Dr. Alexandra ritchie, who this time needs no introduction, i gave her a and then on the far right on my right on this table. Who i have not yet had the pleasure of introducing. Dr. Weinberg is the professor at the university of chapel hill. More than that. He is the dean of world war ii historians not only in United States but globally. Award winning arthur of some to listo numerous exhaustively but we can list some, a global history of world war ii which is the goto for anything, i have a very welcomed thumbed copy which i consult probably on a daily basis. Visions of victory, the hopes of 8 world war ii leaders and germany, hitler and world war ii. In the course of his career, he discovered an unpublished manuscript. Hitlers second book. He edited that work and published it. The first one being mein kampf. The second one dealing more with foreign policy. In 2009, he received the Military Museum and Library Literature award for lifetime achievement. Dr. Weinberg is a National Treasurer and were honored to have him here as a member and also to hear him speak. Thank you for coming. On that note, we will let you get rolling. As we get ready, this is not the last session, but the second to last session. Because the last is our banquet session. I think Everybody Knows that. Before i get started, i would like to just give a shout out to mark powers. Where are you, mark . From jetblue. Give him a big hand. He flew down all our speakers gratis. [applause] very appreciative of the support of jet blue over the years and bringing in sbeakers for this, ing in speakers for this, but their sponsorship is bringing High School Students and College Students down here for field trips, even for a weekend. And we provide special programs for them. Well this session today is a little bit different, its about how people remember world war ii or specific events around that world war ii. And im going to speak for 8 to 10 minutes and everybody else about the same, i guess. Its designed to be provocative and think about it in a different way. Weve been here whole time coming up, europe and asia and from the best professional as we go through this today you eel begin to understand that. We are looking at the public primarily. New fieldw promising of study. It kind of gets through what we do in museums, commemorations, remembrances as we talk about the propaganda and posters. They begin to feed a public memory that may not be the memories of the best history of geography of the war. It goes back to the issues of the larger issues of the war, how the war is perceived, answering the question so what . You try to give meaning to those events. The origins of the war. How wars start and end. How they are going to be remembered is the work of the museums. Now, we are going to continue to delve deeply into the subject with professional historians in all of our conferences. Weve even talked about doing an entire conference or symposium sometime just on the memory studies. So, these our museum is a case in point, of course. We are the curator of one of the major curators of the National Public memories of world war ii, through how we portray dday, for example, or december 11, 1941, the attack on pearl harbor and its commemoration. Were all going to have about 90 of our people on a tour out there in a few weeks for december 1st through 7th, a number of our historians. So that events going to be very palpable in our memories. But when we all think, or the general public thinks about world war ii, you think about, as you hear so often, the good war. And there are a lot of people refer to the war to justify just about everything. But the american view has, as a result of media, and also even the War Information Department during the war began to present the rationales for why we were fighting. In fact, we contracted with hollywood to create the why we fight series, and these are training films. But theres the beginning of a spin, and that whole effort was headed up by one of our National Poet laureates, archibald mcleish. So you think that, well, were not going to get too far off base on history when youre talking with somebody like that heading up the effort. But these developments during the war, after the war, begin to shape our collective memories of what we think happened, and not necessarily every time what did happen. Sometimes its what we want to have happen. So, museums and these publications are events that help to shape those memories. Now, this museum, just to bring it home here to the National World war ii museum, which used to be the National Dday museum, as many of you know, was founded by Stephen Ambrose, my dear friend. And his collective works and the greatest generation of tom brokaw, i mean, they were in the same school of thought. Some people thought of it as a call it still the ambrosian view, because it was along the lines of the good war, the boy scouts versus the nazi youth, and hitler thought the nazi youth was all of a sudden ambrose loved to talk about that. Even moralistic overtones that steve oftentimes communicated through his books and on television. The gi knew the difference between right and wrong and didnt want to grow up in a world where wrong prevailed. And so, those kind of notions and other things that he said oftentimes was when a squad of 18yearolds carrying weapons walked into any destroyed or conquered town or village anywhere in the world, those soldiers from other nations, it meant rape, pillage and wanton destruction, but when the gi boys came through, those 18yearolds with weapons, it meant cigarettes, chewing gum and rations. So, theres that very colorful, sweeping ambrosian viewpoint. Now, museums, what are you going to do with that . We dont try to interpret that. We have more of a dragnet approach, you know its just the facts, nothing but the facts. So, we stick in museums to strict historical narratives based on personal accounts, the best history, the most authenticated history that we can. But we have a point of view in our museum, just like museums in england and france and other countries have a point of view about their role, their countrys role in the war. And frankly, our view is that we are we celebrate the american spirit in our mission. Thats part of what we do. We think americas spirit made a difference in the outcome. I dont want it go to the boy scout scout nazi youth thing, but we think there is a difference. And dont want to go to american inclusionism, but that is part of our story. And there are historians who dive deeply that on one side or another. Victor davis hanson thinks through all of the last 2,000 years of history, the armies of democracies have always prevailed. Max hastings and others here youve heard will tell you the red army won world war ii, and if wasnt the armies of democracy. And it takes on ambrose quite directly in his first book. So, museums have to parse these things out and try to stick to the core narratives in our chronologies, and as how we tell the story. Conferences like these help us to parse and dissect and debate the various interpretations and controversies of the war. But the core thing to remember with these commemorations, i think, is that public memories through museums and commemorations and various remembrances depend, at least on a national level, depend on whether or not those involved ended the war as victims, as victors, or vanquished. And your perspective there makes a great deal of difference. And what were going to do today is were going to talk about some of those national perspectives. And i just want to point out, his book is out there, but i dont think theyre selling any. Michael dolski i know is around here somewhere, wrote a book on dday, wrote it with a number of chapters and Different National perspectives in history and memory. I encourage you all to buy it. Its very, very provocative. It uses the prism of the dday commemorations and celebrations by themselves the u. S. , canadian, british, french, german, austrian and russian all different views. And of course, on the enemy powers, germany and austria, they founded their democracies on the ashes of the defeat in normandy in 44. So, its tough to develop your commemorations in your museums around that kind of defeat. How do you commemorate that . But commemorations and memory studies often focus on the issues of sacrifice and redemption. And those are the broader subthemes that are part of these memory studies. But the memories of the past over time are linked oftentimes to presentday needs. And alexandras going to talk about how that is being shaped by significant World War Ii Museum in poland thats been much in the news lately here, and theres even some latebreaking news that shes going to share with you about a museum thats as large as our museum here on world war ii, due to open next spring. But memories of dday, of course, diverge over time, based on the place and national culture. And National Identity tends to get tied up with these commemorations and museums. For example, in france, if you go to the great museum in cannes, you will feel that the French Resistance gets a lot more credit sometimes than the people hitting the landing beaches in omaha and utah beach. And then there is the politics of degalles back in the earlier years or some years ago, where he seemed to use the opportunities for the dday landings, as they called them. They didnt call them an invasion. He didnt call them liberation. They called them the landings. De gaulle influenced the post war era of antiamerican speeches, because he stirred up french nationalism and talked about French Resistance as being so important. And you all have already heard in our earlier discussions yesterday about the different elements of french nationalism and the communist or the left wing of that. So, there was an example there. And then in the broader sense, too, the idealized treatments, you might call the american interpretation it goes into our very dna as a country, when you think about the american spirit. And dday reflects much of our own thoughts going back even to the writings of our Founding Fathers or lincoln at gettysburg or roosevelt for freedom speech and then the Atlantic Charter that followed that. So there is a contextual continuity in the very spirit and soul of america that we try to capture in our Museum Without being overblown or trying to overreach. So this is a dday and world war ii becomes a pivotal part of our national dna, and it carries forward with it, as we tell the story, the values and sense of resolve that are part of our entire history. Now, if you go to the dday museum in Great Britain and portsmouth first time i went there in the 90s, i noticed they had a higgins boat, and the tour guide said this was our higgins boat our boat they didnt say higgins boat. They said this is our boat that we took over to the beaches, and there wasnt a whole lot of information good n there about their allies. The yanks werent around very much in that museum. Was more the british. So, you have the british view and then you have the french view. Now, you remember, in russia, stalin was pushing and pushing for the western front to open up and called it the most monumental invasion of all of history. But in recent years, its more dismissive about the effect, because you heard the max hastings, or the view that the red army really won the war after all and probably didnt even need that western front. So and if you go to the museum of the great patriotic war, i think, theres a little poster or something at end of this great museum about their allies, the United States. Nothing much about the attack thereto. And then the german and the austrian viewpoints on dday are kind of interesting to deal with, because they have a war that they lost, and yet, they were brought for, whether cold war purposes you all heard all the reasons. Marshall plan was developed. But theyre being brought into the community of civilized nations through the defeat of their country. So its a struggle there to bring their commemorations and museums into the public arena. And austria, as gunter bischoff, who wrote one of the articles in this book, talks about austrias peculiar post war victims doctrine, and that produced the very silence and stunted memory of world war ii. So and other germans, you would just say that their collective memories of the war, some germans would say that this was an aberration from our true culturally rich history. Others take a harder look at it. But youve got to understand that in terms of creating the public memory from one of the axis powers, youre trying to salvage meaning and a sense of National Identity from the moral rubble of the third reich. And thats always going to be a problem for the defeated countries. But the dday book and other books that look at memory of world war ii have a prism in a different way through these public remembrances to examine and to illuminate our National Identities and trying at the core of what happens on those events and in those occasions and in these museums to find the authentic truth. Now, in a totalitarian or authoritarian system, you dont have the freedom as we do in this country to develop a more authentic story, because those museums become part of the propaganda in those countries. So, im going to conclude by turning to our next speaker, Alexandra Richey. What ive been talking about her is whats going on in poland right now to their great museum i mentioned earlier thats due to be open. And its been kind of a political football. And the leaders of that museum were here two or three years ago developing a very interesting story and exhibit line, which we were very, very impressed with. And for them, of course, going back to National Stories the war didnt end in 45. They just exchanged, as they told me, one dictator for another. So, their war ends in world war ii in the museum as it was being developed and designed, ends in 89 when the wall comes down. So, its very different. Now we have a new cultural minister, new government, and were trying to close it or change it, and its made the new york times. So what museums do is very important to the National Cultures and identities and to the national memory. So im going to turn you over to Alexandra Richey to give you a little bit about that. Alexandra thanks very much. Thank you. I wanted just to start a little bit, back up a little bit as to why im interested in this subject in the first place. There are a lot of reasons, but one of the most important for me was that my great grandfather was a general in the First World War. And after the war was over became one of the founding members of what became the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and was very moved by and determined that the memory of those who had fought and died in First World War shouldnt be forgotten. And he worked with, obviously, many other people, to figure out how to commemorate this terrible event. Of course, at the time, it was seen to be the war that ended all wars. It was the great war. And i followed, in a sense, his path through this, through his letters and diaries and some of the other things that they produced, and i always founld it very moving how they were faced with this enormous number of dead and this earthshattering, worldshattering experience. How do you try and make sense of it . How do you commemorate it every year . And i think that in a way, they were very successful. The commemorations every year in england and throughout the commonwealth are very, very touching. And indeed, even my own Little School in canada, every year we have a commemoration for the end of the First World War. And with the names listed in the very small school, 12 names of world war i dead. And its something that became very profound, important part of my own life. I then moved into working in both east and west germany before the wall fell down and was very touched by this idea of memory and how do you commemorate, how do you remember. And this, of course, is very important in both halves of germany. I spent a lot of time in west berlin, 1985, 86, 87. In those years it was interesting because it was the time of the historian strife, fight between historians about how to remember the past. What had happened in germany was because of the cold war, which we talked about earlier, history was sort of shut down. People didnt really look at the past very much until the 1968 generation. The next generation came along and started asking their parents, and indeed, grandparents, what had they done in the war. And there was a lot of debate and discussion in germany. And i was very lucky to get involved with a number of historical projects. One of the most important to me that made a huge dent on my life was a thing called the active museum, which started in 1985 and 86 when the gustestapos hd headquarters were discovered. And i remember in the evenings, we would put signs out saying this was the site of the gestapo and ss headquarters and we want to make a museum out of it. And very often at night the signs were knocked down, vandalized. Today that site is now, i think, the most Important Museum in berlin at the topography of terror. The reason i think its so important is because its the only museum in germany of that size thats dedicated to the perspective from the perpetrators. In other words, its not saying what a terrible thing it was and we all feel dreadful. Its listen, we did this. Lets look at the guys who did this. How did they create the terror . How did they take peoples names . How did they manipulate it . Its a very i think it was a tremendously courageous thing for the germans to do, and its a Marvelous Museum when it comes to remembrance. But generally speaking, i would have to say that the ge