Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. and the Memory of the Holocaust

Julia Lange

EN

Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. and the Memory of the Holocaust

Abstract

The recognition politics of German-American activists and their ethnic organizations have been marked by significant successes since the late 1980s. The opening of the German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. (GAHM) in Washington, D.C. in 2010 is a symptom and continuation of these intensified visibility politics aimed at raising the symbolic capital of German-American ethnicity. By closely examining the representations of National Socialism and the Second World War in the GAHM’s permanent exhibition and its wider cultural programs, including its temporary exhibitions, this paper sheds light on the museum’s problematic memory politics which stand in direct competition with the one pursued by the nearby United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Whereas attempts at confronting the German National Socialist past have been intensified by the museum’s leadership in more recent years, the existence of pro-Nazi German-American groups still remains silenced in the museum. German-American identity politics and the dynamics of Holocaust memory are intricately interrelated, I argue, with the latter not impeding but, paradoxically, rather catalyzing the former’s strength.

Keywords

German Americans, Ethnic Museums, Identity Politics, World War II, Holocaust Memory

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

North American Language, Literature and Culture, Literary Studies

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Julia Lange ^* This is me
0000-0002-5296-4835
Germany

Publication Date

May 1, 2020

Submission Date

September 22, 2019

Acceptance Date

October 18, 2019

Published in Issue

Year 2020 Number: 53

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA92ZK45XJ

APA

Lange, J. (2020). Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. and the Memory of the Holocaust. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, 53, 7-33. https://izlik.org/JA92ZK45XJ

AMA

1.Lange J. Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. and the Memory of the Holocaust. JAST. 2020;(53):7-33. https://izlik.org/JA92ZK45XJ

Chicago

Lange, Julia. 2020. “Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. And the Memory of the Holocaust”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, nos. 53: 7-33. https://izlik.org/JA92ZK45XJ.

EndNote

Lange J (May 1, 2020) Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. and the Memory of the Holocaust. Journal of American Studies of Turkey 53 7–33.

IEEE

[1]J. Lange, “Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. and the Memory of the Holocaust”, JAST, no. 53, pp. 7–33, May 2020, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA92ZK45XJ

ISNAD

Lange, Julia. “Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. And the Memory of the Holocaust”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey. 53 (May 1, 2020): 7-33. https://izlik.org/JA92ZK45XJ.

JAMA

1.Lange J. Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. and the Memory of the Holocaust. JAST. 2020;:7–33.

MLA

Lange, Julia. “Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. And the Memory of the Holocaust”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, no. 53, May 2020, pp. 7-33, https://izlik.org/JA92ZK45XJ.

Vancouver

1.Julia Lange. Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. and the Memory of the Holocaust. JAST [Internet]. 2020 May 1;(53):7-33. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA92ZK45XJ

JAST - Journal of American Studies of Turkey

Troubling Memories?: The German-American Heritage Museum of the U.S.A. and the Memory of the Holocaust

Abstract

Keywords

Abstract

References

Details

Primary Language

Subjects

Journal Section

Authors

Publication Date

Submission Date

Acceptance Date

Published in Issue

IZ

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