oa Honger, liminaliteit en implicated subjects

Hunger, liminality, and implicated subjects. Ethnic German victimhood in textbooks and the Dokumentationszentrum Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung (1990-2020)

This article examines how ethnic Germans’ experiences of hunger (1944-1950) are presented in German schoolbooks and in the exhibition at the Dokumentationszentrum Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung (DFVV). It shows that hunger experiences of these expelled and fleeing Germans are increasingly linked to contemporary international war-related issues. While the focus on shared histories often aims to foster empathy and understanding, there are potential issues with this approach. The hunger experiences are presented in the context of human rights rather than related to their specific history of the Second World War. This framing overlooks perpetration and implication to Nazism, and privileges a narrative of innocent victimhood, particularly by emphasizing the hunger of women and children. Consequently, hunger narratives not only evoke empathy but also claim an uncomplicated ethnic German victimhood. This trend towards universalizing ethnic German hunger contributes to a more nationalistic memory culture of victimhood.