We have left the 20th century behind, but it has not left us. More than sixty years after the World War and the Holocaust, we are still engaged in giving a form of remembrance to this traumatic past. Aleida Assmann examines different pathways that lead from individual to collective constructions of the past, exploring the tensions between personal experience and official commemoration. The themes of memory and remembrance have become remarkably relevant in recent years, far beyond the debates in Germany and Europe. After traumatic experiences in the past—whether as victims or perpetrators—the struggle for a redefinition of national self-image and new future perspectives shapes public discourse in numerous countries. In parallel, a discipline has emerged that is widely branched out.