Collective Memory as Currency

Chapter Two Holocaust Memory as Exemplar

Why is the memory of the Holocaust commonly referenced in present-day discourse? How can we explain its enduring relevance as a valuable framework for comprehending contemporary challenges? In recent years, numerous efforts have been made to address these questions, including conceptualizing the function of Holocaust memory in the modern world. Amidst common global reference points, and as part of the third wave of memory studies, much literature has dealt with representations and commemoration practices of the Holocaust which exhibit national particularization (Adams 2022b; Alexander and Dromi 2011; Karakaya and Baer 2019). Indeed, the cosmopolitanism of the Holocaust is oftentimes appropriated ( ...