Does the German Remembrance Culture Need an Update?

Author and journalist Mohamen Amjahid visited the department to provide critical perspectives on how the German society deals with its past and why this could be crucial for the emancipation of vulnerable groups and minorities worldwide. He analyzed white dominated remembrance discourses in Germany and gave new perspectives how a “never again” can be finally implemented in the country that once caused the biggest crime against humanity.

Mohamed Amjahid was born as the son of so-called guest workers in Frankfurt am Main in 1988. He attended school in Morocco until he graduated from high school. He studied political science in Berlin and Cairo and conducted research on various anthropological projects in North Africa. During his studies, he worked as a journalist for taz, Frankfurter Rundschau and Deutschlandfunk. After completing his master’s degree, Amjahid worked as a trainee at the Tagesspiegel in Berlin. Afterwards he worked as a political reporter for the weekly newspaper Die Zeit and Zeit Magazin. He is currently working on several new book projects. Anthropologically and journalistically, he focuses on human rights, equality and upheaval in the USA, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. On Twitter he writes under the handle @mamjahid , on Instagram @m_amjahid .

In 2021, Mohamed Amjahid published Der Weisse Fleck. Eine Anleitung zu antirassistischem Denken. He is currently holding a fellowship at the Thomas Mann Haus in Los Angeles where he is doing research for his new book project.

This event was co-sponsored by the BMW Center for German and European Studies, the Böll Foundation, and the GU German Department.