04037nam a22006015i 4500 978-3-031-62068-3 DE-He213 20251030112626.0 cr nn 008mamaa 240713s2024 sz | s |||| 0|eng d 9783031620683 978-3-031-62068-3 10.1007/978-3-031-62068-3 doi DAW1001-1051 HBJD bicssc 1DF bicssc HIS010000 bisacsh NHD 1DF thema Brown, Alexander D. author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut 80499 Paul Merker, the GDR, and the Politics of Memory [electronic resource] : ‘Purging Cosmopolitanism’? / by Alexander D. Brown. 1st ed. 2024. Cham : Springer Nature Switzerland : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2024. XI, 230 p. 1 illus. online resource. text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier text file PDF rda 1. 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. This 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. Europe, Central History. 77403 Collective memory. 68201 World politics. 58105 Judaism History. 74891 Europe History 1492-. 68968 Civilization History. 66788 History of Germany and Central Europe. 77404 Memory Studies. 68202 Political History. 67817 Jewish History. 74894 History of Modern Europe. 72822 Cultural History. 66790 SpringerLink (Online service) Springer Nature eBook Printed edition: 9783031620676 Printed edition: 9783031620690 Printed edition: 9783031620706 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-62068-3 ZDB-2-HTY ZDB-2-SXH 61561 61561