Appropriated Memory: The Creation of a German Post-Memorial Literature

by Reinhard Zachau, Katia Pizzi (Series Editor)

Th​is​​ b​ook offers a survey of post-World War II German-language post-memorial writing.​ An analysis​ of​ the books by​ Heinrich Böll, Günter Grass, and Wolfgang Koeppen​ e​xposes the difficult path of German writing about the Holocaust. Koeppen’s unauthorized ​​appropriation of Jakob Littner’s survivor memoir serves as the frame for th​is study,​​ ​expos​ing​​ ​the difference​s​ between perpetrator and victim perspectives. The various attempts ​by​ the current generation​ of authors​ to bridge th​is​ ​divide​ ​reflect​ the renewed interest and changed attitude​s​ towards the Holocaust ​that emerged ​in Germany after ​R​eunification. Included in this volume are W. G. Sebald’s imaginary dialogue between a victim and a perpetrator, Ursula Krechel’s exploration of Jewish life in Shanghai from a Jewish perspective, Iris Hanika’s presentation of the distraught mindset of a member of Germany’s second perpetrator generation, and Kevin Vennemann’s ​narrative about​ a Jewish child in​ the midst of​ a Polish massacre.

262 pages, Paperback

Published September 8, 2025