Vorspann
Im Frühjahr 1957 setzte die Bundesregierung eine „Wissenschaftliche Kommission für die Dokumentation des Schicksals der deutschen Kriegsgefangenen des 2. Weltkriegs“ ein. Ging es dem federführenden Vertriebenenministerium darum, Dokumentenmaterial für etwaige Friedensverhandlungen zusammenzustellen, wollte der mitgliederstarke Verband der Heimkehrer, Kriegsgefangenen und Vermisstenangehörigen das Thema der Kriegsgefangenschaft in der bundesdeutschen Erinnerungskultur prominent platzieren. Birgit Schwelling untersucht, wie das von der Kommission vertretene Postulat strenger Wissenschaftlichkeit zunächst mit den „Überlieferungsbedürfnissen“ der Zeitzeugen, dann auch mit den entspannungspolitischen Rücksichten wechselnder Bundesregierungen in Konflikt geriet, die für eine Sekretierung der Dokumentation in ausgewählten Bibliotheken sorgten.
Abstract
The history of the “Research Commission for German Prisoner of War History” is an incisive example for the particular conditions which shape the historiography of the recent past as opposed to the historiography of earlier periods. It was initiated by the Federal Ministry for Expellees, Refugees and the War Damaged in 1957 to investigate the history of German prisoners of war during the Second World War; its activities were however dogged by conflicts caused by the demands of the former prisoners organised in the Association of Repatriates on the one hand and by diplomatic considerations voiced especially by the Foreign Office on the other. The history of this project hitherto largely neglected by research is thoroughly investigated here for the very first time, and due consideration is also given to the conflicts between history, memory and politics. It becomes clear which limits contemporary historiography could encounter during the incipiency of the Federal Republic and which needs, considerations and interests created these constrictions. The analysis also allows for answers to the question of the impact of the “Past” on the early Federal Republic. It becomes clear that to a large extent experiences of the Interwar Period shaped the political and social debates in the founding years of the Federal Republic.
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