MEMO study

A map of Europe in which, for each state, a percentage figure quantifies the proportion of those who associate the state with World War II.

With "MEMO Germany - Multidimensional Memory Monitor", the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence Bielefeld (IKG) has been researching since 2018 what, how and for what citizens of Germany historically remember. The aim is an empirical documentation of the culture of remembrance prevailing in Germany, recorded in the form of a representative opinion survey addressed to a cross-section of the population.

More than 80%

of the respondents deny, that their ancestors had forced laborers working at their companies, in their households, or on their farms. (MEMO-Study 2021)

One particular focus is on remembering the Shoah and the persecution, eviction and extermination of individual people and groups of people during the National Socialist era. MEMO Germany shows what is historically significant for citizens and their own attitudes towards the culture of remembrance. Numerous debates take place concerning the state of the culture of remembrance in relation to National Socialism. MEMO provides data on which culture of remembrance is reflected in citizens' perceptions and experiences. This is intended to make the debates more objective. The assessments obtained by inquiries also provide impetus for contemporary historical-political education in Germany.

Studies and focus reports

All studies are also available in German and some in Russian. In 2020 and 2021, a focus report summarizing the most important findings has also been published.

All MEMO Studies

STUDY PROJECT PARTNERS

MEMO Germany – MEMO Multidimensional Remembrance Monitor - STUDY V

Germans' memories of World War II are centered on events and places in Western Europe. This is a result of MEMO - the Multidimensional Remembrance Monitor. The fifth study on German culture of remembrance shows that 58.5% of the 1,000 representative respondents have never visited a place of remembrance of World War II and its victims located outside of Germany intentionally. Those who visited a memorial site outside Germa-ny most often refer to France, and there to the warfare and the war graves in Normandy.

Michael Papendick, Jonas Rees, Maren Scholz & Andreas Zick / Institut für interdisziplinäre Konflikt- und Gewaltforschung (IKG) Universität Bielefeld
Berlin, Bielefeld 2022
33 Pages
Language: German, English
- MEMO V study (PDF, 4 MB)