WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk How To Remember The Holocaust
Jan 16, 2026
Waitman Wade Beorn, a historian specializing in Holocaust studies, delves into the intricate strategies of Holocaust remembrance. He explores the evolution of memory practices across countries, highlighting significant milestones like the Nuremberg trials and the impact of museums in shaping public narratives. Beorn also discusses Germany's reckoning with its past, grassroots educational initiatives in Poland, and how local memorials reflect shifting perceptions. With a focus on intergenerational memory, he uncovers the complexities of commemorating a painful history.
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Coming To Terms With The Past
- Vergangenheitsbewältigung captures the idea of 'coming to terms with the past' as central to German memory work.
- That concept explains much of postwar Germany's public reckoning.
Brandt's Kneel In Warsaw
- Willy Brandt's 1970 kneeling at the Warsaw Ghetto Fighters memorial became a symbolic national admission of guilt.
- That gesture later received its own commemorative plaque and square in Warsaw.
Family Memory Evolves
- Family memory often differs across generations with grandchildren softening complicity narratives.
- Private family narratives can reshape national reckoning over time.
