Apology for History
On Historical Analysis and Contemporary Diagnosis
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
National Socialism and the Second World War are indeed a ‘past that refuses to fade away’. Coming to terms with the causes and consequences of the dictatorship and the war of annihilation was of central importance to the self-image of both the Federal Republic and the GDR. Remembrance of the past also shapes German-Czech relations. Historians Ute Frevert and Kamil Činatl analyse the significance of history for the present, remind us that so-called historical debates are never solely about historical facts, but about politics and interests; they debate whether the function of historical scholarship is to provide a diagnosis of the times; and they agree that, despite all the Europeanisation and internationalisation, public historical consciousness remains very much shaped by national perspectives.
(Osteuropa 5-6/2026, pp. 19–30)