Vorspann
Dass der Erinnerung an den Widerstand gegen die deutsche Besatzung zentrale Bedeutung als Legitimationsressource für die europäische Nachkriegsordnung und die neuen Regierungen in Ost und West zukam, ist keine neue Beobachtung. Kaum untersucht ist indessen, wie die Erinnerung in den Auseinandersetzungen des Kalten Kriegs eingesetzt wurde. Die Verbände ehemaliger KZ-Häftlinge und Angehöriger des Widerstands waren dabei wichtige erinnerungspolitische Akteure. Am Beispiel der Auseinandersetzung um die deutsche Wiederbewaffnung analysiert Maximilian Becker, wie sie die Erinnerung einsetzten und wie sie ihrerseits von den beiden Lagern des Kalten Kriegs in Dienst genommen wurden.
Abstract
During the first half of the 1950s, West German rearmament was the dominant theme in the public pronouncements of the International Federation of Resistance Fighters (FIR), the most important umbrella organisation of national persecutee organisations in East and West. West German rearmament began only a few years after the end of Nazi tyranny: Irrespective of political beliefs, it evoked suspicion, unease and was generally opposed by former Concentration Camp inmates and members of resistance movements. The fact that the connected NATO membership was solemnly put into effect on 9 May 1955, the tenth anniversary of liberation, was considered an insult by many survivors. Simultaneously the liberation celebrations, which had already begun in autumn 1953 for the tenth anniversary of the armistice with Italy, offered opportunities for protest. The anniversary events organised by the FIR transmitted a transnational view of resistance, which saw a line of continuity between the antifascist struggle and opposition to West German rearmament. The governing bodies of the FIR, which were dominated by communists, also saw this topic as an opportunity to expand the membership base beyond the communist-dominated constituent organisations. However they also became willing subjects for Soviet propaganda. This resulted in conflicts with non-communist persecutees, making it impossible to achieve a comprehensive “unity” of all victims of National Socialism throughout Europe and beyond political parties.
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