Gideon Reuveni, "The Great Repair: Emotions, Memory, and the German–Jewish Settlement after the Holocaust" (Cornell UP, 2026)

About this episode

Gideon Reuveni discusses the complexities of the German-Jewish reparations negotiations following the Holocaust.

The Great Repair: Emotions, Memory, and the German–Jewish Settlement after the Holocaust (Cornell UP, 2026) explores how Jews and Germans began reparations discussions fewer than seven years after the Holocaust—a momentous achievement relegated to the margins of Holocaust scholarship and memory—and the complexities that emerged from the resulting settlement. Professor Gideon Reuveni illuminates the swift transition and extraordinary chapter in postwar history from the horrors of the Holocaust to a negotiating table where Germans and Jews discussed reparations. Both sides faced the monumental challenge of addressing the injustices of National Socialism through complex deliberations on compensation for collective and individual losses, restitution of property, support for survivors, and formal acknowledgment of Nazi crimes. These negotiations marked a crucial step toward acknowledging historical responsibility and pursuing meaningful redress. The Great Repair reveals the events, actors, and decisions that led to the signing of the agreement on September 10, 1952, by West Germany, Israel, and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Ultimately, the enactment of this…

People in this episode

Guest: Gideon Reuveni

Topics covered

• reparations
• Holocaust
• German-Jewish relations
• historical responsibility
• postwar history
• compensation

Keywords

• reparations
• Holocaust
• Germany
• Israel
• Gideon Reuveni
• historical responsibility
• compensation
• postwar
• Jewish settlement

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cornell UP, Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany

Books & works: The Great Repair

Places: Germany, Israel

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