On May 2, the American Council on Germany, the German Law Journal, the Robert Bosch Foundation Alumni Association, and Orte der Demokratiegeschichte will host a discussion and reception with Prof. Eckart Goebel, Chair of Comparative Literature and German Philology at the University of Tübingen, and Dr. Natalia Savelyeva, Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin and Future Russia Fellow with the Democratic Resilience Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).
To register, please email mcdonaldj@wlu.edu by April 30.
In the spring of 1944, sensing that the tide of the war was turning, exiled German dissidents in the United States began discussions envisioning a new, democratic, post-war Germany. Meeting as the “Council for a Democratic Germany,” the group consisted of an impressive – and impressively diverse – collection of German intellectuals, artists, politicians, scholars, and civil servants. The respected theologian Paul Tillich chaired the Council, which was originally formed with support from Thomas Mann. Bertolt Brecht was a member of the founding committee. The Council issued its declaration on May 3, 1944, insisting that the “German problem” would require a European solution. The Council recognized that the defeat of Nazism and the eventual disarmament of Germany remained the immediate priority. Looking ahead to the hoped-for peace, the Council strongly opposed the dismemberment of a defeated and occupied Germany. It also opposed talk of deindustrializing Germany, which risked creating “economic conditions that would become hopelessly depressed in all countries of Europe.” The Council urged the establishment of a democratic government in Germany supported by rejuvenated civil society institutions and robust democratic education. After the Council issued its May Declaration, subcommittees produced policy reports on reconstruction and economic renewal, as well as reform of the press and media, cultural policy, health policy, education policy, administration, and legal culture.
Join us on May 2 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Council’s Declaration and reflect on its work.
Prof. Eckart Goebel, a University of Tübingen Philosopher and Cultural Critic, will discuss the Council, building off his study “Escape to Life”: German Intellectuals in New York: A Compendium on Exile after 1933 (2012). This includes an acknowledgment of two stark developments. On the one hand, the Council stirred political resentment and petty jealousy within the broader German exile community in the U.S. On the other hand, the Allies seemed to largely disregard the Council’s efforts. The event will also use the historical reflection on the Council to consider contemporary exiles’ work to promote democracy in their homelands. Dr. Natalia Savelyeva, a Russian Sociologist at the University of Wisconsin who writes extensively on the Russian war against Ukraine, will discuss her experiences of dissidence and the chances for impacting Russian politics, scholarship, and life in the United States.