Memory-driven Foreign Policy
The German debate on whether and to what extent Germany should support Ukraine in its war against Russia with arms supplies is closely linked to Germany’s collective memory. For a long time, Germany's guilt for the crimes of occupation during the Second World War was largely associated with Russia – and not with Ukraine and Belarus. It is only since the Russian invasion in 2022 that the highest levels of the German government have begun to recognize the special responsibility Germany has towards Ukraine, a responsibility that also stems from the memory of the Second World War. Along with this change, it can be observed that the imperative of ‘never again’, closely tied to the German memory of the Second World War and especially of the Holocaust, is gradually being formulated in more abstract terms in historical-political debates, despite some resistance.
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“Competitive Victimhood” in Poland
The introduction of a legal component into the already complex and emotionally charged mosaic of memory in Poland, instead of calming and ordering the disputes, seems only to reinforce antagonistic attitudes, whether on the Polish, Jewish or Ukrainian side. In such a situation, the law can become a weapon both for and against historians and politicians alike, but it can also harm the witnesses of history, the still living victims of past crimes, or their relatives.
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