State visits
Internationalized commemoration of WWII in Russia and Germany
Commemoration ceremonies in 2004 and 2005 have shown that the internationalization of remembrance of World War II is well underway. However, it takes place within a framework of national memorial cultures. The Russian and the German reactions to the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day in Normandy illustrate that internationalized commemoration has various implications. In Germany, the traditional paradigm, which posits the crimes of National Socialism as the negative reference for every form of politics, is no longer taken for granted. In Russia, meanwhile, the concern is voiced that the internationalization of commemoration could diminish the monumentality of the Soviet sacrifice and the significance of Russia’s own contribution to the victory over Nazi Germany.
