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How did West German memorial sites for the victims of National Socialism establish themselves as places of learning in the 1980s? Today, memorial sites at the locations of National Socialist crimes are an integral part of historical culture and the socialisation of young people in Germany. In the former Federal Republic, they were established in the face of considerable social and political resistance. Who were the people who championed these sites? What drove them, and how did these influences shape the educational practices they developed? Ulrike Löffler demonstrates how memorial work in West Germany evolved from the state of reflection in the 1970s and as a result of the memorial sites increasingly established from 1980 onwards. The focus is on the rationales, approaches, objectives and methods from the formative phase of memorial education. In the face of difficult conditions, a heterogeneous practice emerged that was heavily dependent on the respective actors; Löffler analyses this comprehensively for the first time and examines it in depth using the Dachau and Neuengamme memorials as case studies. The author thus conducts foundational research into the development and pedagogy of memorial sites. By looking back at the early days, she invites a self-reflective further development of memorial site education.

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