Countless objects owned by Jews were illegally appropriated in Germany between 1933 and 1945: houses, businesses, paintings, furniture, tablecloths, bric-a-brac. Some of these items were returned to their previous owners after 1945, not always voluntarily, but many were not. These objects are connected with emotions. But what were the emotional associations for the original Jewish owners on the one hand, and for the Aryanisers, buyers and their heirs on the other?
Emotions are linked to cultural values and moral principles. Feelings of shame and enjoyment, for instance, are both the result of learning processes that take place within a specific social, cultural and political context. Which values were associated with the appropriated objects by dispossessed Jews and by their new owners, and which kind of idea of morality and value did the heirs of the latter attach to them, knowing that these objects had been in their family’s possession only since the Nazis had come to power? What do these values and emotions tell us about the way the National Socialist past was dealt with both emotionally and materially?
This conference will investigate these questions emphasising in particular recent findings about how, in their private sphere, Germans tackled the questions of morality and emotions in relation to the appropriated and inherited possessions of the Nazi era. The conference approaches these questions from two different angles: from the perspective of the objects, reconstructing their history, theft and eventual return or non-return; and by studying the emotions linked with such objects from the Nazi era. Scholars from the UK, USA, Germany and the Netherlands will take part in this conference.
Information on participating / attending:
Date:
07/26/2010 - 07/27/2010
Event venue:
German Historical Institute
17 Bloomsbury Square
WC1A 2NJ London
United Kingdom
Target group:
Scientists and scholars, Students
Relevance:
international
Subject areas:
Cultural sciences, History / archaeology, Philosophy / ethics, Social studies
Types of events:
Entry:
06/14/2010
Sender/author:
Gesche Schifferdecker
Department:
Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event31701
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