The European Network for Remembrance Solidarity (ENRS) held the conference ‘Genealogies of Memory 2025: What Remains from the Second World War? Remnants, Memories and Narratives Revised’, where Dr Christina Howes (UIC) presented her paper “The Space Between: Postmemory, Wartime Space, and the Ethics of Proximity in Rachel Seiffert’s A Boy in Winter“.
From September 17 to 19, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences hosted a series of interventions centered on three key themes: theoretical reflections on the materiality of memory, reexamining post-war memory cultures through the lens of the present, and case studies that bridged theoretical frameworks with memory practices. Presentations explored how the physical remnants of World War II continue to shape contemporary historical consciousness, how shifting geopolitical and civilizational contexts have influenced the memory of the war, and examined specific instances of both symbolic and literal ruins. Discussions also addressed the intergenerational transmission of complex memories and trauma, as well as the enduring impact of war on culture and language. A highlight of the event was the keynote lecture by Jay Winter, titled “The Second World War Between History and Memory”, which offered a particularly insightful framing of the conference’s themes.
