Die vielen Gesichter des Holocaust

The process of remembering the Holocaust is facing a turning point. As the last members of the generation who experienced the Holocaust die, secondary presentations of history are replacing primary narratives. Cultural history media are entrusted with an important task as part of this development. They must keep the memories alive and transfer them from a communicative memory to societies’ cultural memory. The aim of this study is to show how representations in museums react to these challenges. Transnational and national tendencies are enquired into, as are similarities and differences in representations of the Holocaust in museums. The analysis focuses on the Holocaust History Museum in Yad Vashem, the Information Center for the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, the Holocaust Center in Oslo and the Memorial Center in Budapest.