Normalizing Memory in Reunified Germany

Abstract: Between 2019 and 2020, the German Bundestag passed legislation to transfer the Stasi Records Archive to the Federal Archives. This article argues that this and related developments are the latest official attempts to normalize memory of the Stasi past in order to integrate it into the "processed" ( aufgearbeitet ) chapters of German history. Examining three decades of German discourse and social activism related to coming to terms with the German Democratic Republic past at both individual and collective levels, it analyzes the sources of resentment at the process and considers to what extent reunified Germany has successfully managed to moderate the expectations from it. This German experience offers "deep normalization" as a realistic goal for comparable cases of post-dictatorial reconciliation.