Angelika Laumer

Why is knowledge about Nazi forced labor in a rural area, where descendants of former Nazi forced laborers live, simultaneously present and absent? Based on interviews with them as well as with descendants of those who profited from forced labor, it demonstrates how intertwined social remembering and forgetting take place. To achieve this, the author modifies concepts of collective memory to make them applicable to rural society. The focus is on orality, everyday life, and social structure. Thus, the book contributes to Memory Studies.