Politics of the past: the use and abuse of history - Socialists ...

enacted to protect our societies against the mockery of revisionists
who deny the holocaust, the Armenian genocide or even the genocide
in the Vendée during the French revolution, represent not only
our present level of Aufarbeitung but also threaten the freedom of
research. This is demonstrated in the recently released Appel de
Blois by Pierre Nora and Etienne François (October 2008) 3 . I do
not wish to recommend a diminution of political interest in the past.
However, the relationship between history and politics can develop
into a fatal friendship offering the reward of public attention and
moral esteem whilst destroying the radical independence of historical
research and its disposition to rethink history.
3 Liberté pour l’histoire: http:// www.lph-asso.fr
103 Martin Sabrow