An excellent book. Meng deftly describes how the material legacy of the Holocaust continues to force people in Eastern and Central Europe to confront the past. He brings ideological concerns, questions of identity and nationalism, architectural ideals, and even quotidian construction issues into a seamless narrative. Debunking any simplistic divide between West and East, he offers a much more nuanced and ambiguous picture that takes into account the complex factors that characterized post-WWII Europe. -- Brian Porter-Szucs, author of Faith and Fatherland Meng deals with a highly original and interesting topic, which has been largely unexplored, in its comparative, transnational aspects. His research is extremely thorough, and his choice of Jewish "shattered sites" in Warsaw, East and West Berlin, Wroclaw, Potsdam and Essen is very judicious, as it allows us to observe both the big scene and smaller local initiatives. -- Saul Friedlander, author of Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1933-1945 In his pathbreaking and perceptive study, Meng digs through the neglected ruins of Jewish urban life after 1945 to uncover fascinating clues about the complex ways in which Germans and Poles dealt with the physical legacy of genocide. Rigorously researched and commendably comparative, the book makes an important contribution to the fields of Jewish history, Holocaust history, and memory studies. -- Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, author of Building after Auschwitz An extraordinary study of remembering and the sites of memory in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Meng poses important questions and offers illuminating insights, while comparing Jewish sites in West Germany, East Germany, and Poland. This is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the relation of the Holocaust to postwar Central Europe. -- Larry Wolff, author of The Idea of Galicia
Michael Meng is Assistant Professor of History at Clemson University.
An excellent book. Meng deftly describes how the material legacy of
the Holocaust continues to force people in Eastern and Central
Europe to confront the past. He brings ideological concerns,
questions of identity and nationalism, architectural ideals, and
even quotidian construction issues into a seamless narrative.
Debunking any simplistic divide between West and East, he offers a
much more nuanced and ambiguous picture that takes into account the
complex factors that characterized post-WWII Europe.
*Brian Porter-Szűcs, author of Faith and Fatherland*
Meng deals with a highly original and interesting topic, which has
been largely unexplored, in its comparative, transnational aspects.
His research is extremely thorough, and his choice of Jewish
"shattered sites" in Warsaw, East and West Berlin, Wroclaw, Potsdam
and Essen is very judicious, as it allows us to observe both the
big scene and smaller local initiatives.
*Saul Friedländer, author of Nazi Germany and the Jews,
1933-1945*
In his pathbreaking and perceptive study, Meng digs through the
neglected ruins of Jewish urban life after 1945 to uncover
fascinating clues about the complex ways in which Germans and Poles
dealt with the physical legacy of genocide. Rigorously researched
and commendably comparative, the book makes an important
contribution to the fields of Jewish history, Holocaust history,
and memory studies.
*Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, author of Building after
Auschwitz*
An extraordinary study of remembering and the sites of memory in
the aftermath of the Holocaust. Meng poses important questions and
offers illuminating insights, while comparing Jewish sites in West
Germany, East Germany, and Poland. This is essential reading for
anyone interested in understanding the relation of the Holocaust to
postwar Central Europe.
*Larry Wolff, author of The Idea of Galicia*
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