War!
Jews between the Fronts 1914–1918
100 years ago, World War I broke out and the world and its established order came apart at the seams. Civilization and history experienced a rupture of unprecedented proportions. In this commemorative year, the exhibition “War! Jews between the Fronts 1914–1918” at the Jewish Museum Munich, addresses the historical event of World War I from a Jewish perspective.
The focus is on the subjective experience made by Jewish German soldiers and their families between 1914 and 1918. Through letters sent from the front, diaries, photographs, and other personal objects, this historical cataclysm is broken up…
War!
Jews between the Fronts 1914–1918
100 years ago, World War I broke out and the world and its established order came apart at the seams. Civilization and history experienced a rupture of unprecedented proportions. In this commemorative year, the exhibition “War! Jews between the Fronts 1914–1918” at the Jewish Museum Munich, addresses the historical event of World War I from a Jewish perspective.
The focus is on the subjective experience made by Jewish German soldiers and their families between 1914 and 1918. Through letters sent from the front, diaries, photographs, and other personal objects, this historical cataclysm is broken up into individually experienced and described moments, and as such becomes easier to grasp. The patriotism of many Jewish Germans and their war effort also play a role, as do the rebellious literary contributions of others. Profoundly disturbing everyday life in the trenches and the religious aspect, as experienced by Jewish soldiers during the war, are similarly investigated.
The exhibition also traces how increasing anti-Semitism between 1914–1918 led to the exclusion of Jewish soldiers within the military services, and caused a “war” on the subject of commemoration and the power of historical interpretation on a socio-political level after 1918, which still influences the culture of memory in Germany to this day.
Duration of exhibition
December 9, 2014–February 22, 2015
Curator
Ulrike Heikaus
Assistance
Sinja Strangmann
Architecture
IGLHAUT + von GROTE, Berlin
PUBLIKATION
Der Katalog zur Ausstellung
Die Publikation spürt der Frage nach, wie der zunehmende Antisemitismus in den Jahren 1914–1918 zu einer Ausgrenzung jüdischer Soldaten innerhalb des militärischen Apparats führte und auf gesellschaftspolitischer Ebene nach 1918 einen Krieg um die Erinnerung und Geschichtsdeutungsmacht bedingte, der die deutsche Erinnerungskultur bis heute beeinflusst. In vertiefenden Essays werden die Themen der Ausstellung aufgegriffen und aus historischer, soziologischer sowie religions- und wissenschaftsgeschichtlicher Perspektive beleuchtet.