Few modern states have started their existence under the cloud that attended the birth of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). To examine how the two German states and German society dealt with the legacy of the Holocaust, Sharples has adopted an appropriately interdisciplinary approach. The engagement with Germany’s past took place on the level of legislation, state finances (for example, reparations and restitution), prosecutions of alleged war criminals, diplomatic relations with formerly occupied states and with Israel, fine art and popular culture, memorials and monuments, religious discourse, and interpersonal relations. Although not all of these aspects receive equal attention in Sharples’ book, she strives to provide a wide-ranging view of how Germany coped with this burdensome inheritance.
The interweaving of the political and social elements is critical to understanding Germany’s nuanced, developing confrontation with its past. Both German states sought legitimacy...