03673nam a22005175i 4500001001800000003000900018005001700027007001500044008004100059020001800100024003500118050001700153072001700170072001600187072002300203072002000226100008100246245013600327250001800463264007900481300004200560336002600602337002600628338003600654347002400690505035800714520156101072650003002633650002302663650002002686650002202706650002802728650002702756650004302783650002002826650002302846650002002869650003002889650002202919710003402941773002602975776003603001776003603037776003603073856004603109978-3-031-62068-3DE-He21320251030112626.0cr nn 008mamaa240713s2024    sz |    s    |||| 0|eng d  a97830316206837 a10.1007/978-3-031-62068-32doi 4aDAW1001-1051 7aHBJD2bicssc 7a1DF2bicssc 7aHIS0100002bisacsh 7aNHDx1DF2thema1 aBrown, Alexander D.eauthor.4aut4http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut10aPaul Merker, the GDR, and the Politics of Memoryh[electronic resource] :b‘Purging Cosmopolitanism’? /cby Alexander D. Brown.  a1st ed. 2024. 1aCham :bSpringer Nature Switzerland :bImprint: Palgrave Macmillan,c2024.  aXI, 230 p. 1 illus.bonline resource.  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier  atext filebPDF2rda0 a1. Introduction: The Martydon of Paul Merker -- 2. What's in a Purge?: A Tale of Two Show Trials -- 3. 'The German Slánský ' in State-mandated Memory -- 4. 'Purging Cosmopolitanism'? Merker and the 'Anti-cosmopolitan Campaign' -- 5. Paul Merker and the 'Jewish Question(s) -- 6. Antisemitism and Antifascism: The Faultlines of National Legitimation.  aThis book presents ground-breaking research into the ‘Merker affair,’ a series of events that took place in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the early 1950s, which saw Paul Merker, a member of the ruling party’s ‘Politburo,’ become ensnared in the agent hysteria of the period. He was ultimately deposed, arrested, and convicted on charges of espionage. However, the cultural significance of this affair goes far beyond the history of the early Cold War; it has become the definitive symbol of alleged antisemitism in the GDR. The narrative complex of an antisemitic GDR has in turn become a prominent topos within the politics of memory in Germany. The author combines an empirical study of the pertinent primary sources with a genealogical analysis of discourse on the Merker affair in order to question and historicise many of the entrenched historiographical tropes surrounding it, and indeed broader subjects such as antifascism and antisemitism in a German context. In doing so, the book offers insight into how German state-mandated institutions and official bodies have shaped our collective vision of the past. Alexander Brown is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Liverpool in the UK. Previously, he gained his PhD from the University of Birmingham, before working as a Research Associate at Newcastle University. Alexander’s research focuses on the history and memory of socialism in the GDR, with a special interest in the actions of state actors, the politics of memory, and ideology in post-1990 Germany. 0aEurope, CentralxHistory. 0aCollective memory. 0aWorld politics. 0aJudaismxHistory. 0aEuropexHistoryx1492-. 0aCivilizationxHistory.14aHistory of Germany and Central Europe.24aMemory Studies.24aPolitical History.24aJewish History.24aHistory of Modern Europe.24aCultural History.2 aSpringerLink (Online service)0 tSpringer Nature eBook08iPrinted edition:z978303162067608iPrinted edition:z978303162069008iPrinted edition:z978303162070640uhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-62068-3