What role did Jewish survivors in the German Democratic Republic play in the cultural debate on the Holocaust and National Socialism? How could Jewish experiences of persecution and antifascist convictions be negotiated and articulated in the face of history, politics, and state- imposed acts of remembrance? Drawing on personal documents and works by authors like Arnold Zweig and neglected historian Helmut Eschwege, the talk explores these questions and shows Jewish and, in some cases, non-Jewish actors’ motivations and options for action. In doing so, the talk examines the tension between wilful action, negotiated compromises, and at times painful concessions to the state.
Alexander Walther received his PhD from the University of Jena in 2023. His book Die Shoah und die DDR. Akteure und Aushandlungen im Antifaschismus (‘The Shoah and the GDR: Actors and negotiations in anti-fascism’) was published by Wallstein in 2025 and is based on his doctoral dissertation.
