Oliver Rathkolb – författare

Since the mid-1990s, political, legal, and historical debates about Nazi theft and confiscation of property, the use of slave labor during World War II, and restitution and compensation have reemerged. Revisiting the National Socialist Legacy presents completely new historical research on these issues conducted worldwide.This volume responds to concern about Holocaust era assets in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. It focuses on both reexamination of the history of National Socialist property theft and employment of forced labor in the wartime economy, and the compensation and restitution solutions advanced in various European and Latin American countries since 1945.

Since the mid-1990s, political, legal, and historical debates about Nazi theft and confiscation of property, the use of slave labor during World War II, and restitution and compensation have reemerged. Revisiting the National Socialist Legacy presents completely new historical research on these issues conducted worldwide.This volume responds to concern about Holocaust era assets in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. It focuses on both reexamination of the history of National Socialist property theft and employment of forced labor in the wartime economy, and the compensation and restitution solutions advanced in various European and Latin American countries since 1945.

From its emergence out of the ashes of World War II through to the economic and political challenges of today, Austria has embodied many of the contradictions of recent European history. Written by one of the nation’s leading historians, this account of postwar Austria explores the tensions that have defined it for over seven decades, whether in its overlapping policies of engagement and isolationism, its grandiose visions and persistent sense of inferiority, or its position as a model social democracy that has suffered recurrent bouts of xenophobic nationalism. This newly revised edition also addresses the major developments since 2005, including a resurgent far right, economic instability, and the potential fracturing of the European Union.

European politicians, authors, and historians analyze in this volume the potential scope for a European history book written from a European point of view. The first stirrings and early initiatives that go back to the 1960s are considered, as is Basic Research by Frederic Delouche and his team of authors. The problems in store for anyone who is attempting to sail the agitated waters of Europe's contemporary history are evident. This book provides an outline of concrete approaches that might well prove helpful for the actual realization of a history of Europe.