Abandoning the monolithic victim: Changes in representations of the memory of Ravensbrück concentration camp

The article deals with representations of collective memory of the women’s concen- tration camp Ravensbrück. Memorials estab- lished at the sites of former Nazi concentration camps are referred to as European symbolic realms of memory. Cultural memory is ma- terialized in exhibits and transmitted through expositions. However, since collective mem- ory is closely connected with the constitut- ing and constituted group and reflects its re- quirements, the themes and meanings selected for the audience vary in different political and temporal conditions. Employing the meth- ods of discourse analysis of two exhibitions in the Ravensbrück Memorial, participant and non-participant observation, interviewing, and content analysis of official publications, the changes in approaches to the representation of collective memory are examined. The shift from depicting a monolithic national victim to personalisation and diversity is discussed