The long shadows of the difficult past? How young people in Denmark, Finland and Germany remember WWII

TitleThe long shadows of the difficult past? How young people in Denmark, Finland and Germany remember WWII
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsKevin Wolnik, Britta Busse, Jochen Tholen, Carsten Yndigegn, Klaus Levinsen, Kari Saari, Vesa Puuronen
Abstract

This paper focuses on the question of how young people today evaluate the Second World War today and how this ‘difficult past’ determines their political attitudes. Furthermore, the channels through which the current young generation in Europe is informed about the events dating back to the first half of the twentieth century (e.g. parents and grandparents, schools, the media) are examined. The theoretical basis chosen for addressing these questions is the work of Mannheim (1928) on the formation of successive generations, and the theories of collective memories and identities of Eisenstadt and his followers. Our empirical evidence comes from a [...]

Short TitleThe long shadows of the difficult past?