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Vanishing Points of Memory

On the Holocaust and Colonialism in the Present Day – A Conversation with Natan Sznaider and René Aguigah (in German, video recording available)

Two portrait photos side by side: a short-haired middle-aged man in shirt and blue sweater and a man with gray beard and glasses in brown jacket.

René Aguigah, photo: private, and Natan Sznaider, photo: Peter-Andreas Hassiepen

At the intersection of postcolonialism, Holocaust commemoration and coming to terms with the past, a controversial debate about the supposed certainties of German remembrance culture has unfolded over the past year. Is the memory of Jewish victims privileged over African victims? What distinguishes racism from antisemitism? Hannah Arendt and Edward Said were not the only ones to ask such questions in the past. In their work, Natan Sznaider, Professor of Sociology at Tel Aviv University, finds ideas and arguments to advance today’s discussion. Will it ultimately be possible to commemorate the victims of the Shoah and colonialism without relativizing history?

recording available

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The W. M. Blumenthal Academy is marked in green

Where

W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin (Opposite the Museum)

In conversation with journalist René Aguigah, the author will address the often ignored dialog between the remembrance of the Shoah and of colonialism.

Natan Sznaider

Natan Sznaider, born in Mannheim in 1954, has been a professor of sociology at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo since 1994.

René Aguigah

René Aguigah, born in Würzburg in 1974, is a cultural journalist and presenter, and heads the literature department of Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandfunk Kultur.

German cover of the book by Natan Sznaider: Vanishing Points of Memory. On the Holocaust and Colonialism in the Present Day

Natan Sznaider: Fluchtpunkte der Erinnerung. Über die Gegenwart von Holocaust und Kolonialismus (Vanishing Points of Memory. On the Holocaust and Colonialism in the Present Day), München 2022 © Carl Hanser Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, München

Video recording from 31 January 2023 (in German)

Where, when, what?

  • When Tue 31 Jan 2023, 7 pm
  • Where W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
    Klaus Mangold Auditorium

    Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
    (Opposite the Museum)

    See location on map
  • Entry fee

    6 €, reduced rate 3 €

  • LanguageThe event will be conducted in German.

Video Recordings: Watch Past Museum Events (70)

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