Nationale Helden und jüdische Opfer

This study takes a very nuanced and critical look at the way in which the Holocaust is remembered in Czechoslovakia. It scrutinizes the traditional explanations for the lack of a reappraisal. Why did the reappraisal of the Holocaust in Czechoslovaian begin so late and so hesitantly? To the present day the idea still holds on that it was the Communist regime that was responsible for the Holocaust remaining a taboo in Czechoslovakia. The subject, it was said, had been “occupied” as a discussion theme. This study refutes this explanation and looks at the Jewish view of the Shoah. It analyzes the conditions and possibilities of remembrance in Communist Czechoslovakia and clearly shows that the development was induced by Czech nationalism, anti-Semitic stereotypes and a heroic view of history.