Hannes Heer

Heer studied literature and history, and passed his state examination in 1968 at the University of Bonn.[1] From 1970 to 1972 he completed postgraduate studies in economics and economic history, at the University of Bonn.[1] As a student, he became a member of Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund.[2]Because of his activities in the (SDS), he was not admitted to the school service. He worked as a radio writer, in the 1970s and as a lecturer at the University of Bremen, and from 1980 to 1985 as a dramaturge and director at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and the Städtische Bühnen in Cologne.[1]

In 1993, he was employed by the Hamburg Institute for Social Research and became known for the controversial "Wehrmachtsausstellung" it focused on German war crimes and atrocities during World War II. The Polish historian Bogdan Musial pointed out in an article published in 1999 that a number of photos that allegedly portrayed "Wehrmacht war crimes" in reality were photos of Soviet war crimes committed by the Red Army, and also stated that around half of all photos used in the exhibition had nothing to do with war crimes.[3] The Hungarian historian Krisztián Ungváry claimed that only ten percent of all the 800 photos of alleged war crimes were actually Wehrmacht crimes, the rest were Soviet war crimes or crimes committed by Hungarian, Finnish, Croatian, Ukrainian, Russian or Baltic forces, or by members of the SS or SD, none of whom were members of the Wehrmacht, or not crimes at all.[4]After criticisms about incorrect attribution and captioning of some of the images in the exhibition, the exhibition was withdrawn in 1999 for review. Hannes Heer no longer participated in Wehrmachtsausstellung because, he could not agree with Jan Philipp Reemtsma on a concept for the new version.[5] Herr was a fellow of the Hamburg Institute for Social Research until august of 2000.[6]

The display was suspended pending review of its content by a committee of historians. The committee's report in 2000 stated that accusations of forged materials were not justified, but some of the exhibit's documentation had inaccuracies. About one per cent of photographs had been incorrectly attributed: "A committee of historians, while confirming the fundamental thesis of the display, discovered that 20 of the 1400 photographs depicted Soviet crimes, that is, murders by NKVD, rather than the acts of German soldiers."[7]

The committee's report in 2000 stated that accusations of forged materials were not justified, but that some of the exhibit's documentation had inaccuracies and that the arguments presented were too sweeping. In a written statement, Reemtsma said:[8]

we greatly regret that we did not respond to a number of critics, whose objections have been shown to be correct, with due earnestness and that we did not decide to impose a moratorium at an earlier date. Nonetheless, we reiterate that the key statement of the exhibition – that the Wehrmacht led a war of aggression and annihilation – is correct and is upheld.

In its report from November 2000, the committee reaffirmed the reliability of the exhibition in general, explaining that the errors have already been corrected. The committee recommended that the exhibition be expanded to include perspective of the victims as well, presenting the material but leaving the conclusions to the viewers.[9]

The fundamental statements made in the exhibition about the Wehrmacht and the war of annihilation in 'the east' are correct. It is indisputable that, in the Soviet Union, the Wehrmacht not only 'entangled' itself in genocide perpetrated against the Jewish population, in crimes perpetrated against Soviet POWs, and in the fight against the civilian population, but in fact participated in these crimes, playing at times a supporting, at times a leading role. These were not isolated cases of 'abuse' or 'excesses'; they were activities based on decisions reached by top level military leaders or troop leaders on or behind the front lines.[10]

The committee recommended that the exhibition be reopened in revised form, presenting the material and, as far as possible, leaving the formation of conclusions to the exhibition's viewers. The revised exhibition was now named Verbrechen der Wehrmacht. Dimensionen des Vernichtungskrieges 1941–1944. ("Crimes of the German Wehrmacht: Dimensions of a War of Annihilation 1941-1944").[11] It focused on public international law and traveled from 2001 to 2004.

In 1997 Hannes Heer was awarded the Carl-von-Ossietzky-Medaille, for is work with the Wehrmachtsausstellung[12][13]

Since leaving HIS, Heer has been working as a freelance writer, editor, director and exhibition organizer. His main topics are the politics of remembrance and the construction of history, in particular dealing with the Nazi era . In the works "Vom Verschorben der Täter" (2004) and " Hitler war's" (2005) he examined the tendency to present the history of National Socialism as a story of "acts without perpetrators". [14] A current focus of his work is research into anti-Semitism in music. Starting in 2006, Hannes Heer investigated the expulsion and persecution of artistic and technical personnel in the Third Reich for racial and political reasons as part of the exhibition project “ Silent Voices ” using the opera houses in Hamburg , Berlin , Stuttgart , Darmstadt and Dresden . He also reconstructed the history of the defamation and marginalization of Jewish artists at the Bayreuth Festival from 1876 to 1945 and recalled the fate of 51 persecuted people after 1933. Twelve of them were murdered.[15] The exhibition has been shown at Green Hill in Bayreuth in 2012.[16]

• Tote Zonen – Die deutsche Wehrmacht an der Ostfront, 1999, ISBN 3-930908-51-4
• Vom Verschwinden der Täter, 2004, ISBN 3-7466-8135-9
• The discursive construction of history: remembering the Wehrmacht's war of annihilation / edited by Hannes Heer ... [et al.] ; translated from the German by Steven Fligelstone, 2008 ISBN 0230013236
• Hitler war's. Die Befreiung der Deutschen von ihrer Vergangenheit, 2005, ISBN 3-351-02601-3
• Literatur und Erinnerung. Die Nazizeit als Familiengeheimnis, in: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft, 53. Jg., Heft 9, September 2005, S. 809-835
• als Herausgeber: „Stets zu erschiessen sind Frauen, die in der Roten Armee dienen“: Geständnisse deutscher Kriegsgefangener über ihren Einsatz an der Ostfront, 1995, ISBN 3-930908-06-9
• In the heart of darkness. Victor Klemperer as a chronicler of the Nazi era. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-351-02456-8
• It was Hitler. The liberation of the Germans from their past. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-351-02601-3 .

• Media related to Hannes Heer at Wikimedia Commons
• Hannes Heer in the German National Library catalogue