AGI

Memory Politics

Germany’s approach to acknowledging and providing redress for past crimes has offered other nations around the world a guide to reconciliation. While Germany’s efforts resulted from a unique situation and are not considered a blueprint for other nations to emulate, they have nevertheless informed and impacted other countries dealing with the difficult processes of memory, commemoration, and rebuilding bilateral relationships.
Reset

Looking for Germany’s Future in the Former East

A Week in Saxony On a warm Friday evening in late June, nearly 140 people gathered inside the former synagogue in Görlitz, Germany’s easternmost city. They had come from the …

Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United States: Past, Present, and Future

A Three-Year AGI Project – Final Conference Summary The American-German Institute held a final conference in Washington, DC, for the three-year project, “Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United …

Heated Relations

The Past, Present, and Future of the LGBTQ+ Community in Germany and the United States For over a century, LGBTQ+ communities in Germany and the United States have fought for …

Episode 149: Forgotten LGBTQ+ Histories

The Stonewall Riots are known worldwide as a starting point for LGBTQ+ activism, and musicals like Cabaret have shared the story of the queer experience in Weimar Berlin. But the …

Here Today and Gone Tomorrow

Helga Silberberg and Shanghai’s Life Lesson Under the watchful eye of the policeman, the Meyer family packed their belongings into the wooden container.[1] This intrusion into the Meyer residence was …

Far Beyond a Name

Peter Arthur Gray’s Search for Identity and Trust Peter Arthur Gray has gone by many names over the years. When asked to identify himself at the beginning of an interview …

Toy Maker 2: Journeys

On June 20, 2018, the article “The Story of Bert Reiner, the Toy Maker, or: An Appreciation for the Individual Experiences of Former Shanghai Jewish Refugees” was published by the …

Forty Years After Forty Years After

Reflections on the Eightieth Anniversary of the End of World War II The 8 of May, 2025, is the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. …

“Never again Ignore”

Why supporting Ukraine is a strategic necessity, not simply a moral obligation Support for Ukraine is a strategic necessity. However, in Germany, support for the beleaguered country is mainly portrayed …

Episode 123: An Expanding German Memory Culture

For decades, memory culture in Germany has largely focused on coming to terms with and memorializing the Holocaust. In recent years, however, memory discourses have expanded to include, among others, …

Some Small-Town Reflections on Catechism 2.0

When it came to German memory, the language of Dirk Moses’s initial contribution to what subsequently became the so-called Catechism debate was replete with references to a priestly cast, priestly …

Holocaust Memory after Gaza

Toward a New Epistemology of the Minority Question How does one intervene in “the Catechism Debate” when it has caused such polemics? Dirk Moses’ piece “The German Catechism” was published …

The German Reason of State as State Anti-Semitism

In an article published online in March 2024, the historian Andrew Port wrote about “Germany, Gaza, and Genocide.” He summarized what he called the “postcolonial catechism” critique of official German …

A Zeitenwende for Whom?

German Colonial Memory and Epistemic Barriers On November 21, 2024, The Namibian, Namibia’s leading English-language newspaper, reported that the ongoing negotiations between Namibia and Germany over compensation for the genocide …