#55 German culture of remembrance after October 7. Between reason of state and universal law

55th Römerberg Talks

Saturday, May 25, 2024

The uniqueness of the Shoah and Germany’s special responsibility are part of the identity of the old Federal Republic of Germany: the protection of Jewish life as the last resort of German domestic and foreign policy stems from the murder of millions of European Jews. At the latest since October 7, the Hamas massacre in Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, it has become clear that this hard-won culture of remembrance – not least in the historians’ dispute of 1986 and 87 – is no longer suitable as an unquestionable moral resource. How universal is a moral standpoint that is derived from guilt? What moral obligation arises from the singular crime committed by the Germans for people whose belonging to this country is constantly called into question? So what would be a contemporary culture of remembrance and successful reappraisal in our pluralistic society? And how can the special responsibility that arises from historical perpetration be reconciled with a sensitivity for the suffering and misery of the present and future?

Moderation: Hadija Haruna-Oelker and Alf Mentzer

The event is open to the public. Admission is free.

Program

10:00
Welcome
David Dilmaghani, Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture

10:15
Dan Diner
The Binding of Memory – On Germany, Israel and the Crux of Historical Ethics

11:15
Meron Mendel
Israel’s security as a German reason of state: the history of a controversial postulate

12:15
Esther Schapira and Nazih Musharbash
The Middle East conflict on German soil

13:15
Lunch break

14:15
Asal Dardan, Alena Jabarine & Hannah Peaceman
Speak anyway. On alliances and ruptures and German remembrance culture

15:45
Kai Ambos
Who draws the line? Red lines of international (criminal) law as a framework for German Israel policy

17:00
End

Organizer:
Römerberggespräche e.V. in cooperation with the “Normative Orders” research center at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and other partners