Abstract
Collective memory inspires images of commonality to produce a cohesive nation. However, collective memory, like all memory, is fallible. People often choose to remember certain aspects of a historical event, while forgetting others, in order to fit memory into their own established political narratives. As a result, national memories change over time by exchanging accuracy, seen as the hallmark of memory, for emotional significance. This thesis conducts a comparative study on Holocaust memorialization. Examining how Holocaust memory was developed and preserved differently in Israel and the United States, the two places that took in the most Jews in the war’s aftermath, depicts how influential a country’s core political beliefs are in influencing the psychological processes of memory and social group unity. To do this, I delve into each country’s national Holocaust memorial, which is intertwined and profoundly influences the societal essence of each location. This paper shows how one tragic event, in the not yet so distant past, can so quickly take contrasting routes in how it is remembered. As the responsibility of carrying on the legacy of the Holocaust’s atrocities becomes increasingly more critical and challenging as time goes on, making this quest as relevant as ever, I suggest the important role of education in allowing for a needed balance between individually experienced memory and a politically constructed one. Only when successfully striking this delicate balance between the adaptable and immovable aspects of communal memory, can a more permanent national unity be formed.