The Holocaust serves as the political, cultural and moral anchor for addressing forms of exclusionary nationalism, antisemitism, racism, and genocide after 1945. Yet, the meaning of the Holocaust in the collective memory of many nation states is changing and has become subject to contestation or distortion. Distortion of the Holocaust means rhetoric, written work or other media that excuse, minimise or misrepresent the known historical record. However, any distortion, whether intentional or not, feeds into antisemitic narratives and can lead to more violent forms of antisemitism. In this sense, as Historian and International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Honorary Chairman, Yehuda Bauer notes, “a half truth is worse than a full lie.” This Round Table, organised by the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI), the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, the Jewish Museum Vienna and the Jean Monnet Network “European Memory Politics” at the University of Victoria, Canada, will address the contested memory of the Holocaust, Holocaust distortion and its meaning in contemporary debates in various national contexts. Former Elise Richter fellow Ljiljana Radonić will address the case of the post-Yugoslav space.
