this
book. It gives me great pleasure to thank the large number of people who have
so generously provided encouraging feedback and productive criticism over the
past years. I am above all indebted to Alan E. Steinweis, Susanna Schrafstet-
ter, Philipp Gassert, and Norbert Frei (in the order we met). I am particularly
grateful to Susanna Schrafstetter and Alan Steinweis, who have been a most
significant source of advice since my stay in Lincoln, and the many conversa-
tions we have had there, in Munich, Burlington, and elsewhere have had a deep
impact on my work. I wholeheartedly thank Philipp Gassert, the coadvisor of
my dissertation, for many instructive discussions about German history, his
indispensable advice and support, and for giving me numerous opportunities
to present my project in Germany and abroad. I thank Norbert Frei for his very
helpful advice at crucial stages of this project and for inviting me to join the
Doktorandenschule of the Jena Center 20th Century History and later the Leh-
rstuhl für Neuere und Neueste Geschichte at the Friedrich- Schiller- Universität
Jena. At Jena, I have very much benefitted from conversations and discussions
with my wonderful (current and former) colleagues Tobias Freimüller, Marcel
vom Lehn, Franka Maubach, Kristina Meyer, Dominik Rigoll, Tim Schanetzky,
Dietmar Süß, Annette Weinke, and especially Daniel Stahl.
I also thank my dissertation committee at the University of Pennsylvania,
particularly my advisor Thomas Childers, for helping me to navigate smoothly
through graduate school. I cannot express my gratitude enough to Beth
S. Wenger for expanding my knowledge of American Jewish history, but above
all to Benjamin Nathans for his generous advice, his challenging questions,
and especially for being a true mentor to me at Penn. I thank Kathy Peiss and
Ronald J. Granieri for their advice in the early stages of this project, as well as
ix