What if you discovered that a cherished family member had been a Nazi? How have German families sought to keep the Holocaust at bay? How do we respond to collective crimes in the past or racial injustices in the present? What lurks in the silences that are passed down between generations and what do we teach our children about the importance of remembering? In his award-winning book, Not in my Family: German Memory and Responsibility After the Holocaust, Roger Frie explores the moral implications of memory in this time of overt prejudice and racism. His intensely personal confrontation with the unspoken Nazi past in his own German family sheds light on nature of trauma and its lasting effects on individuals, families and societies.
Following Roger Frie’s presentation, a panel of discussants will use his book to reflect on the nature of intergenerational trauma and its transmission; the responsibility to address collective crimes across time and place; and the experience of indigenous peoples. There will be time for audience participation.
