Remnants of Wehrmacht soldiers : burial and commemoration practices of German soldiers of the second World War in Russia and Europe, 1941-2023 / Nina Janz.
| Author/creator |
Janz, Nina author. |
| Format | Book and Print |
| Publication Info | Berlin ; New York : Peter Lang, 2024. |
| Description | pages cm |
| Subject(s) |
Click here for more information about this title
| Portion of title | Burial and commemoration practices of German soldiers of the second World War in Russia and Europe, 1941-2023 |
| Contents | Soldiers' graves -- Why Russia? -- Church cemeteries and nature parks -- The grave of the common soldier -- The establishment of modern military cemeteries -- The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (VDK) : the start of a German war grave care -- Staging the "cult of the dead" : cemeteries and memorial days -- The German burial organisation during the second World War -- Groves of honour and the heroic landscape : cemetery designs -- The Nazi death cult and its materialisation in graves and cemeteries -- The shift in meaning -- Wehrmacht soldier's graves in German-Russian memory politics -- Exhumations and reburials. |
| Abstract | "Today, fallen soldiers of the Second World War find their resting places across the globe. While many nations openly honor their military, Germany maintains a more reserved approach to its war dead. During the war, fallen soldiers were hailed as heroes, but after 1945, the treatment of the deceased and their graves underwent a profound transformation. Janz explores with a focus on the Eastern Front during wartimes and then post-war Soviet Union and Russian Federation this transformation from three key moments: 1. the treatment of the bodies, burial practices, and exhumations; 2. The burial sites, including cemetery construction and design; and 3. the realm of commemoration, encompassing memorial ceremonies and rituals. These rituals transition from the hero worship of Hitler's Wehrmacht to the mourning and reconciliation policies of the post-war West German government with Russia. This study offers a fresh examination of the German military dead, analyzing it based on diverse case studies within the framework of the controversies surrounding Wehrmacht soldiers and their challenging commemoration in the present day"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references. |
| LCCN | 2023054844 |
| ISBN | 9783631866924 |
| ISBN | 3631866925 |
| ISBN | (epdf) |
| ISBN | (epub) |
Available Items
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions | |
| Joyner | Order on Demand Title | Order On Demand | ✔ Available | Click to order this title |