Active enga­ge­ment with the past remains a con­ti­nuous task. The NS dic­ta­tor­ship and the Shoah have a spe­cial place in Germany’s cul­ture of remem­brance (“Erin­ne­rungs­kul­tur”). Kee­ping their memory alive and pas­sing it on is a las­ting obli­ga­tion for Ger­man-born peo­ple as well as immi­grants. This includes fight­ing against any form of anti­se­mi­tism, racism, and all other forms of group-focu­sed enmity.

Other peri­ods of Ger­man history such as the demo­cracy move­ments, the history of the Ger­man par­ti­tion or colo­nia­lism are also part of the Ger­man cul­ture of remem­brance and need to be given appro­priate con­side­ra­tion. The cul­ture and places of remem­brance are always part of the history of cities, towns, and regi­ons. At the same time, the dif­fe­rent his­to­ries of those who have immi­gra­ted to Ger­many must be taken into account and become part of the cul­ture of remem­brance. This means that we are tas­ked with fur­ther deve­lo­ping our cul­ture of remem­brance within a society that includes immigrants.

Par­ti­ci­pa­tion-ori­en­ta­ted forms of dia­lo­gue that always include the reflec­tion upon dis­cri­mi­na­ting or racist atti­tu­des are an essen­tial part of our cul­ture of remem­brance. Nar­ra­ti­ves, arte­facts, pic­tures, media, music, film, dance, archi­tec­ture etc. offer emo­tio­nal access to past events that may open the door to fur­ther enga­ge­ment with Ger­man history.