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A National Place of Remembrance and Authentic HistoricSites2. Panel discussion(host: Professor Stefanie Endlich)The second panel discussion pursued the question of how frictionbetween national monuments and memorials at authentic historic locationsmanifests itself. Professor Endlich moderated. She introduced the participantsand asked Professor Morsch, the Director of the Memorial and MuseumSachsenhausen, to give his position first.Professor Morsch emphasized that the concept of authenticity appropriatelydistinguishes the difference between memorials – the interpretation ofan event site on the one hand, and of offering vestiges that leave interpretationopen on the other.Professor Morsch: “A memorial is not a memory of a time, but a remembrancefrom the time, in that it canonizes via artistic interpretation of history.It is an attempt to immortalize history in stone, metal, or whatever form itmay be cast. That is why a gay memorial is only being set up now. Societyhas now reached a level in which it can openly discuss the reasons for thepersecution of homosexuality. The issue has reached a certain level ofacceptance in public discourse.”“Historically authentic sites, by contrast, are impossible to canonize. Thevestiges of events resist shaping according to contemporary social andcognitive factors. They resist canonization. They repeatedly require independent,emancipative interpretation. That is their decisive advantage. Theytransform themselves with the level of knowledge and judgment of the individualinterpreting them, and with that possess democratic openness withinthe culture of remembrance.There is nothing remarkable about the fact that that friction exists betweenmemorials and authentic sites. In the history of the Federal Republic ofGermany, this friction was fateful for authentic historical sites. Placing thetwo head-to-head tempts society to ascribe greater significance to interpretationof the past at the expense of the openness of discussion. Shapingmemorials according to contemporary social and cognitive factors has up tonow run counter to the interests of historic sites because it was accompaniedby the destruction of relics.”Professor Morsch: “The memorial to the persecuted homosexuals is noshaping of historical terrain, but it will nevertheless function in a certain wayas a keystone. Of course, the initiators want to achieve the opposite, butmemorials canonize a contemporary interpretation. In Germany until now,our overall concept has prioritized the proximity of the deed, perpetrator,and scene of the crime. This idea emancipates because it elucidates thatthe crimes were not solely those of the upper echelons of the Nazi regime,but were rooted in society and took place everywhere.Centralization within a national memorial turns back the process of delegatingguilt and responsibility and returns it to the nucleus of the state.Given that, it is no surprise that the state strongly influenced interpretation.The extent of political intervention in the content (for example, the informa-114