Bitburg in Moral and Political Perspective - Hardcover

9780253344304: Bitburg in Moral and Political Perspective

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0253344301 ISBN 13: 9780253344304

Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr, 1986

A routine diplomatic visit to the cemetery at Bitburg in May of 1985 turned out to be the most volatile political event of the year. What did Bitburg reveal? Why did it become such an issue? This thought-provoking book will help us to understand these issues.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Hartman, author of Criticism in the Wilderness, English professor and faculty adviser to the Video Archive of Holocaust Testimonies at Yale, here gathers essays by American and European historians and scholars about President Reagan's controversial May 1985 visit to a cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany, where Waffen SS soldiers are buried. The 10 essayists ask: What does Bitburg reveal about our postwar world, our memories of the Holocaust and our relationship to the past? Alvin Rosenfeld, a scholar of Holocaust literature, illustrates how perceptions of the Holocaust are being changed by popular representations on film and TV. Survivor and novelist Primo Levi discusses how we distort our memories after a traumatic event to erase pain or guilt. Historian Saul Friedlander reflects upon Germany's struggle with its Nazi past. Essays by Raul Hilberg and other specialists are also enlightening. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

President Reagan's highly controversial wreath-laying ceremony at the military cemetery at Bitburg, Germany in 1985 and the furor it aroused occasioned this book, which constitutes a retrospective reflection on the meaning of that event. The volume consists of scholarly essays, press accounts of the trip, press commentaries, and key speeches given by some of the principals in the debate. Hartman has judiciously selected insightful essays by leading interpreters of the Holocaust (Hilberg, Levi, et al.) that either comment on the Reagan visit or use it as a basis for confronting the larger question of historical memory. The book not only sheds light on the Bitburg trip but represents a case study of how to evaluate the humanistic implications of historical events. Benny Kraut, Judaic Studies Dept., Univ. of Cincinnati
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.