MEMO study on the culture of remembrance in Germany

With the war of aggression against Ukraine, the Russian Federation has finally and explicitly terminated the founding consensus of the EVZ Foundation, which is to work permanently for a peaceful Europe in the face of the violent history of the 20th century. As a promoter of Russia's democratically oriented civil society, the EVZ Foundation was faced with the question of what attitudes and views characterize the Russian population. With this in mind, we commissioned the internationally renowned, independent opinion research institute Levada in Moscow to conduct a study on the culture of remembrance in Russia.

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.

The fourth MEMO study provides analyses of digital educational resources on the topic of National Socialism, on nuanced understanding of the diversity of victim groups, and on the extent of Nazi forced labor. Once again, respondents assess the role of the German population during the Nazi era. The study analyzes continuities from the Nazi era, conspiracy narratives, the COVID-19 pandemic, and incidents related to Nazism in recent German history. Finally, it examines the effects that engaging with the Nazi era has had on the respondents themselves. As in previous studies, experts discussed the results. Their assessments of individual aspects are presented as quotes throughout the study.

With "MEMO Germany - Multidimensional Remembrance 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. 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. 

The present study MEMO II was conducted in November and December 2018 after a critical reflection of the results with experts from science and practical remembrance culture.

The study now allows us to trace initial development trajectories in Germany. MEMO II delves deeper into topics that were only touched upon in the first survey. In particular, the perception and ways of coming to terms with the National Socialist era in Germany were surveyed in a more differentiated manner.

The “Multidimensional Memory Monitor” (MEMO) examines what, how, and why citizens in Germany remember historical events. MEMO I was conducted as a representative telephone survey from December 2017 to February 2018. The results have been made available to the general public in the form of this report. MEMO is designed so that the study can be repeated, thereby becoming a long-term observation.