The reunification of East and West Germany in 1990 after the sudden collapse of the German Democratic Republic the year before was both a beginning and an end. On one hand the end of the GDR meant that the human rights violations committed under the East German dictatorship would be no more. On the other hand the GDR’s demise meant that the abuses of the regime could now be assessed and dealt with accordingly so that the healing could begin for those who suffered (Aufarbeitung). This process of coming to terms with this particular chapter of German history has been present at all levels of German society since the early 1990s. The first section of this study focuses on the legal and political measures Germany has enacted in contribution of this process. With the second section, attention is turned to the cultural realm of the Aufarbeitung. In this section films and literature that deal with these questions of Germany’s past are examined. This study seeks to provide a general overview of the Aufarbeitung process, but also asks if this process has been at all effective.

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