Survivors of the Resistance in Post-war Europe

Interest in historical research regarding the role played by the survivors of the anti-fascist resistance and the former persecutees of National Socialism in the politics of history in most European states has admittedly grown in recent years. The central focus here, however, is on national aspects. Relatively little attention has been paid to the cross-border activities of the former persecutees and to their diverse international contacts, although the survivors counted among the few protagonists during the Cold War who maintained their links to those beyond the Iron Curtain. The present study aims to remedy this shortfall. Therefore, the transnational memories of the former persecutes shall be examined using the International Federation of Resistance Movements (FIR) as an example. The focus will be on the memory of the resistance, which dominated commemorative cultures in both Eastern and Western Europe. The thesis of transnational memory studies, according to which commemorative cultures were not intertwined transnationally until the memorialisation of the Holocaust in the 1980s, will be critically examined here and a contribution made to the debate on a collective European memory. What role did the FIR play in the European discourses on memory? Did a transnational European memory of resistance exist? What stance did the FIR adopt over Holocaust remembrance, Jewish survivors and Israel? What role did the anti-fascist resistance fighters play in selected conflicts of the Cold War, such as the debate over German rearmament? How was the remembrance of Nazi crimes used in these conflicts as well as in the campaigns for compensation and the debate about limitation? Did the male-dominated associations of former persecutees remember the participation of women in the resistance? What role did the persecution of the Jews play in the memory of FIR? How did the FIR react to the challenges of resistance memory as a result of the commemoration of the Shoah in the West from around 1979 onwards? The central approach is the cultural studies concept of transnationality, which is used to ascertain the reciprocal connections, intertwinements and references transcending national borders between the commemorative cultures. Discourse analytical concepts will be used to examine the linguistic practices of the FIR, which served to achieve an understanding of the past and to give meaning to the present. In this way, the transformations of memory and oblivion, which is inextricably linked to remembrance, can be traced in detail. The combination of discourse analysis and the examination of memory should allow for the provision of methodical impulses for research into historical memory.

Dr Maximilian Becker Survivors of the Resistance in Post-war Europe European Networks and Communities of Transnational Memory In the post-war, former persecutees of National Socialism played a major role in the political, social and cultural life. These survivors - particularly former political prisoners as well as resistance fighters - and their numerous associations stood up for the rights of the survivors, maintained the memory of the resistance and the concentration camps, informed the public and especially younger generations about the Nazi crimes, demanded to punish the persons responsible for these crimes and dealt with right wing extremism. Furthermore, survivors took part in the campaigns of the Cold War on both sides. In doing so, survivors acted across national borders and had contacts to the East and the West. The project examines these transnational contacts and these transnational activities using the most important international survivors' association, the International Federation of Resistance Movements (FIR), as an example. Starting in 1946/47 with the founding of the International Federation of Former Political Prisoners (FIAPP), from which in 1951 the FIR emerged, the project traces the survivors' history up to the end of the Cold War. Among the FIR's members were associations of former political deportees, organizations of Jewish survivors and unions of former partisans. Its member organizations coming from Eastern and Western Europe as well as Israel, FIR linked survivors across the Iron curtain. With Communists in the majority, the FIR frequently took sides with the Eastern bloc in the struggles of the Cold War. In the project it is asked, who the FIR's functionaries and members were. What role played women and Jewish survivors? It is asked about the FIR's manifold political, cultural and social activities as well as about the conflicts with anti-communist survivors' organizations. The focus is on the memory of the resistance, which dominated commemorative cultures in both Eastern and Western Europe. What role did the FIR play in the European discourses on memory? Did a transnational European memory of resistance exist? What stance did the FIR adopt over Holocaust remembrance, Jewish survivors and Israel? What role did the FIR play in selected conflicts of the Cold War, such as the debate over German rearmament in the 1950s? How was the remembrance of Nazi crimes used in these conflicts as well as in the campaigns for compensation and the debate about limitation? Moreover, the survivors' commitment within the peace movement and against right-wing extremist groups is analyzed. The survivors' motivation for this commitment resulted in part from their experience in the resistance and in the concentration camps. Thus, a comprehensive picture of the former political prisoners' and resistance fighters' history during the Cold War is drawn.