Panel discussion with Professor Dr. Matthias N. Lorenz, Dr. Hannah von Sass and Professor Dr. Benno Zabel

Memory is not simply there, it is actively produced. Even and especially that which should not be remembered makes the prevailing conditions of acceptability in a society visible. Using the example of acts of 'doing memory' of the racist pogrom in Rostock-Lichtenhagen in August 1992, literature and cultural studies scholar Matthias Lorenz shows how the culture of remembrance of right-wing violence has changed over the decades. The focus here is on contemporary solidarizations of Jewish actors, whose references to the anti-Semitic pogroms of the Nazi era were perceived as a disturbance by the reunified majority society. The attempts of Rostock's urban society to counteract these interventions reveal which narratives ultimately prevailed - and at what cost.
Following the lecture, comics researcher and Krupp Fellow Gudrun Heidemann will discuss with alumni Matthias Lorenz, literary scholar Hannah von Sass and legal philosopher Benno Zabel the ethics and performance of remembering right-wing violence as well as literary-theatrical reappraisals.