Karlsruhe is home to a controversial memorial to the 35th Infantry Division, which was dedicated on May 30, 1964. This memorial commemorates the fallen soldiers of the division from the Second World War and was donated by the Comrades Service of the 35th Infantry Division e.V. (Kameradendienst der 35. Infanteriedivision e.V.). The inscriptions and symbols on the memorial, including a stylized fish and the Iron Cross, glorify the Wehrmacht and its actions.
The 35th Infantry Division was involved in numerous war crimes in the Soviet Union, including the Azaryčy massacre in March 1944. These crimes are not addressed in the memorial, which was erected at a time when denazification in West Germany was largely complete and rearmament was taking place.
In his profound analysis of the memorial, Jürgen Schuhladen-Krämer criticizes the fact that the memorial portrays the Wehrmacht soldiers as victims and conceals their involvement in war crimes. It is seen as a symbol of the unreflective way in which the Nazi past was dealt with in the early days of the Federal Republic of Germany and prompts objections due to the glorifying depiction of perpetrators.
The article impressively shows how monuments are not only places of remembrance, but also forms of expression of how society deals with history. It makes it clear that an uncritical portrayal of perpetrators in public monuments makes it difficult to come to terms with and understand the past and can be painful for the descendants of the victims. Overall, the text makes a valuable contribution to the discussion on how to deal with Nazi history and war memorials in the present.
Schuhladen-Krämer, Jürgen: Ein fragwürdiges Ehrenmal (Carlsruher Blickpunkte. Blick in die Geschichte 105). Access via: stadtgeschichte.karlsruhe.de/stadtarchiv/blick-in-die-geschichte/ausgaben/blick-105/ehrenmal, 12.12.2014 (last checked: 30.06.2024).
