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Second World War and Holocaust Commemoration in Sweden

Rothe, Anne LU (2015) EUHR18 20151
European Studies
Abstract
This thesis discusses commemoration processes of the Second World War and the Holocaust in Sweden. The timeframe for this analysis is set from 1995 on when Sweden joined the European Union and general interest in Holocaust research increased in all EU member states in the 1990s. The thesis focuses on memorials and exhibitions in Stockholm dealing with the topic. Through interviews and visual analysis of these heritage sites a commemorational character is identified. Furthermore, the concepts of ‘Europeanization’ and ‘Memory Studies’ are used to provide a conceptual and theoretical background for analysing the Swedish way of commemorating the Holocaust in the context of European integration.

The discussion shows that Sweden perceived... (More)
This thesis discusses commemoration processes of the Second World War and the Holocaust in Sweden. The timeframe for this analysis is set from 1995 on when Sweden joined the European Union and general interest in Holocaust research increased in all EU member states in the 1990s. The thesis focuses on memorials and exhibitions in Stockholm dealing with the topic. Through interviews and visual analysis of these heritage sites a commemorational character is identified. Furthermore, the concepts of ‘Europeanization’ and ‘Memory Studies’ are used to provide a conceptual and theoretical background for analysing the Swedish way of commemorating the Holocaust in the context of European integration.

The discussion shows that Sweden perceived itself as an innocent bystander to the war and the Holocaust for a long time and that research on these topics has not been carried out until recently. This changed with Sweden’s membership in the European Union and the country developed from a bystander to a European leader in Holocaust education. Analysing commemoration processes the way they are presented in this thesis has not been done before and therefore the thesis fills a research gap. (Less)
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author
Rothe, Anne LU
supervisor
organization
course
EUHR18 20151
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Sweden, Holocaust, Second World War, Commemoration, Europeanization, Memory Studies, Cultural Memory, Interviews, Visual Analysis
language
English
id
5474173
date added to LUP
2015-06-18 17:10:27
date last changed
2015-12-14 13:23:21
@misc{5474173,
  abstract     = {{This thesis discusses commemoration processes of the Second World War and the Holocaust in Sweden. The timeframe for this analysis is set from 1995 on when Sweden joined the European Union and general interest in Holocaust research increased in all EU member states in the 1990s. The thesis focuses on memorials and exhibitions in Stockholm dealing with the topic. Through interviews and visual analysis of these heritage sites a commemorational character is identified. Furthermore, the concepts of ‘Europeanization’ and ‘Memory Studies’ are used to provide a conceptual and theoretical background for analysing the Swedish way of commemorating the Holocaust in the context of European integration.

The discussion shows that Sweden perceived itself as an innocent bystander to the war and the Holocaust for a long time and that research on these topics has not been carried out until recently. This changed with Sweden’s membership in the European Union and the country developed from a bystander to a European leader in Holocaust education. Analysing commemoration processes the way they are presented in this thesis has not been done before and therefore the thesis fills a research gap.}},
  author       = {{Rothe, Anne}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Second World War and Holocaust Commemoration in Sweden}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}