Auschwitz darstellen

Discusses Holocaust representation in the light of Adorno's thesis about the barbarism of poetry after Auschwitz. Examines his own writings on the question and the reception of his "dictum" in Germany. Presents Rainald Goetz's theatre trilogy, "Festung", as an example of the ongoing reflection on Adorno's thesis. Analyzes the Americanization of the Holocaust (the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Goldhagen's "Hitler's Willing Executioners", and Spielberg's "Schindler's List") and the dissolution of the prohibition against Holocaust representation. Views recent German reactions to the Holocaust as a response to the American mode of Holocaust representation. Focuses on the "Denkmal fur die ermordeten Juden Europas" and Martin Walser's Peace Prize speech of 1998.