Tagungsbericht (englisch version)
Symposium of the University of Heidelberg
"The Nazi Politics of Racial Discrimination and Extermination – Forms of Memory in the Arts of Eastern Europe – Literature, Film, Art and Music"
As part of the interdisciplinary research project at the Institute of Slavonic Studies and the Institute for East European History of the University of Heidelberg a symposium entitled
was organised in Heidelberg from October 29th to November 2nd 2003. Due to the outstanding contributions by renowned scholars from the USA, Canada, Israel, Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, the Russian Federation and Germany, it was possible to gain a first overview of the international state of research in this field.
After an introduction on the historical dimensions of the subject, the lectures dealt with different forms and contents of social and historical memory as represented in fiction, poetry, journalism, film, music, the performing and visual arts and memorials as a form of public memory in different countries and cultures of Eastern Europe from the Thirties of the Twentieth Century up to the present. One focus of the symposium was the way the Nazi politics of racial discrimination and extermination in the respective countries has been depicted in Polish, Czechoslovakian, Yugoslavian and Soviet literature. The representation of this theme in film, music and arts was not neglected either, particularly in the Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The lectures provided a deep insight into the different forms of memory in Eastern Europe and showed similarities and differences in dealing with the subject in different countries, different art forms and in different historical periods.
Although the symposium was able to give an excellent insight into today’s state of research, it also became clear that research on the portrayal of the Nazi politics of racial discrimination and extermination in the arts of Eastern Europe is still in its infancy and so far has taken place only occasionally and in isolation. More comparative and interdisciplinary research has to follow this first overview, international relations between researchers and institutions have to be established and expanded. A first step in this direction will be the publication of the symposium papers in spring 2005 in an anthology, which aims to present the up-to-date results of the research to a broader public.
All papers of the conference will be published in 2005 in the anthology "Die Kunst ist der Zerstörer des Schweigens - Die nationalsozialistische Rassen- und Vernichtungspolitik in Osteuropa: Formen künstlerischer Erinnerung" .
At this point we would like to thank once again the „Internationales Wissenschaftsforum Heidelberg“, the „Fritz Thyssen Foundation“ and the „Foundation of the University of Heidelberg“ for their generous financial and organisational support. The symposium would not have been possible without their help, especially not with such renowned international participants and in such a pleasant setting. We would also like to thank Gilead Mishory and Michael Buselmeier, who were responsible for the cultural highlights of the symposium.