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Cited by 16War, Law, and JusticeGerman History and SocietyMemory, violence, and history

When discourse trumps policy: Transitional justice in unified Germany

Welsh, Helga A.·2006·German Politics
DOI 10.1080/09644000600731353
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Abstract

Attempts at realising transitional justice can be divided broadly into legal-administrative and truth-telling measures. Whereas criminal trials, vetting, and restitution procedures target specific groups and tend to be short-lived, history lessons try to shape historical and political identities, with long-term implications. Most literature on transitional justice tends to focus on either one or the other, but, using the example of the former East Germany, I call attention to their interaction, which is crucial for understanding the dynamics of dealing with the communist past. In the early 1990s, reckoning with the past turned into a major preoccupation, but, soon, demands for transitional justice were overwhelmed by demands for economic and social justice and matters of identity. The legal outcome was more moderate than could have been anticipated at the beginning of the process and was ultimately defied by an equally important and comprehensive political discourse; with time, history lessons claimed center stage. Their discourse privileged retribution over reconciliation and left more potent legacies than legal-administrative restraint.

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  • The German commission's report and activity had minimal effects from the point of view of the average former East German citizen.

    “Because it privileged 'only selected historical narratives' (Welsh, 2006, 145), the report and the commission's activity had 'minimal' effects 'from the point of view of the average former East German citizen' (Sa'adah, 1998, 185).”

    From Truth Commissions in Post-Communism: The Overlooked Solution? (2009) · cites this paper as Welsh, 2006

  • Germany was a pioneer in the region, being the first to establish a commission in May 1992, two and a half years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and nearly two years after the country's reunification.

    “Germany was a pioneer in the region, being the first to establish a commission in May 1992, two and a half years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and nearly two years after the country's reunification (Welsh, 2006).”

    From Truth Commissions in Post-Communism: The Overlooked Solution? (2009) · cites this paper as Welsh, 2006

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Authors
Welsh, H. A.
Affiliations
Wake Forest University (US)
Corresponding author
Welsh, Helga A.
Venue
German Politics
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2006-06
Volume
15
Issue
2
Pages
137-152
ISSN
  • 0964-4008 (ISSN-L)
  • 1743-8993
DOI
10.1080/09644000600731353
OpenAlex
W2057246576
Cited by
16
References
0
Citations by year
2024: 1 · 2019: 11 · 2013: 1
FWCI
2.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
German Politics (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › War, Law, and Justice
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › German History and Society
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Memory, violence, and history
Keywords
transitional justice, East Germany, German reunification, political discourse, history lessons, truth-telling, reconciliation, retribution, communist past, political identity

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