Olsen, Jon BerndtDonson, AndrewSkolnik, JonathanRemmier, KarenHough, Sean W.2024-09-192024-09-192024-0510.7275/54777https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/54777This dissertation focuses on the commemorative influence of the West German-based organization called the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (People’s Commission for the Care of German War Graves). The Volksbund oversaw the preservation and commemoration of German war graves under West German democracy, East German authoritarianism (clandestinely through the Protestant church), and across the cemetery spaces of Cold War Europe. The Volksbund created a commemorative approach based on the memory of soldiers who fought and died for their respective nations as heroes, regardless of victory or defeat, and produced a positive discourse of mutual respect and honor. By this metric, unpleasant discussions of the Second World War’s atrocities only served to divide Europe into perpetrators and victims – for whom both honor and respect was impossible. This study argues that the Volksbund contributed to West Germany, and ultimately reunified Germany’s integration into Europe through its conservative commemorative culture.Dissertation (Open Access)https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4753-6724