Bitburg in Moral and Political Perspective

Hartman, author of Criticism in the Wilderness, English professor and faculty adviser to the Video Archive of Holocaust Testimonies at Yale, here gathers essays by American and European historians and scholars about President Reagan's controversial May 1985 visit to a cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany, where Waffen SS soldiers are buried. The 10 essayists ask: What does Bitburg reveal about our postwar world, our memories of the Holocaust and our relationship to the past? Alvin Rosenfeld, a scholar of Holocaust literature, illustrates how perceptions of the Holocaust are being changed by popular representations on film and TV. Survivor and novelist Primo Levi discusses how we distort our memories after a traumatic event to erase pain or guilt. Historian Saul Friedlander reflects upon Germany's struggle with its Nazi past. Essays by Raul Hilberg and other specialists are also enlightening. Illustrations not seen by PW. (May)