#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
