Commemorating the Holocaust The Dilemmas of Remembrance in France and Italy

Commemorating the Holocaust explores the development of official Holocaust commemoration in these two European countries, but it draws far-reaching conclusions about the role of contemporary states in remembering and acknowledging wartime crimes against civilian populations. Rebecca Clifford examines why a public 'memory' of the Holocaust emerged with such force after the end of the Cold War, and questions the extent to which the political discoursesurrounding Holocaust memorial days is really about the genocide at all. This volume provides essential reading for all those interested in the memory of World War II in contemporary Europe.