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Press information of the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich
Kriegskindheit - The project Childhood in War at Munich University
The wounds haven't healed with the ones involved 60 years after the end of the war; the memory of the identity stamping time of the war and the national socialism is still fresh at many.
The project was inaugutated and is conducted by Professor Ermann in the year 2003. The focus are memories and traces of the childhood during the World War II and NS period in connection with childhood after the war and its long time consequences. How have the persons affected processed their experiences after 60 years? How do they assess their experiences today, and which consequences do they see for their life and self understanding?
For the study of these central questions the researchers safeguard the memories of contemporary witnesses in questionnaires and interviews which then are evaluated under scientific points of view. Members of the birth years 1933 to 1945 participate in the examination
First results of the research of the project are crystallizing already now:
In the processing of the experiences denial, shame and feelings of guilt play a noticeable role. The ones involved also feel the amplified public discussion about the topic of the childhood in war as a relief and overdue abolition of a taboo.
Professor Ermann stresses that there isn't "the typical war-baby". The memories and traces of the childhood in the second World War and the time of the national socialism are minted very differently. The war had also adventurous sides besides the terrible one for some persons affected who have experienced that time as older children and teenagers. The national socialism played only a minor role in the representation of concrete memories. In the family conversations the topic was avoided mostly. The holocaust wasn't named spontaneously in the previous interviews.
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