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Holocaust Remembrance in the Council of Europe: Deplorable Victims and Evil Ideologies without Perpetrators

(Jewish Political Studies Review) Elisabeth Kuebler - The current European politics of Holocaust remembrance, with its interplay of multiple perspectives of Holocaust history, is marked by the hijacking of the Jewish perspective by including numerous other real and self-claiming victim groups under the Holocaust definition, very general and superficial feelings of shame, and the ascription of a role-model character to the righteous among nations for present-day good citizenship behavior. On the flipside, evil ideologies and subsequent crimes are being denounced without clearly pointing to the individuals and societies who are guilty thereof. The Strasbourg-based intergovernmental Council of Europe, whose establishment dates back to the immediate postwar era, produces pedagogical programs on Holocaust remembrance. Strikingly, the council's fight against anti-Semitism is institutionally separated from the Holocaust remembrance and education portfolio. Dr. Elisabeth Kuebler is a lecturer at the Department of Government of the University of Vienna, and college professor at the Lauder Business School, Vienna.
2010-11-19 08:39:06
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