Memory Wars: Queer German History

Who does German history belong to, what is part of it and who can make their voices heard in the debates? These are central questions in the negotiation of German identity. On the International Holocaust Memorial Day 2023, for the first time the Bundestag especially commemorated queer victims of the German NS regime of terror. In this panel, historians Bodie Ashton and Jennifer V. Evans discuss questions of marginalization of queer experiences and memories as well as queer life during and after national socialism in Germany with Tania Mancheno and Jürgen Zimmerer. Ashton also contributed to the recent anthology “Erinnerungskämpfe. Neues deutsches Geschichtsbewusstsein” (ed. by Jürgen Zimmerer; Reclam 2023). The event is part of the series “Colonial Legacy Dialogues”, a cooperation between Kampnagel and the Research Centre Hamburg’s (Post-)Colonial Legacy, in which scholars, activists and artists discuss the connections and effects of colonialism in Hamburg, Germany and the Global South.