Year of German-American Friendship 2018/2019: The World Wars

Never forget – Germany’s culture of remembrance

Today, there is widespread acceptance among Germans for their historic responsibility for World War II and the Holocaust. That hasn't always been the case.

Repatriation of a Holocaust survivor: Stephen Wertheimer (l) and his parents had to leave Nazi Germany in 1938.

Holocaust survivor takes a far-reaching decision

Diane L. Wolf, a sociology professor at the University of California, Davis, who spent six months in Berlin.

“In Berlin, I felt acknowledged in some deeper way”

Berühmte Kriegsschauplätze in Europa während des Zweiten Weltkrieg

Map of World War II

Locations and events: the USA in Europe during the Second World War

History part 2: War and peace

The USA played a crucial role during the First and Second World Wars and made a significant contribution to the Allies’ victories.

Marlene Dietrich on the set of “Shanghai Express”.

Faces and moments: The World Wars

A number of remarkable figures have gone down in history in times of unimaginable conflicts.

100 german must reads - ‘Jakob the Liar’ by Jurek Becker

Jurek Becker: ‘Jakob the Liar’

Hope as the elixir of life: Jurek Becker's novel about the life of Jews in a ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland is gripping and melancholic, but also full of humor. It's a story of the Holocaust, but also much, more more.

100 german must-reads – The Oppermanns by Lion Feuchtwanger

Lion Feuchtwanger: ‘The Oppermanns’

The three Oppermann brothers and their sister lead comfortable, upper-class lives in Berlin. For a long while, they choose to ignore the rising tide of anti-Semitism — until it's too late.

100 german must-reads – The Tin Drum by Günter Grass

Günter Grass: ‘The Tin Drum’

A novel that had the impact of a bomb. World War II and the history of the century from the perspective of a small man — and a reckoning with Germany as it rebuilt itself during the 1950s.

100 german must reads - Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger

Ernst Jünger: ‘Storm of Steel’

He captured the horrors of World War I in his novel, garnering him intense criticism. Did Ernst Jünger glorify the violence, or did he mercilessly describe it?