From Traumascape to Trauma-escape (Memory

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From Traumascape to Trauma-escape (Memory versus Oblivion)

Fereshteh Kovacs 2015

Abstract Traumascapes are sites associated with the painful past. Remembering and representing this bitter past play a crucial role in shaping the future through learning and experiencing. However, on the opposite side, oblivion which is a natural psychological process in dealing with the past sufferings and pains reinforced by some external factors stimulates escaping from and denial of the truth, whether partially or completely. The Second World War is marked as the most striking tragedy in the history. Germany as the starter of WWII and the protagonist of this war has embraced battlefields, and sites of tragedy, atrocity and mass death. The fate of these battlefields or associated sites, how the tragedy of human suffering is narrated, and how the victims are commemorated, are important to be investigated due to their significant role in shaping the collective memory and preventing similar traumas in future. Nevertheless, considering the resisting factors in preserving the memory of the tragedy from forgetfulness and the dynamic characteristic of the influential factors, this issue is intricate and complicated which needs to be attended carefully. This paper aims to trigger this problem by exploring the sites associated with the tragedies of World War II in Germany.

Keywords: Traumascape, Memory, Silence, Oblivion, World War II, Germany

Table of Contents 1.

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

2.

Key Terms and Criteria ................................................................................................................... 2 2.1.

Definition of the Key Terms.................................................................................................... 2

2.2.

Criteria ..................................................................................................................................... 3

3.

Traumascapes and External Dynamics ............................................................................................ 5

4.

The Battlefield of Memory in Germany .......................................................................................... 6 4.1.

Küstrin-Kietz ........................................................................................................................... 6

4.2.

Treuenbrietzen ......................................................................................................................... 8

4.3.

War Cemeteries in East Berlin (Waldfriedhof- Karolinenhof).............................................. 11

5.

Memory vs. Oblivion in Germany- Justification and Analysis ..................................................... 12

6.

Conclusion- from Traumascape to Trauma-escape ....................................................................... 17

7.

Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... 18

8.

Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 18

1. Introduction ‘The past is never quite over. Years, decades after the event, the past is still unfinished business’ (Tumarkin 2005, 12). Traumascapes are sites associated with a tragedy and the painful past. The second World War, the deadliest global armed conflict, in terms of the number of victims, is marked as the most striking tragedy in the history. Germany as the starter of WWII and the protagonist of this war has embraced battlefields, and sites of tragedy, atrocity and mass death. The fate of these battlefields or associated sites, how the tragedy of human suffering has been narrated, and how the victims have been commemorated, are important to be investigated due to their significant role in shaping the collective memory and preventing similar traumas in future. Yet, considering the resisting factors in preserving the memory of the tragedy from forgetfulness, this can be an intricate problem. Furthermore, the matter of time and the dynamic characteristic of influential factors intensify the complexity of the subject. This paper aims to trigger this problem by exploring the sites associated with the tragedies of World War II in East Germany. In this case, three examples are examined in order to analyse the issue and provide an answer to the following questions: What are the possible ways in coping with the loss and memory of a tragedy? What dictates the context and the type of commemoration in a traumatic site? What are the most influential factors in determining how to present a traumascape? Are needs and concerns of local communities considered in the presentation of the traumascape that they are connected with? In this regard, several key terms are used, which will be defined in the first place. Then, the influential external dynamics in the fate of a traumascape will be scrutinized. In addition, three criteria are represented to create a basis for the subsequent discussions. In the next step, three case studies in Germany are introduced to assist the theoretical sections and to understand the construction and characteristics of traumascapes. In conclusion, a summary of the discussions, the answers to the research questions, and a definition of the concept of ‘trauma-escape’ as a plausible stage in dealing with traumatic events is provided.

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2. Key Terms and Criteria At the beginning of developing the topic of this paper, it is crucial to define the terms and clarify precisely the ‘criteria’ that is going to be used in the study.

2.1.

Definition of the Key Terms

The very first step is to clarify what I mean by the concept of ‘traumascape’ inasmuch it is the foundation of my discussion. Traumascapes are associated with the stories of human sufferings and pains, atrocity, and the tragedy of the mass death of people. Traumascape is not a simple concept; rather it is a place reflecting different layers of formation. I used the word layers to emphasize the changeable nature of traumascapes and further develop my definition. Here, I need to enter the element of ‘time’ to define traumascape not as a place but as space. Traumascapes are not a simple locus, rather, as Tumarkin states, they “become much more than physical settings of tragedies: they emerge as spaces where events are experienced and re-experienced across time.” (Tumarkin, 2005: 12) However, her definition is vague as she does not define the doer here; who is experiencing the traumascapes? Are they outsiders; aliens who understand it as a commodity? Or are they the people who are in a way connected with the tragedy? It also brings this ambiguity that traumascapes are not changeable; that they are frozen in a certain point of time when the tragedy happens, and the only thing that gives it the character of a space is the experience of a visitor. I go further to define traumascapes as spaces of tragedy, changeable and affected by external political, social, cultural, and even economic forces of the local or international context at different intervals. The external dynamics can be so powerful to transfer a traumascape to powerscape, touristscape, or ‘trauma-escape’, which is the subject of this paper. As discussion with only theoretical framework makes the problem more ambiguous, I leave my definition of traumascape here, continue with defining other key terms and will deal with it in the end. In this paper, I will use three critical terms of ‘memory’, ‘silence’, and ‘oblivion’. Thus, a brief definition of what I mean by these words is necessary. Memory: Cambridge Dictionary defines memory as something which can be remembered from the past events, or the ability to remember. (© Cambridge University Press) A more detailed definition of memory, which suits the aim of this essay as I am exploring the problem in the context of society is given by Pierre Nora; “Memory is life, borne out of living societies founded in its name. It remains in permanent evolution, open to the dialectic of remembering and forgetting, unconscious of its successive deformations, vulnerable to manipulation and appropriation, susceptible to being long dormant and periodically revived.”(Phillips, 2004: 2) Silence: According to the definition of Cambridge Dictionary, silence is a period without any sound; complete quiet: a state of refusing to talk about something or answer questions, or a state of not 2|Page

communicating; or to prevent someone from expressing their views or from criticizing or opposing someone. (© Cambridge University Press) Oblivion: Oblivion is defined as a state of being completely forgotten or unconscious. (© Cambridge University Press) Oblivion is derived from the Latin word ‘oblivisci’, which mean ‘to forget’. (© wiktionary.org) Although some consider a slight difference between the two words, oblivion and forgetfulness are used as synonyms in this paper.

2.2.

Criteria

When a tragedy happens, there is always a dilemma whether to remember or to forget, to destroy or preserve. In developing the criteria, I use this plain fact and introduce some paradoxical options, which can be considered in deciding about the future of a traumascape. Here, three possible criteria are defined. ‘Maintenance or demolition’; ‘public mentioning or silence’ (including in academic literature and local guides; active suppression of speech, censorship etc.); ‘exalting or stigmatising’. For clarifying each of these criteria, I will use some examples without studying the reason behind a certain current in these examples, as they are not the focus of this study. 

Maintenance or Demolition

Iraqi forces blew up Susan Hospital in Qasr-e Shirin, in 1983 during Iraq-Iran war. After the war, Iranian decision-makers decided on maintaining the hospital in a way it was [Fig. 1], not demolishing the remains, nor building a similar one in the same place.

Figure 1. Susan Hospital, Qasr-e Shirin, Iran after Iran-Iraq War- An example of Criterion 1: Maintenance © Author, September 2016

On the contrary, Berliner Schloss, which was damaged due to the bombardment during WWII, is an example of demolition [Fig. 2]. Although the castle could be repaired and the damaged parts could be restored, under orders of the East German government, the whole structure was detonated in 1950 [Fig. 3]. Instead, during 1973-1976, the Palace of the Republic [Fig. 4] was constructed in a modern style in complete contrast to the old building. However, this palace had the same fate as the Berliner 3|Page

Schloss, while after the fall of Berlin Wall; the building was closed in 1990 (due to the so-called asbestos contamination). After a long debate over whether to maintain or demolish the building, it was finally decided to gradually demolish the building from 2006 to 2008 [Fig. 5]. Today, Berliner Schloss with its Baroque style is once again being reconstructed with a large investment to provide Berlin with a ‘historic heart’. (Berlin Palace—Humboldt Forum Foundation, 2013)

Figure 2& 3. Berliner Schloss, Left: After WWII; Right: Demolition in 1950- An example of Criterion 1: Demolition, © sbshumboldtforum.de

Figure 4. The Palace of the Republic in 1986, GDR Period, © Junge, de.wikipedia.org, 1986



Figure 5. The Palace of the Republic in 2008, Example of Criterion 1: demolition ©Wolf, de.wikipedia.org, 1986

Public mentioning or Silence

An example of criterion two, silence, can be the mass rape of German women by the Red Army and East European Partisans after the occupation of Germany, which has been estimated from tens of thousands to two million. (Langenbacher, 2003) Women who were victims of this crime were forced to or chose to be silent out of shame. Schumacher, a woman who was raped by the Soviet troops during WWII, was silent for 65 years. At the age of 83 she admitted that during GDR government, she was forced to sign a statement and deny what had happened to her. (Westervelt, 2009) On the contrary, Nazi Germany’s defeat in WWII left space for publicly mentioning their crimes, for example, Holocaust and the mass murder of Jews. 

Exalting or Stigmatising 4|Page

Multitude memorials of fallen Soviet soldiers in Germany, commemorating the victims of Vietnam War in the US and so forth are instances of many other examples of exalting the memory of tragedies and glorifying their victims. In opposition, disgracing the Germans after WWII due to Nazi crimes and calling all Germans fascist who deserved to be killed or raped is an example of stigmatization.

3. Traumascapes and External Dynamics The problem of coming to terms with the painful past, the how to remember or forget the bitter memory can have a local, national or even international motivation or obstacle that determines the final representation of a traumascape. Moreover, there are different influential variables in each context controlling ‘the what’, ‘the how’, and ‘the how much’ to present in a traumascape. These variables may be political, economic, social, and cultural and determine how a traumascape can keep a tragic memory alive, obliviate it permanently or temporarily, or even manipulate it. To elucidate the discussion more, I will continue with a certain premise that there are different layers in shaping a traumascape. A tragedy happens in a certain location and at a certain point in time. This is the very first layer in the formation of a traumascape. Next layers are superimposed on the first layer at different intervals of time. I point at the problem of time once again to shed light on its magic power in creating a process. The tragedy is the beginning point of this process: giving birth to a traumascape. Thus, traumascape can change, find different meanings, or even metamorphose in different periods of time under the influence of different forcing dynamics and variables. The following model [Fig. 6] is designed to simplify this discussion.

Figure 6. The formation process of a traumascape, © Author, September 2015

In this model, dynamics are the very national or international political, social, cultural, and economic forces and even some individual motivations. Self-evident as it is, these dynamics are constantly changing over the course of time. The next layers of a site with a tragic event are determined and placed by these variables. What these dynamics can decide on is based on the three aforementioned criteria.

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In each criterion, I had considered two paradoxical options. The context and the dynamics decide on which of these contradictory cases or which criterion can be used. In fact, the process depends on which dynamic is dominant and powerful enough to resolve the situation. In other words, here, “memory is contested” (Langenbacher, 2003) by these dynamics; the way these dynamics represent their will is important in selecting a certain option in a criterion, formation of the future layers, and deciding on the fate of a traumascape.

4. The Battlefield of Memory in Germany Germany is probably the most appropriate case to study traumascapes and the conflicting memories of World War II. In the battle between the memory of German sufferings and Nazi atrocities, the second one which was strongly supported by different dynamics suppressed the first one for a long time. In this part, Küstrin-Kietz, Treuenbrietzen, and Waldfriedhof- Karolinenhof are studied and analysed as the examples of the problem.

4.1.

Küstrin-Kietz

Küstrin-Kietz is a small historical village that is located in the state of Brandenburg, at the border of Germany with Poland. Due to its strategic location, Küstrin-Kietz was a focal point for the war sides that made it a battlefield between the Soviet and German forces. In 1945, the small cemetery of Küstrin-Kietz witnessed a mortal battle between German and the Soviet Union soldiers. The traces of bullets on the old gravestones of the cemetery are a testament to this tragic event. (©friedhofansichten.de) After the war, Küstrin-Kietz became a part of the Soviet’s occupation zone and East Germany under the GDR rule. From 1945 the cemetery which was part of the Soviet artillery barracks was declared a prohibited area. (© weltkriegsopfer.de) Therefore, no one was allowed to enter the cemetery and it was forgotten for more than 40 years until the reunification of Germany. Dr Joachim Pipe [Fig. 7] was ten years old, when he had to leave Küstrin-Kietz with his family during the war. After the wall came down and Germany was reunified, Dr Pipe who was from one of the original families of the village came back to Küstrin-Kietz and visited the old cemetery. “The plants and trees were overgrown and everything was damaged. Many of the gravestones were missing. But the oldest graves were still there”, he recalls. Finally, he established an initiative with the help of his wife to save the old cemetery from destruction. They found other interested locals, cleaned the cemetery and assembled the fragments of 50 old gravestones and left some traces of the war to admonish anyone who would not respect the peace and

dignity

of

the

place.

(Grieger,

2014)

Figure 7. Dr. Pipe who established an initiative for saving Küstrin-Kietz Cemetery, © Ulf Grieger, moz.de, 2014

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Dr Pipe has also spent nearly EUR 100 000 in 25 years to buy the lands around the cemetery and develop the orchard in order to prevent any further damage to the cemetery. Furthermore, the Commission of Volksbund for the War Graves with the help of the local initiative created a symbolic tomb on which the names of the known German soldiers, killed and buried during the battle, have been carved. (Ibid) On 21 September 2015, I head to Küstrin-Kietz village to visit the battlefield and war cemetery of WWII. At the train station, I see a standing Bulletin board on which different popular places and sightseeing of Küstrin-Kietz, including the old cemetery with war graves and the monument of the fallen Soviet soldiers in WWII, are briefly illustrated. I exit the station to ask people about the old cemetery. I meet a woman around 50 years old and ask her about the war cemetery. She is sceptical about what I am asking. She even makes a call and asks his son to help me. In the end, they explain that there are two cemeteries, Alter Friedhof, which is not used anymore and the new one. My destination is definitely Alter Friedhof of Küstrin-Kietz. Then, I ask about the memorial of the fallen Soviet soldiers; she can

Figure 8. The story of Küstrin-Kietz cemetery on a board at the entrance of the cemetery, © Author, September 2015

with no doubtless explain where the statue is. About 15-minute walk from the train station, in the midst of the village houses, I find the orchard of the old cemetery. Outside the door of this cemetery, there is a bulletin board [Fig. 8] that narrates the history of the cemetery. In the last paragraph I can read: “the purpose of the restoration of this cemetery after the destruction during WWII and post-war years, and after almost 50 years of forgetfulness, is to create a place not only for reminding the history and the fate of Kietz itself, but also a place for peace and contemplation. In the name of all those who were killed and buried in the horror of the war, may this cemetery be a reminder for future generations.” I enter the old cemetery that embraces some gravestones dating back to 1800s and the symbolic grave [Fig. 9 & 10] of the war with more than 200 names carved on it. I go back to the centre of the village and find the memorial of the fallen Soviet Soldiers [Fig. 11 & 12], which was erected after WWII for honouring and glorifying the Soviet soldiers as martyrs who chose to die for the liberation and salvation of their fellow human being.

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Figure 9 & 10. The memorial of German war victims, installed after reunification, © Author, September 2015

Figure 11 & 12. The memorial of the fallen Soviet soldiers, erected after WWII, © Author, September 2015

4.2.

Treuenbrietzen

The small town of Treuenbrietzen is located in 60 kilometres southwest of Berlin. On 23 April 1945, hundreds of people were slaughtered in Treuenbrietzen by German and the Soviet Red Army. The Soviet troops occupied Treuenbrietzen on Saturday, 21 April; however, the massacre of about 1000 German civilians took place two days later, possibly as retaliation for the murder of a Soviet officer in the town. (Kauffmann, 2009) In the notorious massacre of Treuenbrietzen, the Soviet Red Army shot an estimated 270 civilians at the edge of the nearby forest. Over the next two weeks, they kept shooting German civilians. It is believed that about 800 to 1000 men were being killed by the end of the war, while women were not safe and raped by the Soviet troops. Germany’s contribution to Treuenbrietzen massacre was to shoot 131 Italian prisoners in a gravel pit in which only four of them could survive. (©executedtoday.com, 2012) The victims of this massacre were buried in Italian War Cemetery in Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf, among the other Italian victims of WWII. (Gilmour, 2012) Ingeborg Grabow who experienced the mortal 23 April, was 21 years old on that date. She remembers the execution of Treuenbrietzen men and states "All civilians who did not leave the city during the fighting, were seen as partisan and could be shot". In addition to the mass murder of Truenbrietzen’s men, women were sexually assaulted. Then, they went through gynaecological examination, which verifies what happened to them. (Mielke, 2008) 8|Page

For more than 50 years, the citizens of this small city in East Germany were silent about what happened on 23 April 1945. Many of them still do not wish to recall the past. (Kauffmann, 2009) Gerda Berkholz, who was 14 years old back then and can recall the massacre very well, says “23 April 1945 had been always a taboo subject here. No one could denigrate the Soviets in any way because it was assumed as a crime against the government that was officially a friend of the Soviet Union”. (Mielke, 2008) After the reunification of Germany, the long-silenced slaughter was being investigated by a local historian, Wolfgang Ucksche, who is now the head of local heritage association and director of the city museum. (Mielke, 2008; Kauffmann, 2009) Although he was born in 1956, Ucksche remembers the time of the so-called ‘suffocation era’, when even at school they “were always told that the Soviet soldiers had been the absolute good in 1945. They had brought us bread and organized the city”, he says. (Mielke, 2008) At that time, official accounts for this event was that 88 people had been killed in the US air raid or they had died because of disease. (Kauffmann, 2009) Even today, the search for clues is difficult as many of those who witnessed the crime refuse to talk about it. Truenbrietzen’s mayor, Michael Knape, acknowledges that "people are very reluctant" to discuss what remains a taboo subject. Even his own grandmother had refused to talk about the massacre. (Kauffmann, 2009) Since 1995, on April 23, there has been a commemoration for both massacres in Treuenbrietzen, while Italian and Russian diplomats have also been participating in this ceremony. (©executedtoday.com, 2012) I visit Treunbrietzen on 22 September 2015 to find the war graves and evidence about how this trauma has been dealt with. I walk through the peaceful and quiet city as if nothing ever has happened here. In my search for finding the cemetery, I talk to an old woman who is sweeping the sidewalk of her house. She points at two opposite direction of Nordwalder Ring and says the right-side cemetery, which I later find out is the cemetery of the massacre of local people, is ‘international’ and many people come to visit it. If I want to categorize carefully, there are three ‘Kriegsgräber’ or war cemeteries in Treuenbrietzen, two of them next to each other and all of them in the heart of the residential area. First, I turn to the left direction and visit the cemeteries of WWI and the Soviet Union victims in WWII. There, I see a statue of a rising angel

Figure 13. Rising angel in the entrance of WWI and Soviet cemeteries © Author, September 2015

[Fig. 13], which reminds me that I am going to visit an 9|Page

important or even a sacred place! Right after this statue, there is a square field with a statue of a lying lion in the middle [Fig. 14 & 15], which emphasizes the glory of soldiers who died during WWI.

Figure 14 & 15. Cemetery of WWI and with a lion in the middle symbolizing the glory of victims © Author, September 2015

Adjacent to this cemetery, there are 240 graves [Fig. 16] of the Soviet soldiers each one them embellished with a star, the symbol of the Red Army and the badge of glory. There are two stone plates [Fig. 17 & 18] on two opposite sides of the entrance, one in Russian and the other in German, with these words on engraved them: The glory of the heroes, who vanished in the battles for the Socialistic Motherland, will not wane. Their valour will live for ages in the hearts of millions of proletarians.

Figure 16-18. Left: Soviet cemetery of WWII, Right: The memorial of victims in German and Russian languages © Author, September 2015

I exit the cemetery and turn to the right, walk around 500 meters to visit Triftfriedhof [Fig. 19] with the buried bodies of 1945 massacre. There are two 12 rows of low-growing shrubs [Fig. 20], 6 on each side. In the axis of the cemetery, there is a small gazebo with a cubic stele [Fig. 21] with the name of victims carved on its four sides. On the memorial stone, there is also this sentence: “Gedenken der Toten” which means “Remember the dead”. There is also a single memorial of a fallen Treuenbrietzener doctor.

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Figure 19-21. Cemetery of German victims of Treuenbrietzen massacre; the redesigned grove to associate the rows of graves; and the memorial with the name of known victims on it © Author, September 2015

The bodies of the massacre were buried in the pasture. According to Professor Nitschke, this cemetery is home to 337 deaths in six mass graves in which the dead are buried in twelve rows atop one another. In 2005 (on the 60th anniversary of the end of the war) the city announced a redesign of the grove to honour the victims of the massacre. Based on official documents, 209 German soldiers, 125 Treuenbrietzen civilian, and three foreign forced labourers are buried there. However, there have been different accounts for these numbers. Wolfgang Ucksche states “those who helped bury them kept a secret tally but gave up counting after 721.” (Audrey Kauffmann, 2009)

4.3.

War Cemeteries in East Berlin (Waldfriedhof- Karolinenhof)

East Berlin is full of the cemeteries of WWII, mostly mass graves without any sign of the name of people who were buried there. Ms. Beatrice Knoop who works for the commission of ‘Graves of the Victims of the War and Tyranny’ in Berlin explains that during WWII, family members or neighbors had to bury the dead, in many cases without a coffin, in the so-called improvised burial grounds such as their house gardens, public parks, gardens of the schools and similar places in order to prevent epidemics.

After the war, most of these improvised

cemeteries were cleared and the dead were reburied in regular cemeteries. Nevertheless, some of these temporary cemeteries were forgotten to be cleared so that even years after the war, they might be discovered in construction work. Waldfriedhof Karolinenhof located in the middle of the woods in East Berlin, Schmöckwitz area, is an example of these improvised cemeteries of WWII. Since this cemetery was not a regular one, in 1946, further burials were

Figure 22 & 23. WaldfriedhofKarolinenhof, The memorial for German victims buried durin 1945, © Author, September 2015

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prohibited there. On 1 July 1965, The Federal Graves Law was ratified in West Germany on preserving the graves of the victims of the war and tyranny on their territories, which of course was not valid in East Germany. (©stadtentwicklung.berlin.de) Thus, under the GDR rule, people gradually forgot about Waldfriedhof- Karolinenhof. In 1970, the cemetery was completely closed. After the reunification of Germany, Ms Knoop and other officials responsible for the Graves of the Victims of War and Tyranny in the Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment of Berlin visited the cemetery. However, after more than 60 years of the event, they were unable to find any trace, which could lead them to the graves to start disinterring bodies and burying them in another cemetery. Nevertheless, they installed a bronze plaque [Fig. 22] with the names of 108 known people (including 103 adults and 5 children) buried during the period between 5 May 1945 and 26 November 1946th. In the right side of this plaque, there is a boulder engraved by letters RIP. In addition, the local candidates who were helping in this project marked the place with a wooden sign [Fig. 23] on a tree, 200 meters away from the bronze plaque. (Knoop, 2015) In March 2015, a book entitled Versunkene Friedhöfe in Karolinenhof und Schmöckwitz” was published on the topic by local historian, Wolfgang Stadthaus [Fig. 24]. When he had moved to Karolinenhof in 1971, Stadthaus could still see the tombs; however, later the tombs were removed. (Drescher, ©berliner-woche.de) In his book, Stadthaus has tried to summarize the information about the two long-forgotten cemeteries of Karolinenhof and Schmöckwitz. In May 2015, local people encouraged and led by Mr Stadthaus held a commemoration ceremony for the buried victims in Waldfriedhof-Karolinenhof after years of oblivion.

Figure 24. Wolfgang Stadthaus local initiator, © Ralf Drescher, berliner-woche.de

Figure 25. Commemoration of the buried victims Waldfriedhof- Karolinenhof by local people, © Ralf Drescher, youtube.com, May 2015

5. Memory vs. Oblivion in Germany- Justification and Analysis Using the theoretical framework of the essay, this section focuses the attention on carefully examining this problem by investigating which criteria under the impact of which dynamics have caused a certain dominant current in the three case studies. In other words, given the three criteria, which I introduced earlier in part 3, I analyse the three case studies to justify the protean nature of traumascape.

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Prior to going into any details about the suppressive forces of the memory in Germany, I postulate a simple psychological fact concerning unpleasant memories. As I had mentioned before in section two, there is always a dichotomy after a tragedy, whether it should be forgotten or remembered. Sometimes denying or trying to forget the past when it is associated with the feeling of guilt or tragedy of loss can be more comfortable. In fact, the first natural reaction to a painful event is to forget and to avoid recalling its memory. Nietzche represents the idea of ‘active forgetfulness’ as an antidote for recalling the dark past. (Feversham & Schmidt, 1999: 136) However, in the case of WWII, we are dealing with collective memory, which makes the case more complicated. For a long time after the war on both sides of Germany, East and West, there was this silence about how Germans suffered and what happened to Germany. Because of the feeling of guilt, it took a long time for German citizens to face the horrors of the aerial bombing and their dark memories of the war. In addition, suffering that Germans experienced during WWII was not a topic in academia for decades, because it would have meant to bring up an accusation against particularly the western allies. In East Germany, the situation was even more difficult as the communist regime of GDR played a central role in what people should have remembered and what they should not! All the three represented case studies are located in East Germany, which was under the rule of GDR in the period before the reunification. This is important because the leadership and the political dynamic is determinant in the fate of traumascapes. The way a memory is suppressed or preserved differs considerably dependent upon the nature of the leadership, whether it is democratic or authoritarian, and how much control it has over the freedom of expression (Bernhard & Kubik, 2014:2). This, in turn, introduces another important issue of the fear inherited from a dictatorial regime. (Brito et al., 2001: 18) Here, once again, I point at the silence of hundreds of women who refrained from speaking of what had happened to them after the war. They had no voice because of the imposed fear by GDR throughout East Germany. Moreover, in this period, many documents were manipulated or destroyed to deliberately obliterate the memory of the wrong-doings of the Soviet Union –the salvation angel of Germany. GDR considered itself as an anti-fascist government and the Soviet Union, committing no crimes, as the true liberator of Germany. Anyone who could possibly make an opposite account to that which GDR represented was considered as fascist or Neo-Nazi. Victims of the war were dishonoured and stigmatized and buried unknown in mass graves when even they could not be commemorated by their own families. On the other side, several monuments were built to honour the Soviet Union’s victims and soldiers, emphasize on their role in German’s liberation and dilute the memory of their crimes against ordinary German citizens. In the battlefield of memory in the post-war period, GDR tried to replace the communist-centred memory with Nazi-centered memory and obliterate the evidence of its wrong-doings and the Soviet Union’s war crimes. Under this situation, the memory of German sufferings was doomed to forgetfulness for a long time.

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Another important issue in the case of Germany, which can be considered an ‘internal’ and not a politically-driven factor, is the prevailing sense of guilt and shame of complicity in the wrong-doings of Nazi regime among German citizens. This sense of guilt was dominant not only among locals but also in the academic field. As Schneider states “critical authors of postwar Germany considered it a moral and aesthetic impossibility to describe the German, the nation responsible for the World War, as being among the victims.” (Schneider, 2003) This sense of guilt mixed with the politically-driven factors such as GDR propaganda in favour of the Soviet Union’s actions during the war was the stranglehold in the post-war period in East Germany and before the reunification that can be considered as the dominant dynamics of this era. These dynamics represented their ideal memory and defeated the German-suffering-centered memories. Now that the dynamics are clearly explained, I will go back to the criteria in the case of the three examples in East Germany. In the case of Küstrin-Kietz, one can clearly observe the two competing memory regimes. While there is a memorial for the fallen Soviet soldiers, the cemetery was a prohibited area and there was no mention of the German victims for a long time during GDR. This forced long-term silence has caused the memory of what German experienced during the war to be blanched and partly obliviated. Even after the establishment of a local initiative for the commemoration of German victims, not all people have an explicit image of the event. I justify this theory by my experience of asking about the direction of the war cemetery in the first place; when the woman whom I asked was dubious about her answer, but positive when she was directing me to the Soviet memorial. Here, the totalitarian regime of GDR used stigmatizing and prevented public mentioning to promote the memory of the sufferings that Germans inflicted on the Soviets. Treuenbrietzen is an interesting example of what I call it manipulated or selective memory. Two massacres happened on the same day. German forces slaughtered 127 Italian prisoners, while on the other side of the war, the Red Army presumably killed over more than 1000 non-combatant German civilians. But what is the reason for being able to recall all the information from one side, and having a vague memory from the other side without a solid official document that can support what has been revealed until now? All the evidence is clear about the massacre of the Italian prisoners, but there are different accounts of the number of German victims. There are still many hidden facts about the massacre of German civilians due to the suppression by virtue of the presence of a totalitarian regime that selected which memories to remember and which to forget. There were eyewitnesses and ‘survivors’ from both massacres; why so many German witnesses prefer to keep their memories untold? Censorship of the events of 23 April, fear of the government, and silence among both locals and academics are as the result of the powerful political dynamic behind the problem. Similar to Küstrin-Kietz, the long period of silence and suppression of memory, as well as censorship of the facts, has created many blind spots in the memory of Treuenbrietzen. Christoph Lange, the 14 | P a g e

spokesman of the Potsdam Prosecutor has confirmed that they have sent an official request to Russia asking for information about the massacre in Treuenbrietzen. However, he admits “it is unlikely the truth would ever be known”. (Kauffmann, 2009) Another Strategy of GDR in suppressing the memory of Treuenbrietzen massacre is stigmatization of the victims. The two cemeteries of German soldiers of WWI and the Soviet soldiers of WWII, which I described earlier confirms this claim. The victims buried in these cemeteries were honored, respected, and commemorated as heroes, while on the other side, German victims were buried in mass graves, unmarked and unknown; possibly because they did not deserve to be ‘normally’ buried, or more importantly, because it could be a confirmation on the crimes that the Red Army committed in Treuenbrietzen. In the case of Waldfriedhof- Karolinenhof, I can apply the same criteria as the other two examples. However, another criterion that can be applied to this case is the demolition of the tombs that as Wolfgang Stadthaus could remember still existed at least until 1971. A long period of suppression left hardly any trace to help exhume the bodies, but more importantly to exhume the memories, the longforgotten past from the earth. Before closing this section, I require to briefly represent another example. Considering that most literature distinguishes greatly between East and West German political attitudes in different issues (Art, 2014:198), I, as an onlooker who watched from outside, from a different world in a different time, needed to observe more to confirm the deduction from the examples in East Germany. Therefore, I visited a cemetery in West Berlin to investigate the differences between the two different worlds in the fragmented Germany of the post-war period. Although the Holocaust-centered

Figure 26. Städtischer Friedhof III, an example of a war cemetery in West Berlin, © Author, September 2015

memory was predominant in West Germany, according to multitude literature, there was more freedom of expression in this side of Germany. Thus, when I visited Städtischer Friedhof III [Fig. 26], I witnessed quite a different view from the examples of East Germany. Here, the cemetery embraces the graves of German victims with the names carved on each gravestone; a very distinctive picture from what I had presented before. This expressive image confirms the fact that the totalitarian regime of GDR, as the most powerful dynamic in the battle between memory and oblivion, tried to compel an “organized oblivion” (Koonz, 1994: 258) in the German society to exonerate the Soviet Union’s crimes and justify its own legitimacy.

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Case Study

Küstrin-Kietz

Treuenbrietzen

Waldfriedhof- Karolinenhof

Maintenance/demolition

-

-

Demolition

public mentioning/silence

Silence

Silence

Silence

Stigmatising

Stigmatising

Stigmatising

Criterion

Cherishing/stigmatising

Table 1. Summary of the discussions about the three case studies; silence, stigmatizing and demolition stimulated forgetfulness during GDR period

After the reunification, Germans were not under the pressure of a totalitarian regime; however, it took some time for them to find their voice. The silence continued due to the shame of the Nazi crimes until some academic literature gave courage to the others and suffered Germans to talk about their own dark memories. Germans, who abnegated their sufferings for a long time, have started to break their silence to light the events of WWII such as aerial raid, mass rape, massacre, and expulsion. In the three cases of Küstrin-Kietz, Treuenbrietzen, and Waldfriedhof- Karolinenhof, local initiatives were established to dig the past and preserve the memory against oblivion. Is this dynamic powerful enough to usher the battle between memory with forgetfulness? What about the lacuna which was created because of longterm silence? There are still conflicting dynamics that prevent the whole truth from being revealed. On the other side of the local initiatives and political attempts for recalling the past, there are, as yet, people who refrain from talking. When I visited Cottbus cemetery on a Sunday evening in August, something attracted me more than anything else; while in the quiet mass grave of German victims of the war [Fig. 27], I noticed that the memorial of the Soviet Union was accompanied by lit candles [Fig. 28].

Figure 27 & 28. Cottbus Cemetery, Right: Mass grave of German victims of WWII Left: Memorial for the victims of the Soviet Union, © Author, August 2015

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Are political and social wills in some levels of conflict with each other in this case? Do people in East Germany want to commemorate their so-called liberator or is it the impact of the psychological horror from the previous regime? The dynamics behind this tendency to leave the ‘untold’ untold forever should be carefully analysed. Although even after the reunification, the Holocaust-centered memories were more dominant and in the centre of attention, today, the democratic structure of the politically-driven actors allows the coexistence of the conflicting memories of Germany. Official commemoration of the German victims of WWII in the three aforementioned case studies is a testifier of this change. Thus, another layer is being crystallized here. What can be the next layer? In my report about visiting Treuenbrietzen, I emphasized on the word ‘international’ that was used by the local woman. The first idea that conjured up in my mind was the question of the next layer. When a traumascape attracts more international attention, there is always the fear of commercialization and commodification. Is Treuenbrietzen going to find the character of a lucrative commodity? What is the next layer, a touristscape? What about other examples and Germany in general? Whatever the answer is, it will influence the collective memory in Germany.

6. Conclusion- from Traumascape to Trauma-escape Here, I will briefly recall the three questions in the introduction in order to render the image of the discussions. Through emphasizing the dichotomous character of the represented criteria, I answered the first question throughout the paper; remembrance or forgetfulness. Second and third questions are overlapping and interconnected. The paradoxical choices in coping with a loss and trauma are biased by the context and its offered dynamics, like a local community. In some cases, these dynamics coexist and are in interplay with each other, while in some other examples, a powerful dynamic limits the role of others and dictates a certain current. In Germany, these dynamics decided to change traumascapes and provide a new face for it. To develop my explanation I remind the three key terms of ‘memory’, ‘silence’, and ‘oblivion’ at the beginning of my paper. These three concepts are in a close connection and inextricably intertwined with each other. A certain situation may result in silence, or suppression of memory. Changes in the situation and deciding factors “may break the silence and allow memories to be expressed, while at the other times silence can last for so long and under such conditions that it may contribute to the effecting of memory, and induce oblivion. At the same time, however, silence can nourish a story and establish a communication to be patiently saved in periods of darkness, until it is able to come to light in a new and enriched form.” (Passerini, 2005: 238) The malleable character of traumascape is affected by the interrelation of these three concepts and how they are divulged under certain decisive forces. I called the decisive forces ‘dynamics’, as they change in the course of time. Dynamics determine preservation or suppression of a memory, silence, or in the long-term oblivion. In the case of East Germany in the GDR era, in the struggle 17 | P a g e

between the memory of German suffering and oblivion, the first one was defeated by the second one thanks to the powerful political dynamic and its consequent imposed criteria. These criteria decided on the transformation of the traumascapes in East Germany to what I call ‘trauma-escape’. Traumaescape is nothing more than a patina, a new layer on a site of the tragedy. I define trauma-escapes as sites of forgetfulness, or forced silence when the memory is suppressed or the truth deviates as the result of different factors. As Ian Buruma believes “the memories of German suffering cannot be suppressed forever” (Buruma, 2002, © theguardian.com); But can their memories be completely recalled? Yet, as I mentioned before, there are still missing points, which might never be discovered. The truth will always remain buried in the traumascape itself.

7. Acknowledgements Hereby, I would like to express my gratitude to Ms Beatrice Knoop, Dr Jens Nitschke, Professor Leo Schmidt, Professor Winfried Heinemann; and my friends Kristof Kovacs, James Milner and Lucia Buzina who helped me in my research.

8. Bibliography Art, D. (2014). Making Room for November 9, 1989? The Fall of the Berlin Wall in German Politics and Memory, in M. Bernhard, & J. Kubik (eds.), Twenty Years after Communism: The Politics of Memory and Commemoration. Oxford University Press. pp. 195–212. Bernhard, M. & Kubik. J. (2014). Introduction, in M. Bernhard, & J. Kubik (eds.), Twenty Years after Communism: The Politics of Memory and Commemoration. Oxford University Press. pp. 1–6. Britto, A. B. D., Enriquez, C. G., & Aguilar, P. (2001) Introduction, A. B. D. Britto, C. G. Enriquez, & P. Aguilar (ed.), The Politics of Memory and Democratization: Transitional Justice in Democratizing Societies. Oxford University Press. pp. 1–39. Feversham, P., & Schmidt, L. (1999). Die Berliner Mauer heute: Denkmalwert und Umgang = The Berlin Wall Today: cultural significance and conservation issues. Berlin, Bauwesen. Koonz, C. (1994) Between memory and oblivion: concentration camps in German memory, in Gillis, J. (ed.), Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity. Princeton University Press. pp. 258–280. Langenbacher, E. (2003). Changing Memory Regimes in Contemporary Germany. German Politics & Society. Vol. 21. Issue 2 – 2003. pp. 46-68. Passerini, L. (2003) Memories between silence and oblivion. In: K. Hodgkin & S. Radstone (eds.), Memory, History, Nation: Contested Pasts. London: Transaction Publishers. pp.238–54. Phillips, K. R. (2004). Framing public memory. Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama Press. Tumarkin, M. (2005). Traumascapes: the power and fate of places transformed by tragedy. Melbourne Univ. Publishing. Online Resources:

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Westervelt E. (2009). Silence Broken on Red Army Rapes in Germany. [Online Access on 24 September 2015]. Available From: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106687768 Knoop, B. (2015). [Personal Commination by E-mail on 17 September 2015] Wolf, T. (2008). Abrissarbeiten. [Online Access on 27 September 2015]. Available https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palast_der_Republik#/media/File:Palast_der_Republik_Abriss.jpg

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Nitschke, J. (2015). [Personal Commination by E-mail on 25 September 2015] Das Online-Gedenkbuch (No Date). [Online Access on 26 September 2015]. Available From: http://www.weltkriegsopfer.de/Friedhof-Denkmal-Alter-Kietzer-Friedhof-K%C3%BCstriner-VorlandK%C3%BCstrin-Kietz_Friedhofdetails_0_13457.html

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