Novel Das Boot Political Responsibility and Germany’s Nazi Past

<p>This study investigates the relationship between Lothar-Günther Buchheim (1918-2007) his bestselling 1973 novel <i>Das Boot</i> (The Boat) and West Germany’s <i>Vergangenheitsbewältigung</i>.</p><p>As a war reporter during the Battle of the Atlantic Buchheim benefitted from distinct privileges yet he was never in a position of power. Almost thirty years later Buchheim confronted the duality of his own past and railed against what he perceived to be a varnished public memory of the submarine campaign. Michael Rothberg’s theory of the implicated beneficiary is used as a lens to view Buchheim and this duality. <i>Das Boot</i> has been retold by others worldwide because many people claim that the story bears an anti-war message. Wolfgang Petersen’s critically acclaimed 1981 film and interpretations as a comedy sketch a theatrical play and a streamed television sequel have followed. This trajectory of Buchheim’s personal memory reflects a process that practitioners of memory studies have described as transnational memory formation. Archival footage interviews and teaching materials reflect the relevance of <i>Das Boot</i> since its debut. Given the debates that surrounded Buchheim’s endeavors the question now raised is whether Germany’s “mastering the past” serves as a model for other societies analyzing their own histories.</p><p>Sitting at the intersection of History Literature and Film Studies this is an unprecedented case study depicting how the pre- and postwar times affected writers and others caught in the middle of the drama of the era.</p>