A new academic article published earlier this month in Holocaust and Genocide Studies by historians Stefanie Fischer and Kobi Kabalek argues that emotions in Holocaust remembrance are actively shaped and policed by museums, memorials, and education programs. Drawing on fieldwork and previous scholarship, the authors highlight cases at German concentration camp memorials where school visits by students from Turkish and Arab families expose tensions over who is permitted to feel like a potential victim, according to the study.
Referencing research by anthropologist Esra Özyürek, the article describes a memorial guide who felt uneasy when student groups from Turkish and Arab families visited, noting that some left anxious and afraid. According to the guide, several students worried that a society capable of deporting Jews could target other minorities today, shaping their responses to the sites.
Debate over “right” and “wrong” empathy
The authors say these reactions are often criticized by educators and politicians as “wrong emotions” or “wrong empathy,” with immigrant-background students urged to focus on Jewish suffering and accept responsibility as new members of a “nation of perpetrators.” Scholars describe this as a double bind, in which Muslim and immigrant communities are expected to prove belonging by adopting a narrow emotional script about the Holocaust.
The study’s argument comes amid renewed scrutiny of how Germany remembers the Holocaust as far-right politics gain ground and public debates over antisemitism and Islamophobia intensify. Analysts have warned that the rise of the AfD could reshape Germany’s memory culture and its commitment to Holocaust remembrance.
German Jewish leaders and observers have cautioned that AfD rhetoric, even when framed as opposition to antisemitism, leaves many in the community unconvinced.
Courts have also weighed in on the boundaries of extremist speech, including a June federal ruling that lifted a ban on the far-right magazine COMPACT, prompting concerns from watchdogs over antisemitic and anti-Israel content.
Regionally, AfD gains in states such as Thuringia have fueled debate over the future of German democratic norms and the lessons drawn from the Nazi era.
By placing these examples at the start of their article, Fischer and Kabalek argue that memorials and exhibitions not only preserve history, they also regulate which emotions are legitimized and whose fears can be voiced in public.